average bills

tomcollins97

Hi,

I am trying to do a budget to assist in working out what size mortgage payments me & my partner can afford. The only problem is the bills element. Can anyone tell me what the average ESB and gas/or oil bill is for an average 3 bed house?
What, on average, do you spend annually on Domestic maintenance, garden and decorating costs?

Thanks,
Tom

Eurorunner

ESB averages out about €125 (bi-monthly) for me in a 4 bed semi.
Oil - approx. €800/year.
TV licence - €160/year
sky/ntl?? (don't have them myself but include in your budget if you intend to).

Domestic Maintenance - nominal amount. Boiler service/chimney sweep if solid fuel...can't think of anything else...allow a few hundred euro.
Gardening - well, for budgetary purposes, can be whatever you want to spend on it! Depends on your own situation - if just grass, then its more a question of labour. If you want to do more with it, then obviously you have to shell out more.
Decorating costs: depends on your specific situation. Are you moving into a new build or is it a house thats likely to need stuff doing to it? 3 years in my house and have not spent anything on redecoration - aside from having to repaint one room which someone I had staying in had trashed.

murphym7

Same as above really. You would need to account for the bin collection and the phone bill (if you get one). My bin is costing €320PA.

tomcollins97

Thanks for the info! It is quite scary when you add it all up. I am including everything as far as possible, even putting some aside each month for holidays, xmas/b-day presents, savings, going out etc. Currently at 2,473.26 a month but there is lots of scope for cut backs! 7Mb broadband & Sky + not really a necessity!

doll2824

sky 89 to install plus 23 a month for multi channel.2 packages about 60 channels.
esb for for 2 months was 96 euro and gas 29.90 for heating 3 rooms.period was over 5 weeks.
family of 3

JuliusCaesar

3 bed house, Dub Corpo area, 3 of us living there:
ESB 807.85 pa
Gas 1409.40 pa (gas cooker & gas central heating)
Waste 142.00 pa
Works out at about 200 p mth.
I've counted having CH on for about 6 mths a year, and I'm probably overestimating a little.
Oh, and I recycle everything I can to reduce the waste!

doll2824

well done on the recycling.i pay 40e a month onto my rent for waste,regardless of how much rubbish i have.

loyatemu

I've been tracking my gas and leccy bills for the last couple of years. its a 3 bed semi with GFCH and a gas stove (but electric oven)

current monthly averages:
Gas - 95
ESB - 75

but obviously they're a lot higher in the winter than the summer, which makes budgeting a little tricky

Eurorunner

Forgot to mention broadband - which for me is €35/month (and rarely to be got for less in IRL).

doll2824

i have the vodafone thingy that goes into the pc.i paid 14.99 for the first 2 months and there after 30euro.

Moonbeam

Don't forget house insurance too.

aquascrotum

3 bed semi, occupied by a couple....
Electric - fairly constant 150 bi-monthly
Gas - Summer 80 bi-monthly, 130 winter bi-monthly
Broadband/Phone - 110 bi-monthly on BT (2MB bb and a calls package)
Bins 25/month
TV - zero. We use Freesat and analogue terrestrial for Irish channels

TV license, house insurance etc etc unknown.

tomcollins97

Thanks everyone - info very useful.

Tom.

lushballs

Off topic, but aquascrotum what does 'getting Freesat and analogue terrestrial for Irish channels' entail?

JuliusCaesar

lushballs wrote: »

Off topic, but aquascrotum what does 'getting Freesat and analogue terrestrial for Irish channels' entail?

Maybe a Lidl satellite and rabbit ears? I'd love to know too...

Eurorunner

aquascrotum wrote:

We use Freesat and analogue terrestrial for Irish channels

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Maybe a Lidl satellite and rabbit ears? I'd love to know too...

Analogue terrestrial - your bog standard terrestrial aerial for analog rte1/2/tng/tv3.
FreeSat - a new system introduced across the water which has bbc/itv/c4 onboard. Using a FreeSat receiver, you can get all of these channels but the box/system has a 7 day epg (electronic programme guide). Havnt seen it but should be similar to skys epg. Google it for further info..

aquascrotum

Eurorunner wrote: »

Analogue terrestrial - your bog standard terrestrial aerial for analog rte1/2/tng/tv3.
FreeSat - a new system introduced across the water which has bbc/itv/c4 onboard. Using a FreeSat receiver, you can get all of these channels but the box/system has a 7 day epg (electronic programme guide). Havnt seen it but should be similar to skys epg. Google it for further info..

Nail on head.

Freesat (theres a section on boards under the TV section) is a BBC initiative, its basically an equivalent to SKY with an EPG for free to air channels - the whole BBC (1-4) package, ITV (1-4 and +1's) package, C4 package inc Film 4, Channel 5 adding this month, plus the usual shopping and music channels. AKAIK the Lidl sattelite systems pick up these channels but don't have the EPG.

For SD telly, the standard box is £45 (I think), subscription free. If you have an ex. sky installation its a matter of a straight swap from your sky box to the freesat box.

You can get HD (for BBC HD and ITV HD) boxes for about the £100-£150 mark (brand dependant) and an HD PVR (ie equivalent to SKY+, personal video recorder) is due out in the next few months.

Theres no possibility of adding subscription channels (discoverys, sky sports, MTV etc) but if you're shelling out a monthly subscription to SKY just to get C4 or BBC, then it's definitely worth looking into.

Theres an Irish company started (freesat.ie) thats selling the same hardware in Ireland under a slightly different name, but (this being Ireland) it seems to be a fair bit more expensive than just going to Argos or Currys and buying a freesat box the next time you're in the UK/NI.