No. Or a mortgage (smirks).

dont forget the impact of a ‘girlfriend back from brazil’ on heating/hot water costs and loo rolls.

brooess – Member

In London I was spending just under 50% but I’ve left and moved further North and now it’s less than 30%.

If we want UK economy to get itself straight again then spending less on loans to the bank in the form of paying your landlord’s debt off for him would be a pretty good start…

You never know, the tide might just be turning – the government have not only announced large building projects, but it actually looks like they might happen – interest rate rises might mean increases in the short-term but should depress pricing in the long-term – we might, just might see truly affordable housing in the next 5 years.

the government have not only announced large building projects, but it actually looks like they might happen

when dave is on record saying that he want’s a million more homes by 2020, annoucing plans for 13,000 can’t be described as “a large building project” In the 60’s as a country we were builing about that many every month.

– just might see truly affordable housing in the next 5 years.

No, the only way to convince most people to get into vast amounts of debt is to persuade them to buy a house and do your damnest to swevre the market to make sure it’s value doesn’t go down, “affordable housing” (house prices coming down) would be the kiss of death for this, or any other govt.

After all bills, including petrol and food, we are left with 51% of our income to do with as we please. Currently saving for wedding, and house refurbishments.

– just might see truly affordable housing in the next 5 years.

If you consider £450k (in London) affordable, then yes!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/05/rob-poor-give-rich-housing-policy-2016

I live on my own in a 1 bed flat, I think some of your bills are very light (although I don’t live very frugally…)
Last month my bills were:
gas £60
electricity £40
water £18
TV licence £12
Council tax £80
Sky £63
Broadband £47
Food – not really sure but probably £150 (not counting eating out)
Drink £75

On top of that there’s things like house, car & health insurance, car tax/servicing, toiletries, bike expenses etc. etc.

My mortgage is about 25% of my salary which helps but I’ve got some credit card debt and a car loan which sucks up about 25% of my salary to

I live on my own in a 1 bed flat, I think some of your bills are very light
Last month my bills were:
gas £60
electricity £40
water £18
Sky £63
Broadband £47

Wow. 😯

By contrast our bills for a joint household whole living in a poorly insulated Victorian house are:

gas: £50 (averaged over the whole year)
electricity: £29
water: £9
Sky: n/a
Broadband: £35 (including line rental and unlimited fibre)

There’s good money to be saved for anyone interested –

– put your gas on low heat all the time so the flat doesn’t get cold enough for moisture to condense i.e. avoids the flat feeling cold for long periods after the heating is switched on as all the moisture condenses on the walls etc
– put some timer clocks on as many electrical items as possible
– reduce the flow of cold water to taps
– reduce the flow of hot water to taps and shower heads (which saves on heating hot water as well)
– switch broadband to something more cost effective

Wow.

i’m all electric heat/cooking/water and in the winter it costs me £50 a month for my 1bed flat (top so i have a loft which probably loses more heat than the floor below) this is with storage heaters that waste heat during the day
i would have to turn everything up to max and open all the windows to use £100 a month and your gas is way more efficient than my leccy.
and why are you paying that much for broadband?

Our three bed Victorian Terrace monthly bills are:

Council Tax £139
Gas £32
Elec £39
Water £40
Broadband £35

For two people…

My flat does need some more loft insulation to be fair, and it’s a coach house style so garages underneath, the boiler is 20 years old to and hasn’t been serviced in 15 years (I was saving up for a new one until some idiot posted about the Cannondale Triggers :p ).
My broadband includes the line rental charge but it’s Zen’s 76Mbps fibre so fairly pricey anyway (but been with them for years and had good service + wanted stable low pings for gaming although rarely do that these days).

I’m at just over 20% of my income (after tax) for my mortgage. That % would go down if I include overtime payments, but since these aren’t guaranteed I don’t include these in my general budget.

Don’t forget to include cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, washing up liquid, dishwasher tabs, soap, shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste etc in your calculations. It all adds up. I spend about £200 a month on ‘supermarket’ stuff… I don’t tend to eat takeaway so that is all my food.