How much "disposable" income do you have left after all bills?

[rhthomp97]

Hi,

I wonder if you guys might be able to help me. I'm not a Mum but have stalked Mumsnet for years as it's an awesome place for advice! I finally have something I need some serious help with and thought there would be loads of you here with useful advice.

My boyfriend and I are in our early 20s and are looking to buy a house, we have all of the paperwork in order (AIP etc.). However, both of us are currently living at home so are clueless as to how much it costs to run a household.

Our joint monthly take home pay is AT LEAST £2800. This is provided my BF doesn't do any overtime and I don't make any commission. We are looking at a mortgage payment of around £540 per month.

My question is if this budget is realistic, if I am missing any expenses, and if what we have leftover is a reasonable number to live off per month.

Monthly Income: £2800

Mortgage: £540
Council Tax: £180
Gas, Electric, Water Bill (4 bed house, 2 occupants): £150
Home Insurance: £20
Internet & Phone Line: £25
Now TV: £15
Food Shop: £300 (boyfriend works a manual job so takes some feeding)
Petrol (2 x cars): £240
Boyfriends Car Payment: £180

TV Licence would be paid for the year out of another fund. Both of us have mobile phones provided through work. This would leaves us with £1070 as "disposable income," per month, but out of that we would ideally be looking to save some. We also have car insurance and MOTs to think about come July.

We have 5k untouched savings as an "emergency fund" like a broke boiler etc.

So the questions I'm asking is:

1. Are those utility bills realistic, have I overestimated, or underestimated any?
2. Have I missed any other household bills?
3. Is £1070 per month plenty as disposable? How much do you have as disposable income after bills? £1070 feels like a huge amount, and is I imagine when compared to most families in the UK. That number would change of course once car insurance, MOT expenses etc. are paid.

I appreciate your responses!

2 kids, 2 bedroom flat, work part time I have around 100 left a month sometimes less!

Could only imagine having 7k disposable income 😬

You’ve missed transport costs, fuel, car tax, MOT
Tv licence if you plan on watching live tv
Building insurance, thecontents is one type the actual rebuild is another

Depending on insulation if property and how hot you keep it, will vary your fuel bills so they maybe cheaper

Council tax is likely to rise considerably over the next few years, so do budget for some steep rises and pay that bill by direct debit to avoid errors on this, as it’s costly for late payments etc

Yeah I was going to say council tax is a little low. Our council just announced a 4.84% rise.

@Lipperfromchipper I assume your DH has taken advice on his residency status. If he's got a home in the UK and ties here (ie you) then I think being here anything over 91 days in any one tax year will make him tax resident.

You will need life insurance when you get your mortgage. Ours is £30 a month. Your house insurance is a little low I think. But I would disagree with PP about council tax being low. If we paid ours monthly it would be £150. We divide our disposable income and have £400 each and put £200 in savings. So pretty much identical to yours.

I think you might have missed some expenses such as mobile phone, car insurance, any type of membership such as gym or political party? Are you sure your gas water and electricity bill will be that cheap?

@LizzieMacQueen we live in Ireland... I don’t know the full ins and outs as such! All I know is yes he is advised and all is in order...

@undomesticgodde55 it can be hard at times but we do have a lot of quality time when he is home so it’s much of a muchness to be honest.

MrsL2016

Band d house and it’s a few coppers short if £2k which is £200 per month on April- jan 10 payment schedule

Can see a 4 bed house being much lower than band d

Council tax varies across the country. It can be cheaper in a London house worth 800k than in a 2 bed elsewhere worth 200k. It's a weird system. Op can check hers by looking at her postcode on her council website and most house listings show the council tax.

Buying building and contents together is cheapest.

Op just budget monthly for your yearly bills like cat tax and motor and you will be fine. That's a good amount of disposable income, make sure your pay your savings first like a bill on payday.

Always shop around for insurance, utilities, subscriptions and pay for TV and you will be OK, good luck.

It's perfectly possible to have a tax free job; dh has just retired from one.

There are four bed houses well under Band D. My brother has one that's Band A, it's just in a very cheap area and council built. I didn't think the CT was necessarily low sounding.

Sounds about average you should be able to live off that just one.
I don't think you have mentioned car insurance or life insurance though

That sounds very reasonable. We have about £400 left after all bills and generally make it through the month and can put a bit in savings.

Do factor in dental costs, opticians, and ensure you have an emergency car fund for an expensive repair. I just had to fork out £600 for new brakes!

Dentists and opticians can also put a big dent in your monthly money so do make sure you have cash put away for that.

Also if you have pets or decide to in the future, make sure you get pet insurance!