[Bostock73]

Hi everyone.
So I graduate with a 1st in Music Production. Solid qualification, right? Not quite. As the way is with the world, i'm now looking at work as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant. Yep. The recession pushes you in strange directions....

Anyway, the basic salary (minimum) is £18,000 a year, so i'm looking at £1,500 a month.
I live in Coventry, but I want to move away, not too far, the job will be in Birmingham.
I need a flat, and I need to estimate how much 'spare cash' i'll have after tax, bills etc.

Basically, to make sure I can afford everything and stay comfortable. We have to start somewhere...

So the flats come in between £450 - £500, so let's say £500.
As for tax etc.... i'm clueless! I did a little tax calculation, including my student loan, and it comes in around £190 a month. Sound about right? Or am I reading it wrong? Take a look...




Aside from that, what else needs to be payed for?
Water? Gas? Electricity? How much usually comes out from there? (I know it depends on usage, but as an average - and how would it work in a rented apartment?)

So... thus far -
£1,500
- £500
- £200

= £800.

I'll need broadband, at around £20, and I have an iPhone bill at 50... so let's say 100.

- £100
= £700.

Do you think I'll be ok?
I'm just real worried right now, but I'll have to start the ball rolling soon.
Thanks guys!

- MCB.

[kaosu_souzousha]

Food? 80-100£ a month
Clothes?
Hygiene? ( Razor, Shaving gel, toothbrush, shampoo)
TV License?

[Bostock73]

I guess the 'spare cash' i'm talking about will cover those things.
I'm looking at stuff that will come out of my incomings with out me touching it, if that makes sense.
Do you think these incomings/outgoings are suitable? Feasible to live off?

[tbm]

You need to think about council tax too, if you look on the council website where you're moving too it should say how much.

Television? Sky etc

Insurance? (ie home, contents)

Travel - train, bus, petrol, car insurance etc

[TravelGuru]

OK. I take it you've never had real bills to pay before judging from your post, therefore here is a breakdown of what you will need to pay.Some may not be applicable I'm just posting what mine are

TV Licence
Water
Gas
Electric
Council Tax
Mobile Phone
Landline
Food Shopping
Car Insurance
Broadband
Home Insurance

There are probably more, those are just mine.

[Bostock73]

Thanks guys. I'll be living alone, in a 1 bedroom flat.
Do you think £1,500 is comfortable enough to live off plus the bills you have mentioned?
Is your salary anywhere near this amount?

[TravelGuru]

(Original post by Bostock73)
Thanks guys. I'll be living alone, in a 1 bedroom flat.
Do you think £1,500 is comfortable enough to live off plus the bills you have mentioned?
Is your salary anywhere near this amount?

My salary was quite a lot higher than that, but I think you've got the average graduate salary, they don't pay too well (recruitment consultants) but I understand the position you're in, which is the same as MANY MANY other student graduates. I think you'll be able to live off that salary, but you won't have much left to play with at the end of the month if I'm honest.

What part of the country do you plan to rent in (forgive me if you've already said this), I ask because obviously living in or within a 50 mile radius of london will affect your bills because rent will be very expensive.

Don't forget heating bills and water bills will be fairly low as it is just you in the accomodation. I predict you will probably have about £200 - 250 spare income per month.

[Quady]

Pension... :P
£50-100/month

[emmings]

Eh? Where did you get £1500 from? Your net pay will be £1172 according to that calculator, which looks right.

[suzie101]

As the poster above said you will only be taking home £1172 each month not £1500.
Obviously things will vary on where you live etc but roughly this is what you could expect to pay (council tax / water is based on my flat)

Food - £100
TV Licence - £12.08
Water - £37.50
Gas - £25
Electric - £20
Council Tax - £47 (including single person discount)
Mobile Phone - £50
Broadband - £20
Home Insurance £10
Rent - £500

Monthly cost = £821 so you should have around £350 a month left

[libbyb]

(Original post by Bostock73)
Thanks guys. I'll be living alone, in a 1 bedroom flat.
Do you think £1,500 is comfortable enough to live off plus the bills you have mentioned?
Is your salary anywhere near this amount?

Last year I lived in Sheffield in a house share with 2 friends, bringing in £800 per month. My rent was only £165 pcm without bills. We didn't have to pay council tax because the contracts were per room and not based on the house - you cannot split council tax per unit.

I had a car which I used to commute, the bills were split. I used to have about £100 left a month, though I did pay my insurance in one go.

This year I have gone up to £600 rent pcm (sharing with the bf) and now I have to pay council tax £93 per month... I am paying car insurance monthly and everything else as well, split by 2 not 3.

If I were you I would think about getting a houseshare and not having to pay council tax. That is killing me each month. And it means you split the bills.

Do you need to move to a city where you don't know anyone to live on your own? Having housemates will make it easier to meet people and help your pocket.

Advice from someone who's trying to survive off £400 a month! SAVE EVERY PENNY!!

[suzie101]

(Original post by libbyb)
Last year I lived in Sheffield in a house share with 2 friends. We didn't have to pay council tax because the contracts were per room and not based on the house - you cannot split council tax per unit.

If I were you I would think about getting a houseshare and not having to pay council tax. !

Im no idea how you managed to get away without paying council tax - its per a house not per a room, its up to the individual tenants to split it between themselves. The only reason you wouldn't have paid council tax would be if your landlord paid it for you.

[libbyb]

(Original post by suzie101)
Im no idea how you managed to get away without paying council tax - its per a house not per a room, its up to the individual tenants to split it between themselves. The only reason you wouldn't have paid council tax would be if your landlord paid it for you.

Well I went to my council office in Sheffield to go and pay the first bill which we got through (because the landlord set it up) and I went to see if I could claim Local Housing Allowance while I was there so took my contract in with me, and they turned round and said it was the landlord's responsibility because we weren't renting out the house as a whole but per room and shared living space...!

The landlord wasn't impressed at all, but if the council were saying I didn't have to pay I wasn't gonna pay it!

I found this on the Sheffield City Council website http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/council-...for-landlords:

Are there times when the owner is always liable?

In some situations the owner rather than the tenants of a property is always liable for Council Tax.

Owners of Care Homes, owners of properties occupied by religious communities, owners of properties occupied by staff in domestic service, properties occupied by serving Ministers of Religion, owners of properties used to house Asylum Seekers.

More commonly, are those properties that are classed as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

What is a HMO?

There are a number of different definitions of what is a HMO, such as for Environmental Health or Housing issues, as well as Council Tax.

The definition below only applies to Council Tax.


* A property that has been built or adapted for tenants or licensees to live in, who are not living as a single household,

OR


* A property lived in by a person or persons, each of whom has a tenancy or licence to live in only part of the property or who pays rent or a fee for only part of the property.

[modgepodge]

Also, if you're living by yourself heating, gas, etc will be MORE than if you were in a flat share. If you share with 2 others it doesn't cost 3x as much to heat the house, it will cost a tiny amount more, and you'd be splitting the bill 3 ways. I strongly suggest you share a flat - I graduated on £21,000 plus bonuses (say £150per month) and rarely had much left, and I shared with 3 other people.

[suzie101]

(Original post by modgepodge)
Also, if you're living by yourself heating, gas, etc will be MORE than if you were in a flat share. If you share with 2 others it doesn't cost 3x as much to heat the house, it will cost a tiny amount more, and you'd be splitting the bill 3 ways. I strongly suggest you share a flat - I graduated on £21,000 plus bonuses (say £150per month) and rarely had much left, and I shared with 3 other people.

Really? you must have been paying a hell of a lot? My OH graduated and is earning £15k and has at least half his monthly salary left

[modgepodge]

[QUOTE=suzie101;28845109]

(Original post by modgepodge)
Also, if you're living by yourself heating, gas, etc will be MORE than if you were in a flat share. If you share with 2 others it doesn't cost 3x as much to heat the house, it will cost a tiny amount more, and you'd be splitting the bill 3 ways. I strongly suggest you share a flat - I graduated on £21,000 plus bonuses (say £150per month) and rarely had much left, and I shared with 3 other people.[/QUOTE]

Really? you must have been paying a hell of a lot? My OH graduated and is earning £15k and has at least half his monthly salary left

I'm guessing your OH takes home about £1000 a month roughly? And has at least £500 free after paying all his bills? Thats impressive.

I was paying

Rent (incl) council tax - £345
Gas/electric - £30 ish
Car insurance - £40
Phone - £25
Water - £10
Broadband/tv etc - £15
Contents insurance - £10
Food - £100

That comes to £575, plus I lived 20 miles from work so I'd guess I was spending about £20-25 per week on fuel, which is nearly another £100 per month.

To be fair, I also had a very old car which ate lots of money in the form of new tyres, brakes, and god knows what else!

I still think it's brave for anyone to rent a place by themselves on £18k per year.

[suzie101]

(Original post by modgepodge)

I'm guessing your OH takes home about £1000 a month roughly? And has at least £500 free after paying all his bills? Thats impressive.

I was paying

Rent (incl) council tax - £345
Gas/electric - £30 ish
Car insurance - £40
Phone - £25
Water - £10
Broadband/tv etc - £15
Contents insurance - £10
Food - £100

That comes to £575, plus I lived 20 miles from work so I'd guess I was spending about £20-25 per week on fuel, which is nearly another £100 per month.

Well I suppose he does have a bit of an advantage as we live together so that reduces the cost on certain things - we have a fairly large 2 bed flat for only £200 each etc. I think after tax he takes home about £1,050 and his bills come to £475 a month. Although I suppose it would have worked out more per month but we paid for certain things upfront at the start of the year - like insurances + tv licence. Generally I think we are pretty lucky though as we live in the city - only a ten min walk into the centre so we rarely have to drive anywhere - often get the train to places etc and his job is literally around the corner from the flat so another saving on fuel - In an average week probably do less than 30 miles - shopping, swimming and visiting family so really only fill up every two months or so.

I do agree though living with others certainly reduces costs - rent is probably where the most saving has been made - most 1 bed flats in the area are £375 yet we have a 2 bed for only £25 a month more - so it certainly works out more cost effective for us to live together.

[modgepodge]

[QUOTE=suzie101;28876999]

(Original post by modgepodge)

Well I suppose he does have a bit of an advantage as we live together so that reduces the cost on certain things - we have a fairly large 2 bed flat for only £200 each etc. I think after tax he takes home about £1,050 and his bills come to £475 a month. Although I suppose it would have worked out more per month but we paid for certain things upfront at the start of the year - like insurances + tv licence. Generally I think we are pretty lucky though as we live in the city - only a ten min walk into the centre so we rarely have to drive anywhere - often get the train to places etc and his job is literally around the corner from the flat so another saving on fuel - In an average week probably do less than 30 miles - shopping, swimming and visiting family so really only fill up every two months or so.

I do agree though living with others certainly reduces costs - rent is probably where the most saving has been made - most 1 bed flats in the area are £375 yet we have a 2 bed for only £25 a month more - so it certainly works out more cost effective for us to live together.

where do you live?! My 1 bed flat is £675 per month......

[Quady]

[QUOTE=modgepodge;28880080]

(Original post by suzie101)

where do you live?! My 1 bed flat is £675 per month......

You decided to live someone expensive my friend :P

I have a nice furnished semi detached house for £400/month. But yeah its in Warrington.

[suzie101]

(Original post by modgepodge)

where do you live?! My 1 bed flat is £675 per month......

South Wales - Two beds, front and back gardens - but yeah places are relatively cheap round here - could of got a 3 bed house for £450

EDIT - Not sure why the quotes above have gone wierd? - seem to have mixed up mine and modgepodge's posts. lol.