Monthly running costs - First home

[jackbailley (Jack B)]

Just doing a budget for moving out into my first home. What monthly bills were you most surprised/forgot to budget for?

[nexusmaniac (Marcus, Backend Engineer 🛠️)]

I didn’t forget about any bills as much as I underestimated how much they would cost in the end

Well, when I say I didn’t forget… It’s a long story but you should hopefully be good with the ‘normal’ stuff

• Gas/Electric (feel free to use my bulb referral )
• Water
• Internet (/TV/phone)
• Council tax
• Buildings & contents insurance
• Mortgage (/rent)

And then don’t forget that there’s still the less house related stuff like loans, car financing, phone bill, gym memberships, Spotify, Netflix, Prime, etc.

Then add it all up, throw an extra few £ on for good measure, pop it all into a Bills Pot and hey presto, you’re good to go

[jackbailley (Jack B)]

So far I have these at my monthly

costs (some are yearly)

[davidwalton (Award Winning Hot Coral Analyst)]

Plus maintenance for (unless you rent) things that fail, things that break. Some things are small-cost (bulbs/fuses) and some are massive - appliance failure, roof damage, boiler failure, internal pipe leak/blockage, it’s quite alarming how the costs can add up depending on your circumstances and property condition.

Always an adventure, and I wish you all the best with your first
Despite all the ‘realism’ comments - you will absolutely love it

[jackbailley (Jack B)]

Looking to go down the shared ownership route as I am going to be buying on my own so a little harder! Esp down south!

[HoddzDJ]

@jackbailley

shared ownership

What annoys me about this, is you foot the bill for all repairs even though you pay partial rent. May be something to keep in mind.

The biggest challenges bring the biggest rewards, and I promise you it will be worth it

[Divine]

Have a look at the National Leasehold Campaign on Facebook before you take the plunge. Lots of additional hidden and rising costs to Shared Ownership (and any other leasehold “ownership”) that you’d be wise to take note of. I’m in the same boat as you but having a slight rethink now that I’ve read what I’ve read…

[gmclean]

Also be careful of upfront ‘admin fees’ and such like. Plenty of times I’ve been caught out with… ."Ohhh £30 a month that’s good, because I didn’t see the small text saying ‘3 times initial payment due up front’ and was £90 down without realising.

[sacha]

For first home you may want to add in any finance costs on new sofas and beds, assuming you don’t own these already.

The companies that sell these constantly offer 0% finance deals so it can be a useful way of spreading a substantial cost.

[jackbailley (Jack B)]

Good shout. Who would you recommend looking at? Also what did you forget to buy before moving in!?