A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:How much money should me and my boyfriend save up before moving into a place of our own? I currently live with my mum, and he lives with his mum and step dad, but i'll be moving in there in the summer and we'd like to get our own place as soon as we can. I'll be finishing college in july which is why we've decided to wait till summer before i move in with him. I get £30 a week EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance). I've been looking for a job but it's impossible to get one in my area at the moment. My boyfriend has had his job for 2 years, but things have been looking bad for the company he works for.We both know we wouldn't be able to afford our own place with this money, but are just wondering how much we should save up.
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female
reader, k_c100 +, writes (2 February 2010):
 Glad I could help! Try and focus on getting your jobs sorted out first - if both of you have a career in mind that you know will bring in good money in the future then pursue that. You are still young after all so dont expect to be earning a fortune just yet!
Get all the training, work experience etc out of the way now while you still live with parents then you will have a great CV so employers will look more favorably upon you, over someone else who hasnt got any work experience or the right skills for the job. Depending on what sort of job you want, some places offer unpaid work experience where you can go in just for a week or 2 during the school/college holidays and get some experience in the field of work you are interested in.
I think once you have got your job sorted, and your boyfriend is in a more stable job, then things will look up for both of you and you will find it easier to save such large amounts of money. And look on the bright side - at least you will be living together in the summer, even if it is still with his parents. Thats a really nice thing for his parents to offer so be thankful for that, and just be happy you can live together at such a young age.
Good luck!
A
reader, anonymous, writes (2 February 2010): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThanks :) looks like we'll be stuck living with his parents forever then lol.
We will probably get a council flat to start with, but would like to buy our own house eventually.
I live around 2 hours away from london, so my area is fairly cheap, whereas he lives right outside london, so his area is a little more expensive, but it's easier for me to move there as i don't have a job to worry about at the moment.
We've already got everything we need for a bedroom along with some other little things that will be useful in our own place.
I guess all i need to do now is to teach him how to save his money..
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A
female
reader, k_c100 +, writes (2 February 2010):
Like Griffo said, it depends if you want to buy a house or rent. And it also depends on the area of the UK you live in. For example rents/house prices are much more expensive in London and large cities like Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Yet you will get a better deal if you live somewhere cheaper, like a small-medium sized town.
But I will give you my example which might be able to help. I moved in with my now ex-boyfriend in 2008 and we lived on the outskirts of Manchester in a nice suburb, in a 2 bedroom flat. The rent per month was £650 (so split between us that was £325 each). Bills each month (gas, electric and water) were around £120-£150 but obviously this goes up in Winter when you have the heating on, and it can vary depending how much TV you watch, leaving lights on, computers etc.
Then you have your council tax - that was about £100 per month but we did live in a fairly nice area so it was a little more expensive than average. To budget for food shopping for 2 people per week you are looking at between £40 and £60, obviously more if you want to eat more! You can rent a furnished place like I did which saves a lot of money because you get your sofa, bed, wardrobes, kitchen appliances (cooker, fridge/freezer and sometimes dishwasher). But you do still need to buy things like cutlery, plates, duvet, pillows, microwave, kettle, toaster and any other furnishings you want for your place. I cant remember exactly how much we spent on all these bits but I think it will have come to somewhere between £300 and £500.
If you are renting a place, the lowest rent you are looking at for a place of your own (not a shared house) is about £300-£400 per month. I suggest you go on http://www.rightmove.co.uk/ and have a look at some places in your area - this will give you a rough idea of some rents for places in your area. But dont be fooled when some of them say £200 per month or say £70 per week, they are often just rooms in a shared house.
I nearly forgot - deposits! A deposit for a rented house is normally around 1 months rent, maybe 1 and a half months rent. I think the deposit for my last flat was £800 so it was £400 each. And you only get this back on a rented place if the condition of the place is good - anything that is broken or damaged will be paid for out of your deposit.
So I reckon to be on the safe side you will need around £650 each upfront before you even move in for your deposit and bits and bobs for the house/apartment, then 1 months rent ready to pay for your first month in there (so say £300 each) which is a total of £950 each. Then you need to make sure you have a steady job that brings in a reliable income to pay for your rent + bills, or mortgage + bills each month.
If you are thinking of buying a house, you will struggle to get a mortgage unless you both have full time jobs and you are bringing in a good combined salary. Banks look at you as an investment - they need to know that when they give you the mortgage you are going to be a good investment and pay all your payments on time, rather than a bad investment who looses them money. After the recession and all the banking problems, it is much harder to get a mortgage now so you need a bigger deposit than you would have needed before. 10% of the house's value is minimum, 20-30% would get you a better rate on your mortgage.
So if you want to buy a house that is £150,000 then as a minimum you will need to save £15,000 and have 2 good, stable jobs in order for your to get that mortgage. Dont forget furnishing the house - you will need to buy everything if you are planning on buying a house so set aside another few thousand pounds for that.
I hope this helps and good luck!
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A
male
reader, Griffo  +, writes (2 February 2010):
 To rent: I'd say at least around £3000. this is for deposit, items and start up expences. you may need some things.
To buy, I'd say about 10% of the value of the property, plus a very good solid stable income.
Work out your weekly or monthly expences on a spreadsheet (excel), you can search for "home budget" templates and they will help out so you know how much to save, and spend each week/month.
Another good tool is microsoft money. It can help you build a plan to save a deposit for a home to buy, as well as manage your cashflow and expenditure.
Good luck!
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