Cost of living

[monkey1980]

i'm wanting to move in with my boyfriend, it will be to a small 2 bed house in Devon. Neither of us have lived out of home and are struggling to work out the average bills. How much would monthly out goings be in total per month besides our rent? Including Council Tax, water, electric, gas? Also an estimate for food would be good, boyfriend has over average appetite!

[philandlil]

TV Licence �11.00
Water �29.00
Council Tax �80.00
Phone �20.00
Broadband �15.00
Gas �10.00 (more if winter)
Electric �40 (per quarter)
Shopping �180.00

We live in Yorkshire so some cost's will vary & i have rounded up to the nearest pound. The shopping could be cheaper but we buy brand products and we don't always spend that much.

[philandlil]

Also you will probably need some insurance, i don't know what you will need because we don't rent. Also don't forget mobile bills, loans, credit card payments if you have them.

[Ethel]

�20 a month gas and electric? That is optimistic.

My gas and electric is �42 a month.
Water is �35 a month.
I don't have a phone line.
House insurance is �15 per month.
My council tax is �120 per month.

[sunflower71]

have a look around for deals for tv, phone and broadband (it saved us a small fortune a month when we switched to NTL)

[Ethel]

Sunflower, if you have NTL (now Virgin) broadband - invest in a Skype phone (no pc needed is the best sort) and ditch the line rental.

I have broadband and tv for �20 per month.

[pidgoe]

go to your loacal CAB they may be able to do calculations to see if you can afford it