Monthly Budget For A Single Person

Hovegull

I'm planning to relocate back to the East Sussex from abroad. I would like to have some advice concerning monthly expenses excluding rent as I am planning to buy a 1 or 2 bedroom flat.

Sadly, I have had some conflicting information concerning leasehold/Freehold properties as apparently the former are more expensive due to both ground rent/management costs etc. The majority of properties in the area where I wish to buy, are virtually all leasehold. However, some have share of freehold. 

I have a small pension that will be converted from € to £ so will have quite a large loss of income.

I must say that I'm really overwhelmed by this move as I'm not on top of things as far as the UK is concerned. As, I have spent 6 months in the UK during 2024, I have worked out my monthly budget for food but am at a loss for all the other utility bills.

Thank you for any helpful advice. It will be greatly appreciated.

Flugelhorn

certainly flats will most likely have management charges and these can vary - buying a small house would mean that you don't pay these but have to manage all the maintenance yourself.

the bills to consider (in addition to management fee) are:

Council tax - remember to get the 25% single person discount
water 
elec 
gas 
internet
TV licence 

I pay £70 a month for fuel in a 2 bed flat but it is not occupied all week. Internet is about £30 / month. TV licence is £169 / year 

subjecttocontract

Don't forget:
*Food 
*Transport.
*Contents insurance
*Phone
*Annual subscriptions

Brie

I'm not in Sussex but Dorset so things may well be different but here's my approx monthly bills for a 2.5 bedroom bungalow with 2 adults.

Council tax £225
Gas & Electric £230
Water (supply & waste) £35
Broadband/internet/phone £40
Mobile contract (sim only) £8 & £15 (spouse's)
TV licence £14 (but you may not need one if you don't watch live TV)
Netflix £9  (again - not essential and some streaming services cost up to £100+ depending on what you include)

Annual things
Building and contents insurance £400 (higher than usual due to absences)
Car insurance £200 (my tiddly car) & £350 (spouse's monster car)
Mot £49 x 2
Road tax £25 (tiddly car) & £120 (spouse's which I think is very low)

Food and petrol for cars is quite flexible.

Gardeners cost £25/hour
Cleaners (which I would love to have) are about £15/hour

eskbanker

Hovegull said:

I have a small pension that will be converted from € to £ so will have quite a large loss of income.

I don't understand this logic - why would there be a large loss of income?

Hovegull

eskbanker said:

Hovegull said:

I have a small pension that will be converted from € to £ so will have quite a large loss of income.

I don't understand this logic - why would there be a large loss of income?

Firstly, I get 8% deducted because I'm leaving the country. Secondly, the exchange rate means that I receive far less in £ plus I would have to factor in currency exchange fees.

Hovegull

Flugelhorn said:

certainly flats will most likely have management charges and these can vary - buying a small house would mean that you don't pay these but have to manage all the maintenance yourself.

the bills to consider (in addition to management fee) are:

Council tax - remember to get the 25% single person discount
water 
elec 
gas 
internet
TV licence 

I pay £70 a month for fuel in a 2 bed flat but it is not occupied all week. Internet is about £30 / month. TV licence is £169 / year 

Agree that there are less maintenance costs for a small house. However, in the region where I would like to live most of them are way above my budget. 

Hovegull

Brie said:

I'm not in Sussex but Dorset so things may well be different but here's my approx monthly bills for a 2.5 bedroom bungalow with 2 adults.

Council tax £225
Gas & Electric £230
Water (supply & waste) £35
Broadband/internet/phone £40
Mobile contract (sim only) £8 & £15 (spouse's)
TV licence £14 (but you may not need one if you don't watch live TV)
Netflix £9  (again - not essential and some streaming services cost up to £100+ depending on what you include)

Annual things
Building and contents insurance £400 (higher than usual due to absences)
Car insurance £200 (my tiddly car) & £350 (spouse's monster car)
Mot £49 x 2
Road tax £25 (tiddly car) & £120 (spouse's which I think is very low)

Food and petrol for cars is quite flexible.

Gardeners cost £25/hour
Cleaners (which I would love to have) are about £15/hour

I won't have a car or a bungalow and I live alone so can't really compare my requirements to your expenses. There is no way that I could pay such high energy costs or council tax. Once again, it all depends on the area and what kind of property one has.

GeoffTF

The costs quoted here seem high to me.

Broadband costs me £21.00 per month (but I got voucher which reduces that substantially).
Council tax Band D with single occupancy discount costs me £127.00 per month (but it is going up).
Electricity + gas costs £129.92 per month for a 24/7 warm 3 bed detached house.
Water works out at £22 per month.
Mobile works out at £5 per month with 1p Mobile.
Main dealer car service + MOT plan costs me £25.21 per month for my old Aygo.

eskbanker

Hovegull said:

eskbanker said:

Hovegull said:

I have a small pension that will be converted from € to £ so will have quite a large loss of income.

I don't understand this logic - why would there be a large loss of income?

Firstly, I get 8% deducted because I'm leaving the country. Secondly, the exchange rate means that I receive far less in £ plus I would have to factor in currency exchange fees.

I still don't understand - sure, there may be a slight loss from conversion fees, but why (separately) 'receive far less in £' as a separate issue, as well as an 8% deduction?  Is it financially sensible to relocate at all if these are the conditions?

sausage_time

You should not have to receive "far less in £" because of exchange rate.  Check companies such as Wise for the actual rate (which depends on currency and amount).

https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/

There are many options for competitive conversion and transfers.