How much should we be looking at paying per month?

tinymcfc

Hey people, first off, fantastic site I've just spent about 3 hours looking through the forums, tip pages etc...always known about this place but never actually had a look in.

Well it's just a quick question really to people with a little more experience in the whole 'moving out' scenario. Well myself and my girlfriend are looking to finally move out next month and get an apartment for ourselves. We've found a really nice place for 600 per month rent, now this is fine with our jobs at the moment. However what I really don't know, as I've never lived away from home and actually paid bills, is how much we should be expecting to pay out per month, for an average 2 adult home on bills. Water, tax, food, gas, electricity etc.

So in your expert opinion, including the rent how much should we be looking at budgeting for per month?

Thanks in advance.

_Andy_

Hi & welcome to MSE.

I would say water £20-£30
Council tax £100-£130 (you can ring up the council and find out which 'band' the place is in)
Gas / electricity maybe £25-£30 each per month
Also make sure you budget for telephone, internet, etc.
Food - depends what you eat really! Could be anything at all.

wildt

Here is what I pay out each month on a small two bed house (2 people):

Rent £520
council tax £80 (We get 25% discount because one is a student)
gas/electricity £59
phone line rental £10.50
Sky TV..Internet..phone calls - between £55-60
TV license £35 (quarterly so not each month)

Obviously things such as Sky are not neccessary if you want to keep your outgoings to a minimum.

Can't think of anything else but I'm sure there is more! Plus your food and any other commitments you might have.

x

PasturesNew

For somebody living alone I'd say £200 for all bills.

Council tax
Electricity
Gas
Water
TV License
Contents Insurance
Phone landline
Broadband
Mobile phone line cost

For a 2nd person moving in it's about another £50/month. Roughly extra £25-30 for council tax, extra £10 for electricity, extra £10 for water.

As for food. Depends how piggy you are.

It's the cost of the FIRST person that's the greatest cost.

When first renting, you will need to think about:
Agent fees - up to £200 for credit checks etc, could even be PER person
Deposit - 1-2 months' rent
All rent is up front, so 1st month's rent

So if you are looking at at £500/month rental, then budget up front for about £200+£750+£500 = £1450

BiggaThanBen

estimate £150-£250 on top of rent, depending on your needs

KiKi

Hi there

I have a 2 bed place although it's just me here. I pay:
Water - £12.20 month
Elec & Gas - £36 month
Council Tax - £70 month
Phone / BB / TV - £29 month
Contents Insurance - £9 month
TV License - £13 month
Food - £70 month
Mobile - £25 month


Make sure you use Moneysupermarket.com to find the cheapest suppliers, and use Quidco to swap so that you get cashback. You could get home insurance for £20 if you get a cheap quote and then get cashback on top of that! My insurance is £90 a year from the Post Office, but you can get cashback of £50 or so to that that down.

My bills are quite low, but I don't leave lights on, or things plugged in. I wait for washing to build up before I load the washing machine etc.

Virgin have some great deals - you do not need to fork out £55 for Sky every month. You could get Freeview for TV and get the basic BT line if you use your mobiles for free calls.

I meal plan, so I only spend £70 a month for food which covers all my meals in a month, as well as my cats.


I live alone, and I think quite cheaply - but I still pay out £265 a month. Council tax and food add up and could easily reach £200 alone, so I'd estimate for you both, you'll need to budget £350 for bills, especially if you're likely to buy quite a bit of food between you. You will be able to bring that down, but if you're not used to budgeting and minimising bills, then overestimate first and at least you're less likely to get into any debt!

I think £150-250 is too low an estimate if you're including mobile phone and internet etc, and if you're not used to minimising your bills.

Hope you really enjoy your new home.

KiKi

LillyJ

We pay total of £200 including phone and internet plus all utilities and council tax for our 3 bed house with 2 people and a dog living in it!

BiggaThanBen

KiKi wrote: »

I think £150-250 is too low an estimate if you're including mobile phone and internet etc, and if you're not used to minimising your bills.

mobile phone is not relevant to the question, can be free though (cashback contracts), internet £7.50 pcm (O2)

KiKi

It was relevant - the OP asked for utilites *etc*, and I was clear that it's too low if you do include mobile etc.

The other point that I made is that if you haven't lived alone before, you aren't used to minimising bills. That takes time. Council tax alone will be £90 as a minimum. Food will likely be £130 if you don't meal plan. Add on top of that utilities and other house bills, and I think £150-£250 is very low for 2 people who have never had to plan and do this before.

People new to paying bills should overestimate to avoid getting in debt. To suggest £150 at the lower end for 2 people isn't really do-able when council tax alone will be £90!

KiKi

BiggaThanBen

KiKi wrote: »

It was relevant - the OP asked for utilites *etc*, and I was clear that it's too low if you do include mobile etc.

OP moves from family home to a rented accomodation, it might be wrong to assume that people start using mobile phones only in rented/own homes. Surely he has got one already and aware of how much it costs pcm. Or we can end up adding gym and national trust membership to house related expenses ..

Cazza

1 bed flat with two people living there...

Mortgage £670
Council tax £111
Water £27
Electric £45 (no Gas)
BT line rental £10.50
Sky (incl landline phone & broadband) £35
Food c£200
Contents Insurance £12
TV Licence £11

On top of this we also pay mobile phone bills etc, but this is the "houshold" stuff we have going out. HTH!