Living alone for the first time - trying to estimate bills!

deex

Hey there.

So I'm planning on moving into an apartment by myself in the next month or two. The apartment I'm currently looking at is two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one ensuite, one main). Although it's just for me, I'm leaning towards a two-bedroom because the rent is well within my budget and it's only marginally more expensive than a one-bed.

I've only ever done a few houseshares before, where the bills were in the names of the tenants who were already there, and I just paid my portion.

Now that I'm looking at renting my own place, I have to shamefully admit that I honestly have no idea of what I should be expecting bill-wise. I know it all depends on how frugal I am with using eletricity/heating/etc, or how well insulated the apartment is, etc, but would anyone be able to give me a ball-park figure so I can budget for it and see if perhaps (with bills included) living alone is outside my means? The rent itself is around 23 - 25% of my takehome pay.

To be honest I'm not even sure exactly what the expenses would be! ESB, gas, internet... water charges? TV license?
When I set up all these bills in my name, would they look for a deposit? Are they easy to "get out of" when I move out, presumably in one year's time?

Any kind of info which could help this complete bill-newbie would be very appreciated! Thanks a million, and apologies if this is in the wrong section.

Michael D Not Higgins

deex wrote: »

The rent itself is around 23 - 25% of my takehome pay.

You're probably grand. At that level you'll be comfortable enough on bills. I'd expect bills to be around €200-250/month, probably less. Don't forget to get insurance.

liquoriceall

I live alone in a 3 bed semi, well insulated house. I have my electricity averaged for the year so its €40 a month, gas is approx the same but not averaged...instead I overpay during the summer so I go into winter with credit. Broadband etc are individual I have Vodafone for my house phone and broadband at €40. Are your bins going to be included? My first water bill was 35€ so 5€ less than the allowance. Hope this helps

Michael D Not Higgins

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Don't forget to get insurance.

Do people actually get insurance in places they rent? I never heard of anyone doing it myself.

xalot

^^^ Yes, covers you in the event of a burglary of if for example there was a water leak/fire and all your things were destroyed. also you can put high value items on your policy as 'all risks' like bicycles or expensive jewellery that would be covered if you lost them outside the house.

It's not expensive and well worth getting.

irelandrover

Yes, they do.

Just because you are renting doesn't mean you don't have something worth insuring. What happens if all your clothes are destroyed in a fire. It can be pretty expensive to replace your warddrobe.

Michael D Not Higgins

Markus Enough Fashion wrote: »

Do people actually get insurance in places they rent? I never heard of anyone doing it myself.

I've always had insurance, particularly since it's so cheap here in the UK. I remember it being ~€150 for the year in Ireland when I lived there but it's half that here and covers up to £75k. Definitely worth it.

_Kaiser_

I'm living in a 2 bed apartment myself and the bills work out roughly as..

ESB - 50 per month
Gas - about the same
Broadband - currently 25 on a deal with eircom but this will increase in a few months
Sky - varies, starts from 29 per month
Bins - included in my case

limitedIQ

my utility monthly bills for a 1 bed place were:


tv/internet: €70
Electricity: summertime €50 per month (I tend to leave the boiler on every night so I have hot water in the morning)
Wintertime: €100 per month (if using the storage heaters or a halogen heater (i'm sure there are cheaper options tho))
water bill will be about €40 ish every 3 months
<MOD SNIP>

deex

Thanks for the replies!
I'd never heard of the idea of rental insurance before, but it's something I'll definitely look into now.
Thanks for all the estimates

irelandrover

irelandrover wrote: »

Yes, they do.

Just because you are renting doesn't mean you don't have something worth insuring. What happens if all your clothes are destroyed in a fire. It can be pretty expensive to replace your warddrobe.

Fair enough, not something I've come across people doing myself but its obviously a thing. Would never have entered my head to insure a rental property (when the structure etc is not your concern).

Mrs OBumble

Markus Enough Fashion wrote: »

Fair enough, not something I've come across people doing myself but its obviously a thing. Would never have entered my head to insure a rental property (when the structure etc is not your concern).

You are not insuring the property. (You can't, you don't own it.)

You are insuring your stuff, which just happens to be located inside the property most of the time.

If you could afford to replace all your clothing, towels and bedding, household stuff that's not owned by the LL, make-up / toiletries, tools, books, hobby equipment, TV, laptop, music collection, sports equipment, tools etc - at the same time, then fine, go without it.

Most adults though, when they do the sums, realise that contents insurance is well worth it in the case that you have a fire (soot gets in to everything), flood or major burglary.

MrMorooka

I live alone. It's only a small flat/studio apartment though. My rent is 41% of my net income. Bills are as follows:

Electricity : €35 a month, fixed plan. Bord Gais Energy
Internet : €44 a month. UPC.
(Mobile) Phone: €31 a month. Meteor.

Food/Groceries:
€25 a week in Aldi for most of the week's supplies
€20 for mid week shops to top up on bread/milk/sweets/dinner ingredients(don't have time to head out to Aldi on workdays so has to be Spar/Tesco Express)
€10 for a lunch out on Fridays

Bin collection is free for recyclables, other rubbish needs a special bag, they sell 3 for €11. Generally I would need to use one once every 3 weeks.

Contents insurance : I think it was €150 for a year. As was said, good for peace of mind, since I have my PC, TV, games consoles, and a few genuinely rare items in my flat.

Transport costs : €0, I walk everywhere

€11 on an MMO subscription.

Discretionary spending has gone on a few concert tickets, weekend break to London, a few collectors edition of video games, some furniture. I don't really consciously limit it, but I have a very cheap lifestyle anyway(don't drink/smoke, don't go out very often at all, no car, no children or partners or debt). The way I put is as long as I have a couple hundred more in my account after getting paid than I did at that point last month, all is good.

Every three months or so I take that surplus of my current account and put €1000 into my savings account.

That's about it really. Hope it helps as an example.

deex

Thanks very much MrMorooka, that really helps!

seamus

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Most adults though, when they do the sums, realise that contents insurance is well worth it in the case that you have a fire (soot gets in to everything), flood or major burglary.

A lot of people erroneously assume that their landlord's insurance will cover their stuff if the apartment burns down, floods or someone breaks in.

Unless your landlord personally enters the property and takes a chainsaw to your stuff, he is not liable for loss or damage to any of your items in any scenario, so you need contents insurance. It's cheap as chips for a furnished apartment.