Moving back after many years - can you assist with budget?

[cantstandlimboanymore]

Hi,

We might be moving back after many years. Husband has not lived in the UK for 25 years and I have only ever holidayed there. I've put together a budget and would really appreciate your input please with regards to amounts budgeted and if I've left anything out.

I've used google to come up with averages and have calculated amounts monthly.

Rent

Gas 61
Electric 42
Water 36
Council tax 120
TV licence 13 (146/annum)
Home insurance 25 (starting from)
TV/landline/broadband 47 (Sky package)
Mobile 40 (for 2 people)
Food & other groceries 400 (family of 2 adults & 2 young children)
Car insurance 84 (2 small cars, 500/car/annum)
Petrol 280 (70/tank - each car 2 tanks per month)
School lunches 84 (9.35/week/child)
School uniform & shoes ?
Dry cleaning ? (Husbands suits)

Thank you in advance.

In my case - Scotland council tax would be higher - ee pay £227 for a 3 bed house. I eould budget £600 for food too. Everything else reasobable would maybe up electric a bit.

We are same size family as you and spend less on gas, electric, food, council tax and house insurance so if these are your figures you should be fine.

Aah good to know, it's rural Scotland we're looking at.....

Any idea of cost of vehicles? Small, relatively new.

School clothes cost a fortune where we are now, around 200 per child. Any idea of average cost there?

Dry cleaning is really cheap here, just wondering how it compares.

Thank you very much for your replies!

School clothes are quite cheap from supermarkets here unless you need blazers etc

I think a suit dry clean is £12-15.
Look online for school clothes, M&S do shirts, trousers etc and you only have to get blazers and ties from the school,supplier usually.
The sky package you quote there is a minimum, if anyone likes sports or movies it would be more. Sky plus is more too.
Your budget is a good starting point but you haven't included clothes (other than school uniform), holidays, saving, meals out and all those other things you and family need.

PS I think you will be lucky to heat a house, especially in Scotland, and have your hot water for £60 per month, unless you are in a new build maybe.

Electric and gas is down for a 100 thats quite a lot. We pay 70 and have a large corner bath, washer, dryer, heating, 3 tellys etc.

Thank you.

So is 100 for electric and gas enough or should I increase it 120?
Is 80 for landline/broadband/tv enough?
Any ideas on cost of vehicles (purchase price)

I have a separate budget for non-essentials/variables including entertainment, clothes, holidays, birthdays and Christmas etc as well as savings.

I don't know how comprehensive your budget is meant to be but you've not factored in non-monthly expenses like:

• clothes
• car maintenance
• haircuts
• school clubs/activities
• Christmas
• birthday/gifts
• holiday
• deposit (you should try and have a deposit for your next rental property saved up as you'll need to pay the next deposit before you get the first one back)
• emergency fund / household expenses like replacing bigger items like the telly as needed
• travel to work (unless all included in 2 tanks of fuel per car per month? Unlikely in rural Scotland)

You can have a look at the MoneySaving Expert budget planner here.

Sorry, x-posted with you.

I would definitely increase your fuel category - prices are sky high at the moment.

How about dental charges? Prescriptions are free in Scotland but I'm assuming dentists aren't.

I bought a second-hand Nissan Note for 6 grand 2 years ago. No problems so far. Kia have a 7 year guarantee, so if I was going to buy new I'd probably go for a Kia.

Btw, the TV licence is charged in a weird way to make sure you are never in arrears. The easiest thing is just to pay for a year up front. Otherwise they will charge you for a year in six months.

Just before I have to pop out for a bit, are there any payments or startup costs which are made annually rather than monthly?
Right now we pay vehicle insurance, household insurance etc annually in advance.

I really appreciate the feedback and will reply later when home.

If you know which council you'll fall under you can check Council Tax bands online. If you're renting you may be limited in terms if switching providers for the best deal so have that in mind. We've 2 small cars and budget roughly same as you have. If rural/remote food budget may be higher due to limited shopping options...

Ooh, don't forget car tax.

You can pay all your insurances annually if you want to - I do. Many places will allow you to pay monthly for no extra cost, others will charge for this facility.

In Surrey I pay

Rent £1500
Gas & Electric 168
Water 24
Council tax 220
TV licence 13 (146/annum)
Home insurance not sure about 250 a I think
TV/landline/broadband free as we have a freeview box
Mobile 7 for me and DD. DH pays 26
Food & other groceries 600 (family of 2 adults & 3 children)
Car insurance 84 (2 small cars, 500/car/annum) - ours is about the same as your estimate
Petrol - about 140
School lunches 10.25 pw per child here.
School uniform & shoes ?depends on school - private or state? this makes a difference. A school sweatshirt with logo on for state junior school is 13 each here. A blazer for state secondary with school logo on is 32 each.
Dry cleaning ? 15 per suit approx

What the UK is good for is comparison services for insurance and utilities. Your choices for comms in rural Scotland will be limited but everything else will be the same.

petrol where I am is currently £1.30 a litre. In rural places it will cost more.