Thoughts on budget? Potentially buying alone, how do you manage?

TheBanker

I think your energy figures are too low. If you've based them on what someone else pays, remember we've just had six months if government bill credits, and we're still benefiting from the price guarantee. Obviously actual bills will depend on the property, your lifestyle and your willingness to use jumpers and blankets instead of central heating.

You have car insurance and petrol but not repairs. And you've got cat worming but not vets bills. If something goes wrong before you've built up savings, you're going to be stretched. 

Singlemummy_2

I’m in process of buying and if it helps the mortgage rate is 4,9% and repayments are around £740 on circa £132k mortgage (applied and got offered in January)

Do you have a deposit to purchase or do you need to save that? Have you accounted for additional costs of purchasing (solicitor fees / survey etc etc)

for my household budget I ’ve budgeted £240 for gas/elec and £20 home insurance 

you will need probably need life insurance - 
do you need a Tv license as you need to add that in too.

your costs will possibly be more than paying in a shared house because there’s only one person (you) paying the bills - depends on the property you buy

best thing I did was get a broker (I paid one) to understand exactly what I could afford. She actually encouraged me to pay off debt which significantly decreased my deposit but did increase my borrowing ability. 

gwynlas

By buying a suitable property you could factor in renting a room. I knew someone who with a seperate kitchen set up living room and bedroom as bedsits and used one whilst renting the second with shared use of kitchen and bathroom. There must be call for such  with hospital staff even if you only let it occasionally.

theoretica

Singlemummy_2 said:
you will need probably need life insurance - 

Life insurance is for other people after you die - if you don't have children or a partner you probably don't need it. I certainly wasn't going to get it to make my mortgage lender's life easier.  But income protection of some sort might be worth considering.

TheElectricCow

What sort of property are you looking to buy? That may have a significant effect on your utility bills. 

For an energy efficient small/medium sized flat those fuel costs might be reasonable enough for a single cost-conscious consumer, but for a larger or less efficient say 2-3 bed house you could find £90 may not go very far at today’s prices.

Of course your personal habits will play the most significant part here, but it’s definitely something to consider especially with older properties with potentially inefficient heating/hot water setups or poor insulation.

Kerreh

Jealous of your council tax Mine's £107 (Band A with 25% sole occupancy discount)!

I live in a 1 bed ground floor flat and hot showers are my splurge - water is £14p/m metered for me so your water (imo) looks about right... 
As others have said your gas/electric needs increasing - currently paying £105p/m and my flat is tiny - so you really will need to increase that
Have you factored in health? eg. dentist, opticians, any prescriptions? even just a few pounds a month for when the annual/bi-annual appointments occur

Cisco001

If you live on your own and don't play online game. Skip the broadband, get a unlimited data plan on mobile and hotspot it. (provided you don't use a expensive phone)

Cisco001

theoretica said:

Singlemummy_2 said:
you will need probably need life insurance - 

Life insurance is for other people after you die - if you don't have children or a partner you probably don't need it. I certainly wasn't going to get it to make my mortgage lender's life easier.  But income protection of some sort might be worth considering.

Accidental insurance instead.

blue.peter

theoretica said:

Life insurance is for other people after you die

It's a long time since I last took out a mortgage, but the lender made it a condition that I had life insurance. That used to be a pretty much universal requirement. Is that no longer the case?

Singlemummy_2

theoretica said:

Singlemummy_2 said:
you will need probably need life insurance - 

Life insurance is for other people after you die - if you don't have children or a partner you probably don't need it. I certainly wasn't going to get it to make my mortgage lender's life easier.  But income protection of some sort might be worth considering.

Yes my lender wants this and which is why I mentioned it as the OP may not consider that the lender may request it but why would I want to leave a mortgage for my children to have to deal with should something happen to me.  They are currently under 18 and under 10 and i’m a single parent so yes it’s an expense I value