Advice about renting/salary

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Moggy
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Moggy » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:34 am

I would make a spreadsheet of your incomings and outgoings and see what you are left with. Obviously some things you will have to estimate as you will not know exactly how much you will spend on food or how much your electric/gas/water bills would be. It would be better to overestimate the outgoings as if they are less than you budgeted for then it just means you have some extra cash.

I know the "tee hee Staydead doesn't go out" jokes, but don't forget to budget in extra cash per month to enjoy yourself. Having just enough cash to pay the bills each month is no fun, make sure you budget in money for going out or buying games etc.

Once you have a decent idea of how much money you have left over, you can then look around to see what sort of place you can afford to rent.

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bigcheez2k3
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by bigcheez2k3 » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:35 am

Somebody Else's Problem wrote:
bigcheez2k3 wrote:By the sounds of it, surely you'd be better off renting a room than a whole flat?


This is what we have become. Living like skint students is no longer limited to skint students, but also people with actual, full-time careers.


#LondonProblems Anywhere else in the country that salary would probably be adequate, however here and the surrounding areas, no.

I'm just going to save as much as I can so I avoid paying rent.

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bigcheez2k3
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by bigcheez2k3 » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:37 am

Moggy wrote:I would make a spreadsheet of your incomings and outgoings and see what you are left with. Obviously some things you will have to estimate as you will not know exactly how much you will spend on food or how much your electric/gas/water bills would be. It would be better to overestimate the outgoings as if they are less than you budgeted for then it just means you have some extra cash.

I know the "tee hee Staydead doesn't go out" jokes, but don't forget to budget in extra cash per month to enjoy yourself. Having just enough cash to pay the bills each month is no fun, make sure you budget in money for going out or buying games etc.

Once you have a decent idea of how much money you have left over, you can then look around to see what sort of place you can afford to rent.


What you think is your budget + 10% would be a good idea? I know winter is more expensive because of heating.

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Moggy
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Moggy » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:39 am

bigcheez2k3 wrote:
Moggy wrote:I would make a spreadsheet of your incomings and outgoings and see what you are left with. Obviously some things you will have to estimate as you will not know exactly how much you will spend on food or how much your electric/gas/water bills would be. It would be better to overestimate the outgoings as if they are less than you budgeted for then it just means you have some extra cash.

I know the "tee hee Staydead doesn't go out" jokes, but don't forget to budget in extra cash per month to enjoy yourself. Having just enough cash to pay the bills each month is no fun, make sure you budget in money for going out or buying games etc.

Once you have a decent idea of how much money you have left over, you can then look around to see what sort of place you can afford to rent.


What you think is your budget + 10% would be a good idea? I know winter is more expensive because of heating.


Yeah at least that. It's always better to have more money than you think you have! Probably also worth budgeting in some savings each month as well, even if it's just £10-£50 a month, getting some cash saved away for rainy days is a good habit to get into.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Lagamorph » Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:50 am

Be sure to look into any schemes your employer might offer as well. A lot of London based employers might offer discounted travel cards or rail season tickets, usually by a Salary Sacrifice scheme so the discount is via paying less tax through the year.

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Gario
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Gario » Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:05 pm

Hime wrote:All this talk about rent makes me so glad my dad nagged the gooseberry fool out of me to save for a mortgage. That £15k has saved me a fortune.

Nice to see you're doing well in your career SD.



I should have a decent deposit in a few years as I've just opened a help to buy ISA and I'm putting across the maximum each month from my other savings account. My top priority is to shortly pay off a personal debt that appears on my credit file, which is the main thing preventing me from being accepted for a mortgage when I do apply for one. I'll probably be 35 or 36 when I finally have my own house - wish I had got my act together a lot sooner, but I spent my twenties partying heavily, getting into debt and not saving a penny. I also worked very hard but my salary didn't go far.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Gario » Sat Jan 09, 2016 12:46 pm

I've just been accepted for a credit card with a hideous interest rate but I'm going to use it strictly for my weekly food shop and pay it off in full each month. Martin Lewis says this should help to boost my credit score. I'm finally starting to be responsible.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Shadow » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:01 pm

When you're doing estimates you should round everything up and assume worst cases.

Once you've done that portion yourself some buffer money each month, maybe £200. That can be for buying games, clothes, cinema of whatever.

You don't want to end up just scraping by, you'd be better off staying at home until your income rises (and hopefully you have some good savings).

Have you looked for a bedsit? My friend used to live in one, he had an en suite, but shared a kitchen with 4 others. It was a decent amount of space and much cheaper than a flat, plus he benefitted from shared council tax, energy and Internet costs.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Green Gecko » Sat Jan 09, 2016 1:39 pm

Something like YNAB might help with this if you like software: http://www.youneedabudget.com

Use the free trial and free advice videos and forum etc to help you set up your first budget and see what really happens before you move out. Personal budgeting isn't about just "having a budget". It's about keeping an accurate record of what actually happens, and then adjusting the budget, whether that's each week, each month, whatever. You can start with just recording what you spend now, or "practice" spending by putting money aside you think you'll need, and building up a picture of at least something, such as spending money (games etc). You can get other estimates from here or looking at bill tarrifs online, broadband deals, council tax bands, etc.

YNAB comes with a reasonable "chart of accounts" (here called "categories") of spending that you can start punching numbers into.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by <]:^D » Sat Jan 09, 2016 3:15 pm

''chinese cartoons'' :lol:

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Joer » Sat Jan 09, 2016 3:42 pm

I've had mine budgeted for a while and my outgoings still seem massive for someone living alone. Feel like I spend way more than I need to.

Rent: £435
Car Insurance: £95.42
Car Tax: £20.12
Petrol: £50.00
Netflix: £6.99
Spotify: £9.99
Council Tax: £77.00
Mobile Phone Bill: £37
Phone/Internet: £42.86
Water: £38.80
Gas: £6.00
Electric: £50
Food: £50
Misc: £30


Based on that my outgoings are about £940, so I basically leave £1000 in my current account and throw the rest/as much as I can into my savings. But my issue is I always use my credit card to buy stuff throughout the month then end up with something like a £500 bill or something to pay off at the end of it. I'd probably be better off without the credit card and sticking to some kind of cash only scheme as i'm sure that would help me budget the rest. I never worry about money and basically just do what I want, but it's the saving up that causes me the biggest issue. I want to save for a mortgage but can't get close to being able to afford a deposit at the moment.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Green Gecko » Sat Jan 09, 2016 3:52 pm

Don't you budget for the credit spend and pay it off each month to earn cashback or build your credit rating? If not why do you use a credit card at all if you have the money? If you're paying monthly interest on that by not paying it off, seems pointless.

A reasonable chunk of your outgoings are you car which you can't do a great deal about if you have to drive.

You could drop to Spotify free, or go for a yearly subscription to something like Google Music and upload MP3s, which I think is cheaper overall.

You can also get free access to Deezer or Spotify with several mobile phone contracts, if yours is up for renewal too. £37 is really quite expensive. It would be cheaper to go SIM only and/or buy a sim free phone on credit and pay off the equivalent contract length per month.

Your broadband is also expensive. I pay £28 per month including like rental for max speed adsl. Assuming you have fibre, you could switch provider at end of contract to something with 3 to 9 months free or half price etc, making it cheaper overall.

The simple act of budgeting, giving each £ a "job" will help you save money. It's a highly likely cumulative effect of conscious spending. The first thing you should do is sort out the credit card stuff and budget an entire month based on what your actual income is, including how much you want to put away each month, and then work from there. Until you know what you're really spending (down to the £) you can't make much progress. From there each month you can identify efficiencies to increase the amount you put away each month. For example, here is a very fast way to save money over a year in months:

1. £1
2. £2
3. £4
4. £8
5. £16
6. 32
7. 64
8. 128
9. 256
10. 512
11. 1024
12. 2048

Total: £4095

It also helps you count RAM.

Ok smooth that out at the end but you get the idea. You can use a different exponential. The idea is you get better at saving money each month, until you have built up a cash reserve for whatever you need.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Gario » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:04 pm

Joer wrote:I've had mine budgeted for a while and my outgoings still seem massive for someone living alone. Feel like I spend way more than I need to.

Rent: £435
Car Insurance: £95.42
Car Tax: £20.12
Petrol: £50.00
Netflix: £6.99
Spotify: £9.99
Council Tax: £77.00
Mobile Phone Bill: £37
Phone/Internet: £42.86
Water: £38.80
Gas: £6.00
Electric: £50
Food: £50
Misc: £30.


Joer, I also live alone so I appreciate the position you're in. Here's my advice: give your water provider and up-to-date meter reading and try to renegotiate your monthly payment as it seems very high. I negotiated mine down to £19 a month when my ex moved out. It has since crept up to £23 and seems to be about right now. I shower every day, do washing 1-2 times a week and use my dishwasher 1-2 times a week.

Consider switching to Virgin broadband if possible. Then you don't need to pay for a phone line, which you also can live without given that you own a mobile phone. I pay £27 for 70mb broadband.

Do you have any mates who will let you use their Netflix log-in details? Most of my friends share their passwords with each other. Or you can cancel and use mine for £2 a month if you like. I pay £8.99 for multiple screens and 4K.

Your car insurance is very high. I assume you've got a history of claims or you're young and haven't been driving for long, or both. Rest assured this will come down in price next year and obviously shop around before you renew.

Your food budget is very impressive.

I've become good at switching providers and negotiating down. I recently shaved £30 off my outgoings by switching from BG to e-on and downgrading my broadband - which then went back up almost what I was via a free upgrade boost.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Green Gecko » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:08 pm

You can also ask to get a water meter fitted if there isn't one. Often this is free as it's some sort of government incentive. That's really high. If you are living alone, it is very likely to be cheaper this way. I think we pay about £160 every 6 months, which is £26.60 per month.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Gario » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:13 pm

Yep, no reason a single tenant should be paying more than I do for water, which is £23. Cut down on your baths!

Switching gas and electricity suppliers is a no brainer if you can get out of your current contract without an exit fee. All that matters with gas and leccy is the unit price surely.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Joer » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:26 pm

Thanks for the advice guys, i've had a quick look at YNAB but couldn't quite get my head around it so will probably just buy a fresh pad specifically for budgeting and use that instead. I use my credit card purely as I get cashback, but the amount I get is minimal - 50p per every £100. I've got back about £13 in the two years or so since I had it which is £13 of free money, but I could quite easily get rid of the card. In regards to my phone i've just got a new one a month or two ago, I got the 6S which was a free handset with £73.50 cashback, but the high monthly outgoing. I'm not too sure when things such as my broadband are up for it's renewal, i'm with BT at the moment so will have to have a look into that. I'm guessing they wont let me cancel mid term and will obviously have no reason to reduce my bill (it does also include sports which I could get rid of and just stick to streaming).

I've not thought about sharing a Netflix account actually. I might take you up on that offer if I can't find a family member who has one I could share with. My car insurance is high as it's my first car, i've got a black box and it went down in price by about a tenner a month but it's still ridiculous. :lol: My food bill is quite easily as I eat so poorly, I eat a lot of frozen foods and very rarely buy fresh. Realistically now I think about it my food bill is probably a bit higher than that at about the £70 mark.

I've set myself the goal of saving a minimum of £200 a month, ideally £250. I'm earning more than enough to do that, it just means reducing the impulse purchases.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Joer » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:27 pm

Wait a second, i've just realised i'm not paying £38.80. I wrote that in my budgeting diary a few months ago but i'm just looking at my bills i've been paying based on what you've said and it's actually £16.69. :lol:

EDIT: My gas bill is wrong too. That's £20.00 a month now. I wonder how much of this has changed and i've just not even noticed. :lol:

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Gario » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:36 pm

Sympathy eroded.

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Green Gecko
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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Green Gecko » Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:24 pm

Gario wrote:Yep, no reason a single tenant should be paying more than I do for water, which is £23. Cut down on your baths!

Switching gas and electricity suppliers is a no brainer if you can get out of your current contract without an exit fee. All that matters with gas and leccy is the unit price surely.

You can also get a yearly discount on each gas and electronic if you pay by monthly direct debit and there are also some paperless/online only discounts.

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PostRe: Advice about renting/salary
by Green Gecko » Sat Jan 09, 2016 7:27 pm

Joer wrote:Wait a second, i've just realised i'm not paying £38.80. I wrote that in my budgeting diary a few months ago but i'm just looking at my bills i've been paying based on what you've said and it's actually £16.69. :lol:

EDIT: My gas bill is wrong too. That's £20.00 a month now. I wonder how much of this has changed and i've just not even noticed. :lol:

You'll want to check if that includes line rental.

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