how much??

[vickilb77]

Hi

My oh and i have been discussing how much utility bills will be each month we have decided on $1000 a month is this enough? also when we have been looking at real estate a house worth say $400.000 is saying great for first time buyers how can a first time buyer afford that or are we missing something ??

Vicki & Simon

[Maria]

HI Vicki, Simon............First Homebuyers get a few concessions, hence the advertising on $400k. Prices are easing off, but it is still a nightmare for First time Buyers. If you want more details on costings and concessions etc etc, feel free to PM either myself, or email mandy.dickerson@mortgagechoice.com.au .
You are pretty spot on with your budget, things are getting much more expensive over here, but the lifestyle is excellent Good luck with the move, and hope it all works out for you............Maria :) Hi

My oh and i have been discussing how much utility bills will be each month we have decided on $1000 a month is this enough? also when we have been looking at real estate a house worth say $400.000 is saying great for first time buyers how can a first time buyer afford that or are we missing something ??

Vicki & Simon

[emi-great]

Hi

Some areas have homes cheaper than $400,000 now & I think its probably a good time to buy if you can manage it because the market is a buyers market which may change once the interest rate has dropped.

Depending on where you plan to live you would need to look at different suburbs in the general area to find the cheaper homes. Not all suburbs where homes are cheap are bad places... often here in the south theyre just not near the beach or they are new suburbs with less amenities. But if you can drive this isnt really a problem
check out these sites

www.reiwa.com.au (http://www.reiwa.com.au)
www.realestate.com.au (http://www.realestate.com.au)
www.domain.com.au (http://www.domain.com.au)

Good luck with the move
Eve
wwwemi-great.com

[Kym_and_James]

For gas, electricity, water and council rates we budget $230/month. Seems to be working for us so far. What else you including in utilities? I have a very comprehensive budget that covers EVERYTHING we spend for the whole year. :)

[beaversdiva]

For gas, electricity, water and council rates we budget $230/month. Seems to be working for us so far. What else you including in utilities? I have a very comprehensive budget that covers EVERYTHING we spend for the whole year. :)
Hi, what do you budget for healthcare? Do you have full cover? We are flying out in oct so not long now! Thanks
Sarah

[Kym_and_James]

Our healthcare is $1150/year for us as a couple and we are both under 30. We are with Medibank Private. It's fairly basic cover but we have cover for things like dental, optical, ambulance, etc. www.medibank.com.au (http://www.medibank.com.au) but there are loads of providers to choose from.

These are my bills for the year:

Electricity $140/bimonthly $840/annum
Gas $120/quarter $480/annum
Home Ins. $720/annum
Mobile phones $100/month $1,200/annum
Internet $50/month $600/annum
Astra Ins. $550/annum
Astra Rego $380/annum
Uni fees/bks $800/quarter $3,200/annum
Smartrider $100/fortnight $2,340/annum
Gym$50/month $600/annum
Council rates $850/annum
Water rates $576/annum
Health Insurance $96/month $1,152/annum
Pet Insurance $45/month $540/annum
Income protection $96/month $1,152/annum
Total $15,180

Obviously a few things like public transport (Smartrider above), gym and university fees will vary for you. ;)
We don't have a home phone either, our internet is wireless from 3 mobile. We also have foxtel (Sky) which isn't on there but that varies from $40-$110/month depending on which plan you have.
Also, Astra is our car and it costs $60/week to run it on go-juice. My partner does about 50km/day in it.
Our council rates are one of the cheaper ones I believe, I've seen some over $1000 in "nicer" areas... ;)

[beaversdiva]

Thanks ever so much thats a great help. Just have to find somewhere to live now!!!!:):cool: