help me work out new budget

inthegreen · 12 July 2007 at 4:54PM

I am in the process of buying a shared ownership new build 2 bed flat (sold marital home (£820 a month at mo)and moving out of the single room I rent (£380 a month at mo)so saving money!!)

I want to try and work out my new budget in advance but need some help with figures and whether I have allowed for everything.

Mortgage 440
rent 274
service charge 53
council tax including 25% disc 81
contents (buildings done by freeholder) ????
mortgage/income/critical illness protection ????
house phone - how much is BT?
TV Licence - 11.99???
Gas ???
Water ???
Electricity???
Internet - could get free with orange
not having sky.

I haven't included things that will stay the same (food, horse, company car so no payments there, debt repayments (waiting for bank charges of about £5100 so should clear a lump sum)

Are there any other household bills I have forgotten, can anyone help me fill in the blanks on the figures?

Are there any other bills I have forgotten?

Also I will have some furniture that I will need to buy with some of the equity from the last house. I will need a sofa, bed, guest bed, wardrobes and some kitchen bits. I would rather go for quality than quantity. Any tips for getting the best deals (yes I will avoid DFS and their plans like the plague!!!!)

Thank you
:beer:

newlywed · 12 July 2007 at 4:58PM

We have a 2 bed flat and for electricity (and electric cooker) we use about £1 a day - but OH does refuse to turn things off and uses standby instead. (No electric shower or tumble dryer).

For gas when it's just water heating up twice a day we use about £5 a week but when the heating is on in winter It works out about £40+ a month just to have the heating on for a few hours a day :eek:

Then again, both of these are on prepayment meters so probably quite high - but that means no nasty bills

inthegreen · 12 July 2007 at 5:01PM

would you recommend a prepayment meter? I have always paid monthly by giving exact readings and paying by debit card

newlywed · 12 July 2007 at 5:06PM

Well on the one hand it is usually more expensive to pay that way. It is very annoying when in the middle of cooking the electricity runs out and you have to go and take the key out and put it back in to trigger "emergency" money. It is also annoying when it's cold outside and tipping down with rain and you have to go out to put money on the card so you can have a bath coz it ran out and you forgot to check it (or money ran out). Oh yeah and you can only top it up when the shop is open so if it runs out in the night you are pretty much stuffed!!

But if money is tight and you are running low on funds then you can keep a careful eye on it and turn heating off if needed or go without hot water for a couple of days till payday.

Would absolutely hate to run out of electricity completely though!!!

Pro's and con's.

I'd switch to DD for electricity any day to make sure it never ran out but OH likes the prepay and his name's on the bill

Oh yeah and a friend used to have prepay and overslept every time her electricity ran out in the night as she had an electric alarm clock!!!

yellowmonkey · 12 July 2007 at 5:18PM

Personally i love my pre payment meter. I know it is more expensive but you know what you are spending each month and it is easy to use. Mind you at xmas i have to double the amount i put on the electric as my display (in consumption) rivals that of the blackpool lights :rotfl:. I do apologise for mentioning the x word but i love it :T

ym

inthegreen · 12 July 2007 at 5:20PM

yeah I'll be able to have a christmas tree you've got me all excited now!!:j

inthegreen · 13 July 2007 at 4:33PM

:j

any more tips or guesses on amounts I wil be paying

thanks:T

RAS · 13 July 2007 at 5:08PM

BT is about £13 per month line rental. read martin's article on free evening and weekend calls.

angelavdavis · 13 July 2007 at 6:28PM

Hi there,

Martin has an article on home and contents insurance

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/home-insurance

You can actually go onto the sites and ask for a no obligation quote for contents to get a good budgetary guide. If you imagine roughly the cost for replacing your stuff first, then total this and ask for that cover as a total.

You can also do the same and get a quote for the other insurances too.

reformedEffortMaker_2 · 13 July 2007 at 9:22PM

inthegreen-have you looked at Martin's budget planner?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning#planner

this lists things i would never have thought of including in my monthly budget! and the auto calculator makes it even more useful

JillD_2 · 13 July 2007 at 11:24PM

no advice sorry but wanted to say, reading your signature how fantastically well you have done you must be well chuffed

:T :T

help me work out new budget

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