It’s another budget thread…

[Prettypenny9]

I find these threads really helpful! I’m buying a new house and putting together a budget based on figures online, and some of the consumption figures from our current property. It’s difficult because our current house is a tiny old cottage, and the new house is a newer build. The new house is double the size so is likely to cost more in heating. That said, it sometimes feels like someone has left the door open with the drafts wafting through the hallway in the cottage!

I will pop the figures here and would welcome constructive feedback on how you think I could estimate the figures more accurately. I’d also appreciate any words of wisdom or personal opinions on disposable income/ savings etc.

Mortgage £1,550
Council tax £325
Food £575
Dog £175 (insurance £35, food £100, pet plan £25, additional bits like poo bags and treats £15).
Wifi £35
Mobiles £40
Water £60
Subscriptions £30
Oil £300
Electricity £250
Insurance £65
Garden waste £10

Total outgoings £3,415

Take-home pay £5,000

Left over £1,585
£700 - me (I would add £200 to savings and have £500 to spend).
£885 - DH

I have calculated this on the basis that DH has much higher personal bills so even though I’m the higher earner, I don’t spend much!

I have only calculated our household bills and any personal spends (car, hair, dental etc) all need to come from what I call our disposable income (but is probably more accurately our take home minus household bills).

It’s difficult to give an opinion on whether your estimates are realistic without knowing the size of the house or how many occupants.

at first glance, your insurance looks very cheap. And you could definitely reduce the mobile costs if you wanted to.

and what about hols, outings, Christmas etc?

how will house repairs, maintenance and refurbs be covered?

4 bedroom and approx 2000sqft. 2 adults and a dog.

Insurance quote was an average estimate from the comparison websites. These are all monthly figures so it would be around £600 per annum.

Everything else needs to come out of the £1585 remaining.

How much are your car(s)? Do you own them or lease, are they old or new, how much petrol do you need to put in every month?

Do you have big families / need to buy lots of presents?

Have you got money put aside to furnish your bigger new house, or do you need to save for it after you've moved in?

What's your holiday habits - long hauls or long weekends closer to home off season?

Any expensive hobbies - horses and golfing - or cheap and cheerful countrywalks?

Do you smoke or drink?

Does the dog ever need a walker?

Any expensive beauty or fitness regimens, or shopping habits?

Do you want to save a bit more aggressively, to do some work on the house, peace of mind or early retirement?

Think about the lifestyle you want / have, and add in ALL the expenses tha you incur sustaining it. Divide annual costs by 12 (like Christmas, birthdays etc), and factor them in. If the numbers make sense and you think you can cover it all, then go for it!

I wouldn't just think you have £1585 disposable - you don't. A whole lot of necessary / predictable costs still need to come out of that amount. Tot up all your actual mandatory costs, and only after that divide up the real disposable income between the two of you

Own vehicles outright - fuel is £85 for one and £400 for the other.

Luckily, no, Christmas is a big get together but nobody has any children so it’s not expensive. I probably spend £400 on presents and similar amount on food. I use Tesco club card points and the cash back I earn through the year on TopCashback.

Plenty of savings and we would reuse most of the furniture we already own and add to it when we find quality pieces we love.

Travel - we travel often. Currently, we go abroad 5-6 times a year, go away most weekends and usually spend a week somewhere in the UK. We have a campervan so the weekends away aren’t extortionate.

Hobbies - nothing overly expensive really. I don’t notice anything coming out of the account on a regular basis. It’s just membership and kit.

Don’t smoke and rarely drink.

Dog never needs a walker. He goes to parents if we go somewhere he can’t come with us.

Gym membership is £60 a month for the two of us - we don’t go between April and September as we are away so often and prefer to go hiking etc.

The plan is to retire at 55. We have savings/ investments and a very good pension.

These are all things I hadn’t factored in/ thought about so useful to write it all down.

Are you really spending £550 a month on oil/electricity? That will drastically reduce in a new build. We’re a family of 4 in a large 4 bedroom new build, 2 teens constantly streaming, I WFH and our gas and electric is £175 a month.

I would look through your last six months or so if bank & credit card statements to see what you are actually spending. Our SOs/DDs represent quite a small proportion of our actual outgoings.
For example we have also recently spent chunks on

• tree pruning
• leak repair
• new spectacles
• increased pub visits (world cup!)
• grandchildren outings
• new dishwasher
• new car tyres
• haircuts
• clothes
• milestone birthday gift

No it is closer to £300 in our current house but it’s a much smaller house. The new house is closer to 30 years old so I say new build in the context of my current home being 18th century. Sorry for the confusion!

Have you factored in clothes, shoes for work and leisure. And for nights out, meals out - they're always more expensive than you think.

My 4 bed house is approx 30 years old - oil heating and hot water.
We (2 or 3 adults, depending on whether son is here) use about 1,000 litres a year.
Obviously oil prices vary but at the current 85p-ish that is under £100 a month.

Our water, on a meter, is around £90pm.

This is really helpful, thank you!

Shop around for internet and sim only phone and you can save a lot. I'm currently paying 24.99pm for internet with Plusnet and 1.30pm for sim only phone with lebara.

I work from home so need really good wifi so I’m reluctant to change that as we had problems with plusnet.

Our phones are sim only at £15 each. I haven’t been able to find cheaper!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

So many cheaper options

I can't imagine you're going to spend so much on oil and electric. We have a 4 bed house similar age to yours, DH wfh - gas and electric together is about £250. Not sure how oil compares though.

I agree the oil estimate seems enormous to me. I'd say we spend about a third on our very old cottage. Sorry if I've missed it, but will the water be on a meter or not? If not it seems a bit low. I think you need to include car costs in the main budget as they aren't really optional. Have you included all the insurances you need? Life, buildings, contents, car etc? These can sometimes be forgotten.

I hope you enjoy your new home, budget wise I tend to find as long as you keep an eye on things you quickly work out how much you've actually got to spend after everything and adapt as needed.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/

The spreadsheet is the one I use and is pretty comprehensive.

No water meter in the new house but our current house is. The £60 is based on what our current bill is. Our next door neighbour is on a monthly plan and their bill is much cheaper than ours. I assumed we might save money on water!

Cars don’t really cost much as they are paid outright. I put £200 a month into a little savings pot for the insurance, tax and MOT.

All insurance covered on the spreadsheet (apart from car as that goes out of my savings pot).

Thank you! Very excited 😊

@Prettypenny9

Hi and apologies if it seems this isnt relevant to what you are asking. Seems to me you've thought the budget through really carefully. But please can I ask you about the campervan? I'm always thinking about me and husband getting one. Our kids all grown up now.

Is yours very long? How do you park in small places eg if you do a food shop somewhere? If it's just for 2 people could we get by with a shorter one? Think the length is a big question for my husband.

Also is it expensive to maintain please? How did you decide on the make and model? Hope these questions aren't annoying. Many thanks if you are able to help me with any comments.

I’d cancel the gym you don’t use it all year.
You havent included any motoring costs eg tax and insurance and you have 2 cars and a camper ?

Is your dog on a special diet? £25/week for food is more than a lot of humans spend.

Absolutely! It’s our pride and joy. It’s been brilliant for us as we spend most weekends by the sea, even in the winter, it’s lovely to come back to a warm van and a hob to make a warm cup of tea. We also have a dog so it’s perfect for us to take him away with us all the time.

It’s a short wheel base so it fits into a regular parking space without issues. We have a car for shopping trips and daily driving but the campervan goes all over the place and we have never had an issue. We take it shopping before we head to the campsites and again, never an issue. It has a pop-top for additional height when we are camping but again, no issues getting under car park barriers.

It is not expensive to run. We have an electric system which means everything charges while we drive so it has the ability to power even if we don’t have electric to plug into but we do also have the plug in. It is serviced every 6 months (by choice rather than necessity). We really look after it! Other than that, no real added expense. I think it does around 45mpg which is much better than my car!

We chose this make and model as it was low mileage and it fit within our budget. We did loads of research and to buy a base model VW was going to be upwards of 35k. Add on all the conversion work needed and you are driving around in a 50-60k van.

You can of course get an older/ higher mileage van for cheaper but we wanted the newest/ lowest mileage we could afford. DH had a transit custom with work so we knew it was a reliable vehicle. We bought the van as a normal van and paid for it to be converted. We didn’t want the usual set up with a slim bed and kitchen down the side so had to do it this way.

Happy to answer any other questions 😊

It’s paused in the interim so we only pay for the months we attend.

Vehicle costs come from our own “pot” because they are fairly cheap and owned outright. My car tax is £200 for the year, I would just pay that from my own account.

He’s not, he’s on a raw diet which is expensive. I could feed him cheaper meat but it’s awful quality and I prefer to feed him the stuff he thrives on.

If you are wanting to retire at 55, what is your plan to do that?

how much are you putting into your pension now?

as others have said, you’re missing car insurance, motorhome insurance, motorhome service x2 annually, fuel is £485 a month, Mot is all missing. You spend more on your vehicles per month than you do on food to eat

i would look at the insulation on a house built in 1996 and see if it can be improved? What is your EPC on the house you are moving into and what is it on the house you are leaving? This information will give a great insight as to what your bills might average