Potential move to Edinburgh - need help with a budget

[susanjc9]

Hi, we are considering moving from the US to Edinburgh and I've been trying to research the cost of monthly utilities/bills, etc. Here is what I came up with for a family of 3 any feedback would be appreciated. We plan to live in a 2 or 3 bedroom flat in Morningside or Murrayfield and have 1 car.

Rent- 1500
3 cell phones -110
Gas - 80 (we like the house warm)
Electricity -70
Council Tax - 200
Petrol - 200
groceries -500
Eating out/Entertainment - 600
Cable/internet -70
Spending (clothes, homehold goods - 500
2 bus passes -100

So much depends!

Rent- 1500 - There or thereabouts yes.
3 cell phones -110 - Depends on use. Mine is £7.50 and I rarely go over the monthly talk/text/data but I don't use it loads, and use free wifi when it's available.
Gas - 80 (we like the house warm) - not a clue, but a lot of flats hold their warmth better than e.g. detached houses.
Electricity -70 - Not a clue
Council Tax -200- Not a clue
Petrol - 200 - That would do you a helluva high mileage, close to a tank a week, maybe 60 miles + a day? Unless you're driving a serious gas guzzler. Depends where you work and where kids go to school, As you haven't mentioned a budget for a private school I'm guessing if there is a child they'll go to as local a school as you can get them into. I live in Morningside and have a bus pass - sold my car, joined car club and occasionally use DH's car. Commuting to work takes roughly the same by car as by public transport so I ponce off the free tram wifi or read instead of getting stressed driving. Public transport is good and Edinburgh is fairly compact. Especially if you're starting point is M'side or M'field.
groceries -500 - Really depends on your personal tastes, but that would be plenty for this family of 3 plus cat.
Eating out/Entertainment -600 - as above, would be plenty for us but depends on your tastes. We like to eat out so I reckon you'd be fine on that budget.
Cable/internet -70 -No idea, sorry. DH takes care of that stuff!
Spending (clothes, homehold goods - 500 Depends! Sounds okay to me.
2 bus passes -100 - You're just about spot on there.

Don't know about Murrayfield but a flat in Morningside is likely to require a parking permit for your car(s). Prices vary, I'd imagine the Edinburgh council website gives details. There is usually a street somewhere nearby you can park for free, but if you want to park right outside it may cost you. I'm going to guess in the region of £200 per year. Unless you depend on a car daily for work/school run I'd recommend checking out www.enterprisecarclub.co.uk. If you do need a car to get to work you probably don't need a bus pass, although it's a very convenient thing to have.

If, like me when I did have a car, you are too tight to buy a parking permit and don't drive very often, you will get to have the odd experience of forgetting where you car is and having to roam the streets looking for it. Try not to do this when you're in a hurry and have a small child in tow. On the flipside, you may occasionally bag a free parking space so great that you refuse to drive for a few days or weeks. Around this time you may decide perhaps you don't need the car so much anymore. If you do join enterprise car club, try to remove any small children from the car before you end your session, even if you are running late.

Thanks for info! My husband would probably drive the car to work most days or some days if in a carpool so the bus passes would be for me and DD. We are considering private school but I didn't include that in the budget because we would pay for it with the proceeds from selling our house in the US for the first year and then I would try to get a job and use my salary to pay for school. The budget above would be based on his salary

Aha, well the bus pass for a child is cheaper. £25 per month for ages 5-15 if you pay monthly direct debit. Private school-wise, Watsons is easily walkable from Morningside.

lothianbuses.co.uk/tickets/ridacard

Like pp says so much depends on your lifestyle but rent, utilities, council tax etc sound about right. £600 on eating out is a lot but if you eat out a lot then maybe that's about right. I spend £110 a month on gas and elec in a 4 bed house so gas and elec maybe a bit high. You probably won't need the heating on in summer even if you do like it warm!

I lived in Edinburgh 20 years ago. I had a housemate who got rid of her car in the end because the council sold more permits than there were spaces. She wound up always coming home from evenings out early to make sure she got a space, then realised the buses ran later than she was coming back.

We were in a top floor tenement and barely used any gas as we effectively stole the heat from the four flats below us. I recently stayed in a modern flat in Edinburgh and it was baking hot all the time. I think flats just pass heat to each other a lot.

Rent- 1500: Not unrealistic.
3 cell phones -110: unless you are heavy users you'd probably get a bit off this.
Gas - 80 / Electricity -70: we have a 5 bed house and it's £93 per month, I don't run the house very warm but in a flat I'd say it'll be a fair bit lower.
Council Tax -200: fairly realistic
Petrol - 200: as others have said this seems very high, me and my husband both commute and it's 100-150 per month for the two cars
groceries -500 realistic
Eating out/Entertainment -600 High but easy done in Edinburgh 😬
Cable/internet -70: Realistic
Spending (clothes, homehold goods - 500: totally up to you
2 bus passes -100: seems about right.

Seems about right to me except for the car issue.
If you're buying over here look at emissions as tax and parking permits depend on emission levels.
Commuting daily by car in edinburgh is an unbelievable PITA. Where will he work? It really is worth trying to make public transport work unless he's actually in a travelling job.

I think your heating is on the low side but everything else you'd be fine.

I've never paid more than £100/month combined E&G.