working out a budget

debrag

I was wondering how I can workout how much household bills could be each month so that I know how much I can afford in rent.

I currently live in a house share with bills included, a friend lives in a studio with bills included. If we were to share a place together we would most likely be looking at bills on top of rent.

We live in London, one works WC, the other NW.

How much should I be putting aside for emergences? Should I wait till I finish paying off my debt in 3/4 years time.

Jacks_xxx

:wave: Hey sweetie,

is there any way that you can find out what kind of level of "billage" you pay where you are now? It seems to me that that might be a good indication.

Reading lots of SOA's helped me realise we were paying too much for some things - so it might give you an idea of the range.

Going through the budget calculator might be a good idea as well so that you don't miss anything out in your calculations. (lots of people who aren't used to paying household bills remember the biggies like gas and leccy but forget Council Tax, TV Licence and Contents Insurance (Plus water and land-line phone sometimes!)

Will increased travel costs be a factor? Or will travel costs go down?

Council tax charges *should* be on the website of whichever council area you'll be moving into.

Have you got friends and colleagues you could ask?

Just as a rough jumping off point here's our basic monthly bills on a tiny victorian 3 bed house in a reasonably expensive area:


GAS & LECCY £80 (this is a bit of a guess though cos they over charged us for so long we 've never actually paid what we should. I recorded our actual useage off the meters for 4 months over winter and we used that as a guide. I wanna change providers, but I keep waiting to see what's going to happen.
SOUTH EAST WATER £17.13 (meter)
HOUSE INSURANCE £17.13
COUNCIL TAX £156.00
TV LICENCE £11.37
PHONE £15 (We use it very little and after 6pm whenever possible. I try not to have big chatty sessions on the phone to set a good example to the kids! )
HUB’S LIFE INSURANCE £33.04
INTERNET £25.19 (the super dooper fast reliable one Hubby needs for working at home)
SKY £21.00 We added some new channels recently cos Hubby was really missing rolling news at the weekends and Time Team / Animal Planet etc Bless him.

Anyway,

I dunno if all that's any use to you honey, but I think if you go into this with your eyes open, and don't kid yourself you'll be Ok.

Love Jacks xxx

debrag

thanks

yeah I'm thinking off:

Gas
Electric
Water
Virgin/sky package
Council tax
travel (will go up)

jak

My bills for 2 of us are as follows:
Gas- n/a
Electircic: £40
Water- n/a
Sky: 18
Net: 15.99
phone: 25
ct: 95
Travel: 0
Hope that helps
J
X

debrag

so £200 between us should cover everything then ish

Jacks_xxx

Well... a bit of a turn up for the books...

My son's just emailed me to ask if I think he can afford to take over someone's place in a flatshare and he says his share of the bills will be £200 a month plus £600 rent. (plus food, his car insurance, car tax and maintenance, his laptop loan, petrol, and his mobile phone bill which adds up to £1300 a month and he only earns £1600.

On the face of it it looks pretty tight, so I'm a bit worried

But he can get free phone line and internet through his job, and he reckons his ahem "Genius Mum" can help them cut down the rest of the bills.

He says he's used to the ambient temperature indoors being a steady 16 degrees for most of the year, and having to plan ahead for hot water, and he *likes* baked beans! But will his flat mate want to live like that? And the contents insurance will have to go up to cover the laptop, games systems, guitars, amps and drum kits etc that he'll be taking with him.

I'd rather he waited. But on the bright side I gain a laundry / ironing room if he moves out !

Love Jacks xxx

debrag

thats not that tight, leaves him £300.

Jacks_xxx

debrag wrote: »

thats not that tight, leaves him £300.

Well it wouldn't be tight for me honey. I'd blummin LOVE to have £300 a month left over once I'd paid for everything - but living at home he currently has £900 a month left over after he's paid for everything and yet there always seems to be too much month left at the end of the money!

I just don't want him to get in a mess.

What about you chick - looked at any flats yet?

Love Jacks xxx