Moving out of parents house.

aljoiner

Hi everyone, I'm planing on moving out of my parents house towards the end of the year when I'm 18 and renting a flat, would really appreciate to hear any tips, general advice, do's and dont' s ect;).

Thanks

aljoiner

LillyJ

Rent with a friend or houseshare. Much cheaper, more sociable and a great introduction to living away from home. You could make lifelong friends doing it!
Make sure you budget, it works out so much more expensive for things you don't even think about living at home (including things like how many times you use the washing machine affecting your bils!)
If I was you I would move fairly close to home as I moved 100 miles away when I was 17 and missed my mum's sunday roast and laundry more than I could have ever imagined.
Start to save for a deposit for a rental flat, I think they normally ask approx 1 month rent.
Make sure you pick somewhere fairly nice, the first house I rented was horrible but I was blinded by the thought of getting my own place.
Ensure you get a television licence! A couple of my friends at uni got fined £1000 for not having one. Set up your bills by direct debit, preferably on the day of the month after you get paid so you know there will be money in there. Find the cheapest utility provider by the tips on this site.
Start doing the shopping with your mum to see how to shop and cook cheaply. Get a basic student cook book, there is really simple stuff I thought I would be able to cook, but it turned out I couldn't - like pancake batter
etc!

Don't let your friends take the p*ss, you will become popular overnight if you have your own place, but that doesn't mean they can trash it with beer fuelled parties, unless you want them to!

start looking at approx prices on rightmove.

loads of other things but can't think of them right now. Good luck

cells

aljoiner wrote: »

Hi everyone, I'm planing on moving out of my parents house towards the end of the year when I'm 18 and renting a flat, would really appreciate to hear any tips, general advice, do's and dont' s ect;).

Thanks

aljoiner

well can you afford it would be the first question.
second would be, is the price worth it.


have you considered..

council tax (usually somehwere from 1000-1500 per year)
heating/electricity (about 1000 per year)
rent/mortgage (varies from place to place)
food (35 or more per week)
cost of running your car.. (over 1000 per year for most people. closer to 2k for yunger ones)


so..... let us know your master plan.

do you have a job
what is the reason for the move
ect

Sugar_Coated_Owl

I'm 24 and still cannot afford a place of my own. The only way I could afford to leave home is by sharing and even doing that it wouldn't leave me with much money to spend on food, toiletries e.t.c

Do you have a good income/job?
What area are you looking to rent?

LillyJ

council tax (usually somehwere from 1000-1500 per year)
heating/electricity (about 1000 per year)
rent/mortgage (varies from place to place)
food (35 or more per week)
cost of running your car.. (over 1000 per year for most people. closer to 2k for yunger ones)

What!? I spend no where near those prices! elec and gas I pay £60 combined for a 3 bed semi with 2 people living in it!
For food, I paid approx £100 per month living on my own and I wasn't skimping.

Car running costs aren't really relevant, as if they already own a car then they will know this, and if they don't, they might not need one when they move out!

LillyJ

razorbladekisses wrote: »

I'm 24 and still cannot afford a place of my own. The only way I could afford to leave home is by sharing and even doing that it wouldn't leave me with much money to spend on food, toiletries e.t.c

Do you have a good income/job?
What area are you looking to rent?

I am not sure that is the norm though, and is no reason why the OP cannot afford it.

I am 23 and me and my boyfriend (also 23) are on a joint salary of 60k, and so we can afford to rent very comfortably and are buying a house this year. So age is not an indicator of whether you can afford it or not really.

aljoiner

cells wrote: »

well can you afford it would be the first question.
second would be, is the price worth it.


have you considered..

council tax (usually somehwere from 1000-1500 per year)
heating/electricity (about 1000 per year)
rent/mortgage (varies from place to place)
food (35 or more per week)
cost of running your car.. (over 1000 per year for most people. closer to 2k for yunger ones)


so..... let us know your master plan.

do you have a job
what is the reason for the move
ect

First of all thanks for the great responses people really informative, my plan is to first save up about 2.5k until about november, I plan on moving in with a friend and we would split all costs, a cheap rented place up here goes for about £450 pcm.

I have a job, I'm an apprentice carpenter/joiner. I currently earn about £150 a week, but that rises every year.

I would be doing everything the cheapest way, no landline, energy savin lights, learn how to be frugal, research energy saving methods also how to budget correctly.

I will also be getting a weekend job to supplement my current income.

Thanks

Sugar_Coated_Owl

I would say that you are in a good financial position then LillyJ because where I live most people cannot afford to live by themselves.

I think age is fairly important. The OP will only be 18 when he/she moves so may not be earning very much.

cells

LillyJ wrote: »

What!? I spend no where near those prices! elec and gas I pay £60 combined for a 3 bed semi with 2 people living in it!

per month? that isnt too far off. 60pm = 720pa.
i pay about 1000 for a 3bed semi but there are 3 people.

LillyJ wrote: »

For food, I paid approx £100 per month living on my own and I wasn't skimping.

100pm not skimping?
well it costs me 150 not skimping but thats all 3 means inc.

whereas some people say it only costs them 100pm but forget to add in take aways, snaks ect

Piggles12345

Lol to the first post...

Don't move close to your parents, if you are going independent, do it properly, no popping round to get your washing done or for weekly dinners- if you want to move out an be an adult, then do it!
'Other people' in houses make things political- there will always be someone who doesn't pull their weight or who disturbs the rest of the house at all hours of the night.
Definately save for the deposit and often letting agents throw in 'arrangement fees'- I think I paid about £100.

In addition, when you are looking;
-have a look at the neighbours houses (untidy gardens, saggy or dirty nets (or nets in general), children's garden toys all over the front garden and England flags are always a bad sign).
-check inside for signs of damp/ condensation (this may include wet windows, chipped window sills or blackey-blue spots on skirting boards, windowsills etc.)
-check for droppings in the under sink cupboard
-visit properties at different times of day to get a feel (e.g. when schools kick out, when pubs kick out).

Good luck

LillyJ

Well that sounds like a good idea renting with a friend. It is so much cheaper than living alone.

Well done on the apprentiship (sp?) they are really hard to come by round here, and you will probably be on a good income when you are qualified.

You don't really need a landline, but you might need broadband, which you can get cheaply now days, again loads of good advice on this site.

I really think that the way you can save the most is on food. I have lived with people who used to go to the supermarket every night and spend £10 on what they wanted for dinner that night and lunch for the next day! Obviously that led to them spending £70 a week on food! If you look at parts of this site there are things to show you how to meal plan.

You could also get a furnished house as then you would not have to spend money on furniture.

Check out council tax banding in your area as well. You will also need to budget for water, gas, elec (less than £100 in total for my house with 2 people in)

good luck