Moving in with the missus for the first time
- Thread starter xraycat87
- Start date
Wage = £1730
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RENT - £500
Council Tax - £100
Car Insurance - £85
Food - £250
Phone bill - £80
Gas/ Elec/Water - £130
TV Liscence - £15
Net (76mb)/PHONE (Evening/weekends) with BT £36
Fuel £100
Car finance – 180
Its tight, like others have said.
Food (general shopping) - £250
This might not be enough. Some people can live on less, no doubt about it, but when you need to factor in for woman things and cleaning stuff, you'll start to wonder where the budget went.
Phone bill - £80
Assuming this is for 2x mobile phone contracts. After your contract is up, you should keep the phones you've got and get that down to at least half of what you're paying now.
Gas/ Elec/Water - £130
Might not be enough. Shouldn't be a great deal more, but my gas/elec bills are nowhere near as good as some other folks here suggest. I don't pay water though (well in Scotland its part of the council tax), but if I did, it'd probably push me over the £130 mark for a very small 2 bed semi, 80s built. Though I'm home a lot, so yours _should_ be lower than mine.
Car Insurance - £85
This is steep. There might be nothing you can do about this because you're a new driver, but go on the compare sites and mess about with putting you as the primary driver, then her, etc. Phone them up, ask them for the best deal (I did this with admiral, got a much better deal than the online quotes). Generally quite a bit cheaper if you can pay it up front.
Car finance – 180
On your budget I wouldn't bother. If you've still got a while yet left, consider listening to peoples suggestions.
Overflow - around £300
If you're the couple who sits in watching TV you can probably manage OK on £300 quid, but most folks won't be too happy. As others have pointed out, car maintenance ain't free. It might not break down, but your'e gonna need to pay for new tyres, services, mot, blah. This will basically mean you'll need to save up all your money for these events which doesn't sound awesome.
Savings
-_-
You don't need to listen to my opinions, but I'd try to claw as much money back as you can from the things mentioned if I were you.
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RENT - £500
Council Tax - £100
Car Insurance - £85
Food - £250
Phone bill - £80
Gas/ Elec/Water - £130
TV Liscence - £15
Net (76mb)/PHONE (Evening/weekends) with BT £36
Fuel £100
Car finance – 180
Its tight, like others have said.
Food (general shopping) - £250
This might not be enough. Some people can live on less, no doubt about it, but when you need to factor in for woman things and cleaning stuff, you'll start to wonder where the budget went.
Phone bill - £80
Assuming this is for 2x mobile phone contracts. After your contract is up, you should keep the phones you've got and get that down to at least half of what you're paying now.
Gas/ Elec/Water - £130
Might not be enough. Shouldn't be a great deal more, but my gas/elec bills are nowhere near as good as some other folks here suggest. I don't pay water though (well in Scotland its part of the council tax), but if I did, it'd probably push me over the £130 mark for a very small 2 bed semi, 80s built. Though I'm home a lot, so yours _should_ be lower than mine.
Car Insurance - £85
This is steep. There might be nothing you can do about this because you're a new driver, but go on the compare sites and mess about with putting you as the primary driver, then her, etc. Phone them up, ask them for the best deal (I did this with admiral, got a much better deal than the online quotes). Generally quite a bit cheaper if you can pay it up front.
Car finance – 180
On your budget I wouldn't bother. If you've still got a while yet left, consider listening to peoples suggestions.
Overflow - around £300
If you're the couple who sits in watching TV you can probably manage OK on £300 quid, but most folks won't be too happy. As others have pointed out, car maintenance ain't free. It might not break down, but your'e gonna need to pay for new tyres, services, mot, blah. This will basically mean you'll need to save up all your money for these events which doesn't sound awesome.
Savings
-_-
You don't need to listen to my opinions, but I'd try to claw as much money back as you can from the things mentioned if I were you.
Since when?
Not everyone eats Caviar on a daily basis
Don't be silly, of course they do!
As others have mentioned, you need to budget for groceries in general, not just for "food from the supermarket". Alcohol, pet food(?), washing powder/tablets, washing/cleaning supplies, bog roll etc, any medicines/remedies. Also, your list seems to be for breakfasts and evening meals only - you need to factor in for lunches as well.
Of course it's absolutely *possible* to live on less than £250 per month for food and other consumables - much less even. But, if you're wanting to feed two people 'comfortably' for three meals per day, including other non-food consumables, and without scrimping, you're probably looking at more like £75 per week (which is £325 per calendar month). More if you drink a lot at home or have pets.
Personally OP, I think you'll still be fine with the budget you have. You'll have very little room for "long term savings", and you'll need to restrict your nights out / meals out etc. You won't be much in the way of big purchases or expensive holidays, but you should manage without too much difficulty. Just make sure you manage to put a little aside each month (£100 at least) in order to cover unforseen expenses. They do seem to arise with alarming regularity...
I managed on a very similar budget for a few years. Not the world's most comfortable lifestyle, but certainly not "breadline".
Our combined Wage will be around £1800/month after tax. At our current jobs, so anything else (I am looking for something better) will be a bonus.
I know what some of you mean about it being depressing how a house can be that cheap. My mums house is the same size in Berkshire and she pays £900/month. It's half the reason we moved up north.
I still think £250 will be enough a month for a general shop. We don't have any pets so we wouldnt buy pet food. And we'd only use the washing machine for full loads which will be every few days so it wouldnt cost a bomb for that.
Furniture is a fair point but we know what we're getting into and expect the next 6 months to be tight. Thankfully we've got a bed, tv, sofa, washing machine, cooker and a few other things at the ready.
We've decided against having Sky so instead of a monthly bill of £75 ish its now £36/month for decent net so she and I can stream or download if theres something on. And play xbox/Guild Wars 2.
Our mobile phones are £35 and £25 a month each but we budgeted £80 just incase we went over for whatever reason. Her upgrade is in March so that might go down to about £19 depending on the phone.
Even a night out a week together wouldnt be that much. A pint here is about £2.20 and I dont drink more then 4/5 so £11 for 5 drinks on a friday isnt bad.. She on the other hand might be more expensive lol
I know what some of you mean about it being depressing how a house can be that cheap. My mums house is the same size in Berkshire and she pays £900/month. It's half the reason we moved up north.
I still think £250 will be enough a month for a general shop. We don't have any pets so we wouldnt buy pet food. And we'd only use the washing machine for full loads which will be every few days so it wouldnt cost a bomb for that.
Furniture is a fair point but we know what we're getting into and expect the next 6 months to be tight. Thankfully we've got a bed, tv, sofa, washing machine, cooker and a few other things at the ready.
We've decided against having Sky so instead of a monthly bill of £75 ish its now £36/month for decent net so she and I can stream or download if theres something on. And play xbox/Guild Wars 2.
Our mobile phones are £35 and £25 a month each but we budgeted £80 just incase we went over for whatever reason. Her upgrade is in March so that might go down to about £19 depending on the phone.
Even a night out a week together wouldnt be that much. A pint here is about £2.20 and I dont drink more then 4/5 so £11 for 5 drinks on a friday isnt bad.. She on the other hand might be more expensive lol
What do you mean it's unnecessary... it's the law?
OP good idea about ditching the Sky. We did the same thing because despite all the channels sometimes we still couldn't find anything decent to watch! We picked up a Freeview HD box instead and it's perfect.
Here's my outgoings for myself and gf living in a 2 bed semi:
Gym 20.00
Council Tax 148.00
TV License 24.25
Gas + Electricty 52.00 (ave)
Water supply 6.85
Water disposal 22.70
Phone + Broadband 25.00 (ave)
Home + Contents Insurance 17.38
Life insurance 20.98
Car insurance 34.71
Car tax 10.83
Lovefilm 7.99
Mortgage 771.65
Groceries 220.94 (ave)
Petrol 57.23 (ave)
Total £1416.51
Then on top of that you have things like nights out, meals out, clothes, gadgets, holidays, furniture, service/repairs for car, etc. It adds up very quickly!!
Gym 20.00
Council Tax 148.00
TV License 24.25
Gas + Electricty 52.00 (ave)
Water supply 6.85
Water disposal 22.70
Phone + Broadband 25.00 (ave)
Home + Contents Insurance 17.38
Life insurance 20.98
Car insurance 34.71
Car tax 10.83
Lovefilm 7.99
Mortgage 771.65
Groceries 220.94 (ave)
Petrol 57.23 (ave)
Total £1416.51
Then on top of that you have things like nights out, meals out, clothes, gadgets, holidays, furniture, service/repairs for car, etc. It adds up very quickly!!
Don't go crazy on food and 250 will cover it easily. Make a meal plan and stick to it- but what you need for that and don't go shopping with a mindset of "ooh I just fancy that thing that costs a few quid" several of those and you've added an extra 30 pounds onto your bill.
I found doing shopping online was great, even though Tesco food sucks. You can see what your bill is going to be as you add things, you get all the offers presented to you so you can take advantage of those e.g. buy brand x instead of y because it's half the price... unless you're REALLY particular about things.
Get a nice big freezer - most meals seem to work out to be for 4. You can freeze half of it if you don't fancy eating it again the next day. Otherwise you'll be eating two portions and will become a fat mess like me
I hate big bills, and even though I rarely have very little in my bank account after them at the end of the month it HAS happened. And it's an awful, awful feeling.
I found doing shopping online was great, even though Tesco food sucks. You can see what your bill is going to be as you add things, you get all the offers presented to you so you can take advantage of those e.g. buy brand x instead of y because it's half the price... unless you're REALLY particular about things.
Get a nice big freezer - most meals seem to work out to be for 4. You can freeze half of it if you don't fancy eating it again the next day. Otherwise you'll be eating two portions and will become a fat mess like me
I hate big bills, and even though I rarely have very little in my bank account after them at the end of the month it HAS happened. And it's an awful, awful feeling.
Don't go crazy on food and 250 will cover it easily. Make a meal plan and stick to it- but what you need for that and don't go shopping with a mindset of "ooh I just fancy that thing that costs a few quid" several of those and you've added an extra 30 pounds onto your bill.
I found doing shopping online was great, even though Tesco food sucks. You can see what your bill is going to be as you add things, you get all the offers presented to you so you can take advantage of those e.g. buy brand x instead of y because it's half the price... unless you're REALLY particular about things.
Get a nice big freezer - most meals seem to work out to be for 4. You can freeze half of it if you don't fancy eating it again the next day. Otherwise you'll be eating two portions and will become a fat mess like me
I hate big bills, and even though I rarely have very little in my bank account after them at the end of the month it HAS happened. And it's an awful, awful feeling.
Thats why she's the cook. We've had 3 days of ncie meals like Potatos, Chicken, Spag Bowl and it probably cost about £7 tops for 3 days so its not bad at all. Like you say a nice freeze would help, Mainly with things like Mince, you can get 400g instead of 200g for like 1/3 more so if you can freeze the other half, you save really.
I THINK things like loo roll/shampoo would be a once a month job
I think £250 p/m is more than enough for food.
You will just have to eat smart (not by buying value range).
Don't buy meat from a supermarket, bulk buy from a butchers. Cut down on "snacks". Markets are good for food, £1 bowls always gives you plenty of food if you eat in large quantities (i.e. fresh fruit and vegetables).
If you have access to a wholesaler, such as Costco or Booker, you can bulk buy all your rice and pasta (and other goods such as tinned tomatoes). If you have no access to these an Asian or Oriental supermarket will sell this in bulk much cheaper than the supermarkets.
Also cut down your mobile contracts, spending £1000 a year on communications per year is very high (mobile + land line), get smarter with your phone usage. Pay your BT land line 1 year in advance, that way it will be £10 p/m.
Also with your car, have you ever thought about a "Just Add Fuel" promotions? You get a new car with everything taken care of, no need to worry about nasty bills. You wont get an amazing car, but it will be "No Hassle".
You will just have to eat smart (not by buying value range).
Don't buy meat from a supermarket, bulk buy from a butchers. Cut down on "snacks". Markets are good for food, £1 bowls always gives you plenty of food if you eat in large quantities (i.e. fresh fruit and vegetables).
If you have access to a wholesaler, such as Costco or Booker, you can bulk buy all your rice and pasta (and other goods such as tinned tomatoes). If you have no access to these an Asian or Oriental supermarket will sell this in bulk much cheaper than the supermarkets.
Also cut down your mobile contracts, spending £1000 a year on communications per year is very high (mobile + land line), get smarter with your phone usage. Pay your BT land line 1 year in advance, that way it will be £10 p/m.
Also with your car, have you ever thought about a "Just Add Fuel" promotions? You get a new car with everything taken care of, no need to worry about nasty bills. You wont get an amazing car, but it will be "No Hassle".
I did miss washing powder and bog roll but these arnt too expensive. £2 for 6 large rolls and £5 for a big box of daz which will last ages
Alcohol should come out of savings IMO. Lunches can be easily made - pasta / salads and chicken. burgers etc I bring food into work all the time now as its so much cheaper and healthier
My bills are
£1250 wage
£400 rent
£150 - bills (council tax, electric, water)
£58 - gym (which I paid for all at once anyway)
I live in a 3 bedroom serviced appartment (we dont get the services part, just rent for a year) Bills are easily covered with £450 a month with left over for when heating is needed in winter. Cannot get sky or cable which is crap but we get free internet with the building. It is slow but fast enough for browsing and gaming.
Mot of my money at the moment is going on saving for holidays, weekends away, stag do's etc.
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Put it this way... you're lucky you're not living in London.
I had 850 per month rent alone. Then utilities ontop of that (council tax, water, gas, electricity, insurance). Then loan repayments, food and fuel bills. Monthly outgoings were over £1700 before I even had a chance to save money or spend any on fun stuff!
Living by yourself is quite a lot more expensive.
Ah well it was only for 7-8 years - it's easier when you split it with someone though, makes it a lot easier to save and have some spare cash for the frivolous side of life.
Now all loans are paid off and not living alone, outgoings have dramatically reduced down to around £700 per month. Making it much easier to breathe (and save!).
Just be sure to put some money aside, I know it's only £300, but try and cut things that you really don't need, and anything you save is a bonus.
Good luck and enjoy!
I had 850 per month rent alone. Then utilities ontop of that (council tax, water, gas, electricity, insurance). Then loan repayments, food and fuel bills. Monthly outgoings were over £1700 before I even had a chance to save money or spend any on fun stuff!
Living by yourself is quite a lot more expensive.Ah well it was only for 7-8 years - it's easier when you split it with someone though, makes it a lot easier to save and have some spare cash for the frivolous side of life.
Now all loans are paid off and not living alone, outgoings have dramatically reduced down to around £700 per month. Making it much easier to breathe (and save!).
Just be sure to put some money aside, I know it's only £300, but try and cut things that you really don't need, and anything you save is a bonus.
Good luck and enjoy!
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Women use mental amounts of bog roll and toiletries don't forget. Don't base it on your 1 deodorant, toothbrush and razor as she wont let on how much she uses either.
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- 18 Jul 2012
- Posts
- 458
Make sure you try to put a small amount away each month that you can fall back on, even if its only £20 then when an unexpected bill or your water bill comes through the door, you've got some money saved should you need it.
As somebody else has said there is nothing worse than counting the days until pay day!
I think you'll be fine on what you have planned but make sure you don't spend all of your spare cash each month. I found making a spreadsheet with all my outgoings really helped to cut out wasted money!
Also you will need money for pillows and items to make the house feel warm, just wait it'll happen
As somebody else has said there is nothing worse than counting the days until pay day!
I think you'll be fine on what you have planned but make sure you don't spend all of your spare cash each month. I found making a spreadsheet with all my outgoings really helped to cut out wasted money!
Also you will need money for pillows and items to make the house feel warm, just wait it'll happen
You've got me wondering what my food budget is.
£250 sounds pretty plausible. We buy a lot of stuff on clearance at Waitrose which means eating well works out cheaper than buying crap at tescos.
I'm going to echo the sentiment that 300 a month left over isn't a lot.
You want money set aside for your car breaking (a grand is sensible - I just spent 500 on a few minor bits for an elderly Golf) etc. and leisure stuff costs money.
You'll be surprised how quickly you get through your leftover just going to the pub for a couple of drinks/eating out/going the cinema a couple of nights a month. I was. I never went out much on my own but she gets grumpy if I don't take her out sometimes.
Going on holiday gets really expensive too even if you're doing something cheap. Again I'd set aside money for this.
One tip I would offer you with your utility bills - if it's one of those schemes where your direct debit varies with what you use pay like a hundred quid in a month in advance before they start billing you properly to get ahead of it.
We found that with our electricity we weren't getting billed much for the first quarter and then the bill was bigger when we sent in our first proper meter reading so if you're budgeting X per month and they only want Y pay the full amount you budgetted until what you're paying is stable.
Council tax - check if this is monthly or quarterly. Our local council initially wanted it quarterly broken down into two installments which was a) complicated and b) a lot more than monthly.
Getting a furnished place or part furnished place would save you some money tbh. We were looking at unfurnished but soon decided that we wanted white goods as minimum to save some money. The trade off of slightly crappy stuff vs. buying a load of stuff and having to worry if it breaks seemed worthwhile when we actually got down to renting.
edit
I got one of these and I think it saves us money. We're in a flat so no place to really hang out clothes to dry. Cheaper than running the dryer or heaters -
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p21736/Lakeland-Dry-Soon-Range
Is it OK me linking that? OCUK don't sell drying racks, right?
£250 sounds pretty plausible. We buy a lot of stuff on clearance at Waitrose which means eating well works out cheaper than buying crap at tescos.
I'm going to echo the sentiment that 300 a month left over isn't a lot.
You want money set aside for your car breaking (a grand is sensible - I just spent 500 on a few minor bits for an elderly Golf) etc. and leisure stuff costs money.
You'll be surprised how quickly you get through your leftover just going to the pub for a couple of drinks/eating out/going the cinema a couple of nights a month. I was. I never went out much on my own but she gets grumpy if I don't take her out sometimes.
Going on holiday gets really expensive too even if you're doing something cheap. Again I'd set aside money for this.
One tip I would offer you with your utility bills - if it's one of those schemes where your direct debit varies with what you use pay like a hundred quid in a month in advance before they start billing you properly to get ahead of it.
We found that with our electricity we weren't getting billed much for the first quarter and then the bill was bigger when we sent in our first proper meter reading so if you're budgeting X per month and they only want Y pay the full amount you budgetted until what you're paying is stable.
Council tax - check if this is monthly or quarterly. Our local council initially wanted it quarterly broken down into two installments which was a) complicated and b) a lot more than monthly.
Getting a furnished place or part furnished place would save you some money tbh. We were looking at unfurnished but soon decided that we wanted white goods as minimum to save some money. The trade off of slightly crappy stuff vs. buying a load of stuff and having to worry if it breaks seemed worthwhile when we actually got down to renting.
edit
I got one of these and I think it saves us money. We're in a flat so no place to really hang out clothes to dry. Cheaper than running the dryer or heaters -
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p21736/Lakeland-Dry-Soon-Range
Is it OK me linking that? OCUK don't sell drying racks, right?
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Ooh yeah- when you move in make sure that the central heating/water timers and thermostat(s) are set up correctly. An extra jumper thrown on yourselves is a lot cheaper than an unexpected £300 gas/electric bill.
Also there's no shame in freecycle/gumtree for furniture and whatnot to get you started (avoiding 2nd hand mattresses etc. of course).
Also there's no shame in freecycle/gumtree for furniture and whatnot to get you started (avoiding 2nd hand mattresses etc. of course).
You'll spend more than that. I don't know how, but you will. One night you'll get a takeaway instead of cooking, or you'll go out because she feels like the romance has gone now that you live together. It'll add up. Living in austerity so you can spend obscene amounts of money of bits of silicon is for single people. Girls like to buy little things like magazines and nuts that they don't eat, and other unnecessary stuff. You have to accept this as part of your budget.
Have a 'pot' for money that you buy groceries with and keep receipts. That way you can see what is getting purchased. If someone spent £30 on bathroom toiletries and un-needed rubbish or bought things they didnt use then I would be having a word.