Never knew it cost this much to run a home!

dean_ham

Forgive me if im posting in the wrong forum.

I am a 20 year old FTB with a deposit saved up and keeping on saving but i refuse to enter the market in its present state. But my dad is keeping on at me to get on the property ladder etc

I live in S.Wales and a 2/3 bed terrace would set you back £60k-80k whereas 2 years ago it would have set me back £25-50k

I have roughly £15k saved, meaning i would roughly need a £50k mortgage. Meaning £300 p/m over 25years

I asked my mother how much does it cost her to run her 3 bed terrace house. I knew it costs a lot but i was shocked as to what she actually spends on the house each month and thats just the basics.

£77 - Council Tax
£10 - TV Licence
£15 - House insurance
£20 - Water
£48 - Electric
£48 - Gas
£25 - BT phonebill
£25 - broadband
£40 - Sky
£100 - Food
£0 - Mortgage

What are you lot household expenses each month and what part of the uk do you live? could any of the above prices look to expensive for a 3bed terrace with 4 adults living there.


In my case if i bought a 3 bed home in this area i would be paying £300 for mortgage but i will be spending less on food/toiletries and the non essential things such as sky £40

But im still looking at £650-700 each month just to LIVE, and im kind of lucky i live in an area where FTB'ers can actually get on the ladder,
On top of this my car insurance is £100 a month
Petrol to/from work £100 a month
£250 month savings/going out money

Total expenditure £1050
Income £900 a month (3rd year electrical apprentice)

I would have to sell my car to be able to afford my own home, but if i sell my car i wont be able to get to work as PUBLIC TRANSPORT IS TERRIBLE and no public transport to my work at 4.30am !
Its not as if i own a petrol guzzuling high insurance car, its a 1.2 corsa and its costing me £200+ a month to run the thing to get to and from work.


I HATE THIS GOVERNMENT, the quicker i can get to canada/austraila after i getmyself qualified as an electrician / electrical engineer the better!
These house prices and cost of living is getting me down!

dean_ham

Ops made a mistake, added food as weekly not monthly. She spends £100 a week / £400 a month.

Meaning if i had a home my total expenditure would be roughly £1200-1300 on a wage of £900 a month

Stevenj214

Probably not the kind of reply your looking for, but doesn't it make sense for you to wait another year or two?

House prices would hopefully drop, you could save up a larger deposit, and you'll be time served so earning more. no?

dean_ham

Stevenj214 wrote:

Probably not the kind of reply your looking for, but doesn't it make sense for you to wait another year or two?

House prices would hopefully drop, you could save up a larger deposit, and you'll be time served so earning more. no?

Yea steve thats exacly what "I" am going to do, but i got so many people trying to persuade me to get a house with my girlfriend but i really will be living beyond my means!

The words that spring to mind,

Get on the property ladder!

The earlier you get on there the better

House prices will never drop

House prices only rise

LouLouHelen

What about a lodger? This might be a solution.

Keep yer chin up matey!

Dee123_2

Hi Dean

I bought my first place last year and yep!! it is incredibly expensive, especially on my own. I know I am very lucky to be a home owner (although there are some peeps who will call me daft for having bought recently - hey ho I needed somewhere to live at the end of the day). Mine is a one-bedroom house, not the two/three-bed you are aiming for - which is probably a good aim if you can get it. If you get into financial trouble you can rent rooms, with mine, I'd have to rent the whole house.

This is what you listed as a breakdown and some comment from me:

£77 - Council Tax - about right
£10 - TV Licence - correct
£15 - House insurance - probably, although you will get discounts if you shop around and are prepared to pay a year upfront instead of direct debits
£20 - Water - possibly a bit more than this but maybe your region is cheaper.
£48 - Electric - nahhh, maybe £20-£25 if you are careful
£48 - Gas - maybe £20-£25, it depends on your type of heating/cooker but I am assuming gas central heating.
£25 - BT phonebill - you'd pay this for a very heavy user tarriff all in
£25 - broadband - you can get it for £10-£15 now
£40 - Sky - if I were you, I wouldnt get this, buy a freeview box and if you must have more, get Top-Up. This gives you 70 odd channels free or £8 with TUTV.
£100 - Food - you could shave an easy £25 off this by getting deals/using markets/Lidls/Aldi etc.

Your car insurance bill is huge and wont fall much until you are 25. Public transport is to be considered but it means you wont have your no claims bonus when you get to £25. Do you have Fully Comp or Third Party. If the car value is low it might be worth just having Third Party.

If you are really determined to do this, maybe you could buy a small place which is in semi-decent condition and then rent it out for a few years till you build your furniture fund/backup money?

Remember the average age of the First Time Buyer is 34 (which I was) so you will still be well ahead of the game.

PS I also happen to be Canadian and i can tell you that the lifestyle is better there but the money is better here. Six of one......

Dee

Mark7799

I did a similar thing 15 years ago - then lost money as house prices fell after I met my wife and moved in with her.

Looking at your budget I would comment on the following
£77 - Council Tax - you can check how this will affect you before you buy any house
£10 - TV Licence
£15 - House insurance
£20 - Water
£48 - Electric - might be a bit less if you're on your own
£48 - Gas - ditto
£25 - BT phonebill - do you have a mobile as well?
£25 - broadband - see this site - can you get cheaper?
£40 - Sky - as you said, not an essential at present
£100 - Food - you'd be surprised how little you can spend when your mind is forced to concentrate!

Also, will you still want to go out as much when you have your own place? Are yopu looking to buy closer to work? Will your petrol costs change?

It won't be easy but think about all the options. Don't forget all the other costs involved in buying - solicitors, valuation fees etc - these can add to your costs? Have you also set a budget for furniture?

You mention you're in the third year of an apprenticeship - will you be able to command a higher salary when you've completed it? Is it worth waiting?

Finally, what about a sharer/lodger?

Just a few points to think about...

Sofa_Sogood

dean_ham wrote:

Forgive me if im posting in the wrong forum.

I'm not sure if it's in the right part of the site dean_ham, but I'm sure the guides will tell you where your Mum could possibly make savings on the outgoings she has, thus maybe helping you too?

Personally I'd advise anyone to get on the property ladder ... but I'm not genned up on how house prices are in your area. Or in general to be honest.

I'd definitely have a route around the Money Saving Old Style posts though ... you'd be surprised how much money they save!

Hope that helps a bit?

Sofa_Sogood

Sorry Mark 7799 .... our posts crossed.

gizmoleeds

My cousin moved to the US and says although products are cheaper (and this gap is narrowing) bills are more expensive. Something to bear in mind.

And I don't know why you blame the government - aside from taxes, none of those expenses are set by them and most are comparable to other countries. Is it Blair's fault you pay £40 a month for Sky, should Brown's budget include free food for you??

Lemoncurd

£77 - Council Tax >> alright for some! in the South East, 1 year ago we were paying £155pm in a 2 bed flat, for the last year we've been paying £176pm in a 3 bed semi and now it is £133pm in a 4 bed townhouse. You can find the band for a particular property here http://www.voa.gov.uk/
£10 - TV Licence
£15 - House insurance >> We pay £12.50 contents + £15.50 buildings
£20 - Water >> ours is £28pm on rates
£48 - Electric >> sounds high, we pay approx £50pm combined
£48 - Gas
£25 - BT phonebill >> The cheapest package is £10.50pm line rental, depends how much you use your phone, we only spend about £12pm total
£25 - broadband >> can do this much cheaper
£40 - Sky >> same as others have said + we have Sky+ and every channel we could possibly want for £30pm
£100 - Food >> sounds a lot if this is weekly, we spend less than £40 a week for 3 of us and I know we could save a lot on that if we were trying to.