Cost of moving out

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:25

I know there have been quite a few threads on this but if anyone could have a quick look at these figures and let me know if they're a reasonable estimation or if I'm missing anything then that would be great;

Rent 450
Council Tax 100
Water/Electric/Gas 120
Loan 222
Credit Cards 100
Virgin Media TV/Net/Phone 30
Gym 25
Usenet 8
Mobile 35
Food 250
Petrol 120
Car Insurance 40
Contents Insurance 10
Car Tax 15
Savings 100
TV License 12

TOTAL: £1,637

Looking at a 2 bedroom flat for me and my gf....

edit - my take home pay is £1450 (upto £2k with OT) and she's just part time at the moment on £300/month so total take home would be just £1750 a month basic at the moment, my loan ends in Sept though and she is looking for full time work. I'm thinking it's going to be too much trouble at the moment? I'm hoping if anything the above is over estimating on costs...

MotherMayI · 22 May 2009 at 19:27

Id be suprised if water, electric and gasser came to £120/mo for a 2 bedroom place.

mangobreeder · 22 May 2009 at 19:30

if its just you, your gas electric look a bit steep, £360 a quarter looks kinda high

250 a month on food for 1 person also seems pretty high.

Loan + Credit Card - why not wait until you paid these off? looks like your only making th minimum payment on you Credit card which suggests around 2k debt on there

whats £30 on the pc for? i dont think its the internet as thats included on your virgin media.

also whats you take home, if your taking home 3k per month then i say go for it.

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:30

What's it likely to be? I've tried to over estimate if anything at the moment.

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:33

Have ammended the original post and just put it down as CC bill, the £30 is £27/month but I rounded it up, it was finance on my PC, around £850 over 3 years I think.

The loan ends in Sept, and around 3k is on the CC's. Hoping the gf is back in full time work pretty soon, going to be too much of a struggle at our current wages I think (even with the loan paid off)

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:34

rollins said:
and £250 may be a bit high for 2 people for food. Me and the missus live together and our food bill comes out at about £180 pcm at the most.

Just get your stuff in bulk, and freeze a lot of food - chilli, soup, spag bol. All makes a difference. Farmfoods, Iceland and Aldi/Lidls are your friends. Oh, and stay away from ready meals, just cook yer own stuff, its definately cheaper.

Yeah I put it at £250/month as I'm getting back into bodybuilding, so it's probably going to be mostly for me, she doesn't eat a lot

[TW]Fox · 22 May 2009 at 19:34

If you have several thousand quid on credit cards I think I'd focus on getting your finances in order then move out - moving out is a huge financial commitment and surely it would be better to do it once you've got a clean slate financially? Take advantage of the fact you presumably live at home to clear all your debt first.

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:36

[TW]Fox;14128704 said:
If you have several thousand quid on credit cards I think I'd focus on getting your finances in order then move out - moving out is a huge financial commitment and surely it would be better to do it once you've got a clean slate financially? Take advantage of the fact you presumably live at home to clear all your debt first.

In an ideal world your right this is defently the sensible and most probably better option. We went to see a few flats on a new site that we really like today though and it's just got us wanting to move out asap!

And yep living at home at the moment, wish I'd sorted my finances out earlier than now but living at home I spent my money on fast cars, going out and holidays!

mangobreeder · 22 May 2009 at 19:36

[TW]Fox;14128704 said:
If you have several thousand quid on credit cards I think I'd focus on getting your finances in order then move out - moving out is a huge financial commitment and surely it would be better to do it once you've got a clean slate financially? Take advantage of the fact you presumably live at home to clear all your debt first.

+1 wait until you ahve paid off you loan and credit cards. then start.

goldilocks · 22 May 2009 at 19:38

My husband and I put in £650 pcm each in to the joint account to cover rent / bills / food
(rent is £650 on a 2 bed flat)
but that is not including petrol / car insurance / personal bills

Moving out costs to consider = deposit (usually 2 months rent), any white goods / furniture you need to buy, (washing machine + fridge freezer ~£500), and all the little things like sheets / towels / pots+pans etc seem to add up too!!

i would suggest that if your living expenses take up such a large proportion of your take home wage, you need to consider how much of a 'hit' your lifestyle is going to take. nights out / new clothes / take aways suddenly seems a lot less affordable when you work out what percentage of your available funds they take up!!

QlimaxUK · 22 May 2009 at 19:38

how is 'savings' a cost???

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:39

goldilocks said:
My husband and I put in £650 pcm each in to the joint account to cover rent / bills / food
(rent is £650 on a 2 bed flat)
but that is not including petrol / car insurance / personal bills

Moving out costs to consider = deposit (usually 2 months rent), any white goods / furniture you need to buy, (washing machine + fridge freezer ~£500), and all the little things like sheets / towels / pots+pans etc seem to add up too!!

Yeah it's going to costs us £350 in fees payable staight away and then £1000 rent for the first month, £450 after that on the flats we looked at.

Only problem is my debt really at the moment, £1k left on the loan and £3k on CC :\

VTR · 22 May 2009 at 19:43

rollins said:
Quoted for truth BIG TIME

Me and the missus got our house 3 years ago, and the first year was rough with bills and other wee things adding up. Thankfully we are both better of work wise, and are now paying off our debts and improving the house.

If you can, clear all the bills that you have, look at PAYG rather than contract phones, kill the Subscription TV and cut as much non required spending as you can. If its hard to visualize, look at how much you would save not having that debt within a year, and how much better of you would be with that in your pocket.

Stick it in an isa, get as much of your money working for you as you can, cos you are going to need it. Its hard, but soooo worth it. I'm glad I'm a homeowner, even if it was bought when prices were high.

Just trying to work out if the financial struggle for the next 6 months (at least!) is going to be worth it for the freedom. My mobile contract I'll be dropping as soon as it ends in July, added it down as a cost at the moment as I want to include everything and over estimate if anything.

I've put down £100/month savings also as we're going to save something each month for any unexpected bills etc.

Realistically, looking at the above, how much would we need as a min each month to get by? Don't mind struggling untill the loan is paid of but still trying to work it all out at the moment as I've lived at home all my life, 22 now and feel like it's time to move out if possible.

timbob · 22 May 2009 at 19:47

Why are you putting £100 a month into savings when you still have £3k on credit cards? Get it paid off ASAP, you're losing far more money on CC interest than you're gaining on interest in your savings account.

Welshy · 22 May 2009 at 20:19

Your money put aside for rent may need rethinking too, as landlords usually want a months rent in advance as a deposit, in addition to the first months rent. So, I'd add £450 for your first month.

ash_scotland88 · 22 May 2009 at 20:49

£250 used to feed my family of 4 when I was younger and buying extra stuff while in asda. Fair enough it wasnt allways high brand goods but parents budget didnt allow it so we didnt bother with it.

VTR · 23 May 2009 at 09:19

Cheers for all the advice so far, at the moment I'm not putting £100/month into savings but think it would be a good idea if I moved out, just so we have some money one side.

The CC is interest free for about another year so I'm not worrying about that at the moment, just paying the min on it.

[TW]Fox · 23 May 2009 at 09:26

VTR said:
Cheers for all the advice so far, at the moment I'm not putting £100/month into savings but think it would be a good idea if I moved out, just so we have some money one side.

The CC is interest free for about another year so I'm not worrying about that at the moment, just paying the min on it.

Thats the problem with interest free credit cards. You 'dont worry about it' because its interest free then when the interest free period ends bang, you've got 3 grand on a credit card at 20% APR because you only paid the minimum off and then it begins to spiral out of control.

It's really important that you clear the card BEFORE the end of the interest free period.

Skully · 23 May 2009 at 09:27

Costs me £700 a month for all my bills and rent on my own in a three bedroomed house.

Edinho · 23 May 2009 at 10:15

If I was you looking at where you live i'd buy not rent. Clear the credit card asap and get a mortgage, even if it means 2,3,4 years living with parents saving up. Renting unless oyu have good reasons for doing it isnt the best strategy long-term.