am i spending too much on rent?

Salary is 30k. Rent is £825pcm, council tax is ~£85, obviously not including bills at all. I'm getting the feeling that I'm spending a bit too much on rent? i live reasonably frugally but cant figure out if the rent is a bit excessive or not.
can anyone help me on whether its quite difficult to save after spending this much on rent pm?
Its a studio flat, I haven't started the job yet or moved in. thanks.

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Reply 1

Muhammedwaggeh

Start the job and move in and we can have five conversation later, cheers.

Reply 2

GabiAbi84

Original post by jamesgillian123

What area is this in?

Reply 3

jamesgillian123

Original post by GabiAbi84

What area is this in?

nottingham

Reply 4

black tea

I don't know what the average rent is in Nottingham but that does seem like rather a lot for a studio flat.

Reply 5

jamesgillian123

Original post by black tea

I don't know what the average rent is in Nottingham but that does seem like rather a lot for a studio flat.

yes its a little bit above average, but is quite big and has a lot of what I'm looking for (location, size etc), essentially I'm tryna figure out if i can afford it or if ill need to downgrade to one that's maybe 700pcm

Reply 6

jamesgillian123

as post above, its quite a nice studio flat with a lot of what I'm looking for so its a nice location, very big, lots of modern appliances, i say studio but its like a big room with a separate kitchen that doesn't have a door.

Reply 7

Neilos

You'd probably be better off working out your total essential housing costs - rent + council tax + utilities - and making a decision based on that figure, not the £825 pcm. Thinking just in terms of the rent when there are other unavoidable costs as well might give a false sense of affordability.

Reply 8

black tea

Original post by jamesgillian123

The last studio I rented was under £400. Not the best area and not the nicest flat (though perfectly adequate) but if saving money is the priority, you have to make sacrifices. It all comes down to what your priorities are really.

Reply 9

jamesgillian123

Original post by Neilos

ive just done a little calculating, some figures are overstimates just incase
825 rent
100 on electricity (flat is all electric)
15 on water
30 on internet
200 on food
10 on contents insurance
15 on phone
89 council tax
16 on gym, 8 on tennis club, 10 on Spotify,

all leaves me with £606. Which to me, seems reasonable? i question it because after a bit of googling I see that most people on 25-30k are living in flat shares at 500-600pm with less on bills etc, I don't live particularly expensive lifestyle but this seems to leave a decent amount of room for a few £20 dinners and £100-200 on clothes (which would only be a couple times a year anyway), just feel like I'm missing something based on other people having flat shares at similar salaries?

also to add, I don't use any TV so no netflix and no tv license

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 10

Scottishlad888

You can get a nice 1 bedroom flat in notts for £500 a month x 13 months as there is 13 months in a year and 52 weeks not 48 weeks in a year your council tax is normal but you can apply for a 25% discount to the council if you are a single person then you will have water to pay for as well and electric and gas

Reply 11

black tea

Original post by Scottishlad888

there is 13 months in a year

you what?

Reply 12

ANM775

Original post by jamesgillian123

what about tv licence and waste water?

Reply 13

jamesgillian123

Original post by ANM775

what about tv licence and waste water?

bottom of the post said no tv licence, what do u mean with waste water? haven't heard of that being a cost before

Reply 14

ANM775

Original post by jamesgillian123

bottom of the post said no tv licence, what do u mean with waste water? haven't heard of that being a cost before

you pay for water coming out of your tap.
then the dirty water going through your drains needs to be paid for as well, and that is called waste water.

luckily it's not much typically.

my water bill and waste water is put together in one bill and typically comes to £24 a month

they used to do mine separately and i got 2 bills but now they combine them.

Reply 15

jamesgillian123

Original post by ANM775

is it £24 for you alone? maybe my estimate was a little low

Reply 16

ANM775

Original post by jamesgillian123

is it £24 for you alone? maybe my estimate was a little low

yeah for me alone.

typically I have one 15 minute shower a day. That probably uses up the most water i reckon.

washing machine used perhaps once every 7 to 10 days on average.

Reply 17

jamesgillian123

Original post by ANM775

yeah for me alone.

typically I have one 15 minute shower a day. That probably uses up the most water i reckon.

washing machine used perhaps once every 7 to 10 days on average.

hmm ok, so with £20-30 on water do you think those estimates look reasonable? is £600 left over an alright amount, I'm hoping to be able to invest some of it.

Reply 18

ANM775

Original post by jamesgillian123

hmm ok, so with £20-30 on water do you think those estimates look reasonable? is £600 left over an alright amount, I'm hoping to be able to invest some of it.

yeah £20-30 sounds reasonable.

and yeah, i think you have a good amount left to play with.

Reply 19

Mr T 999

Original post by jamesgillian123

That's not a lot of money left over tbh. How do you plan on saving money? You can't be using all of it on diners, going out, general recreational usages. You need be a saving at least a decent amount each month.

You're rent is taking up 41% of your income that's a lot. If it was £600 then it'll take 30% of your income and you'll have an extra £225 a month in income.