Abq budget help!!

tengma07

Fi and I are working on the ever-fun budget portion of our premarital counseling, and we're supposed to come up w/ estimates. I'm looking for some input on roughly what ppl spend... Neither of us have ever lived alone (we w/ our families) so our knowledge of living costs is quite limited. Unfortunately, none of our friends can give us good estimates because they have kids or live in houses.I'm hoping to find info for either one person living alone or two ppl living together in an apartment. I'm in the Albuquerque area, but anything NM will help! TIY!!!I need estimates for what you spend monthly on....1. Groceries2. Houselhold Items3. Utilities (however that is broken up... gas, water, electric, etc.)4. Cable/Internet

melishka716

Well, my DH and I have been living together for a little over 3 years, and in an apartment.We have paid a low end of $460, to where we are now at $670 a month for rent. It depends on your area and what you want and if you have pets. Most apartments will ask for the first and last month of rent and a damage deposit. The damage deposit will run anywhere from $300+ and that's because it is based off your rent. It can't be more than 1 month of rent.Groceries are another story. Make a list and stick to it. If you don't mind shopping and walmart, then use the ads and only get what you need until your next trip. Make sure it is a planned one and not a spur of the moment. We do ours every 2 weeks (payday) and spend anywhere from $50-$125.I'll post more later. I'm at work. SRY

phantomskylar

I just moved in with my FI, & for our apartment, we got a special on the rent so it's $680 a month instead of the normal $700, for a two-bedroom, 1, 1/2 baths, with kitchen & living area. I would agree, & definitely make a list of things you need, & only buy those things as far as groceries & household things, otherwise it can get pretty pricey. Our grocery list mainly consists of microwave dinners, because we eat out a lot. Utilities range, & are usually around $100 a month for everything. We don't have cable, we invested in netflix instead (which is way better than cable, due to the instant watch feature).

TnJBonnell

Hello, well my fiance and I live in the rio rancho area. We rent a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage, living room, kitchen, dining room, washer & dryer and big backyard and we pay $750 a month. For groceries its good to stock up for a week or more. Make sure you get everything you need. Use your freezer! Get coupons, Try not to go spare of the moment, turns out to be more expensive. Plan ahead. We spend about $100-$200 every 2 weeks maybe less. Depends if we go to mom & dads to eat every once in a while. LoL... Household items, well be sure to go to walmart or dollar store, they have great things there for cheap! We spent for cleaning products like $20-$40 a month or every two months. Dishes we bought a big box of everything for cheap at walmart. Pots and pans they can be costly but I'd say $200+ for everything you may need and thats just going to be a one time thing. We got utensils from our family. Gas was about $60 water $75 ($100+ when we got room mates) Electric about $60 (these are just rough estimates) Cable and Internet like $160. I hope this helps. Save as much power as you can! Especially in the winter!! Use blankets!! LoL... Also, furniture we got sofas from his parents, and we bought a dinning room table, we had his bed and computer desk and TV. We also bought a TV. We pay them off with our credit cards monthly. Not a good idea but we calculated our spending and we were able to afford it. LoL. Get a Sams card for emergancies! We couldnt pay for groceries at the beginning cuz we didnt manage our money right and it came in handy to buy food from walmart! ;)Need anymore help, just hit me up!Good luck!

melishka716

back...OK. As for household items, I include that with my grocery bill.Utilities can be broken up several ways: 1. You pay for everything-gas and electricity. (Water/sewage is included at ALL apartments and is paid with part of your monthly rent) 2. You pay for either gas OR electricity, or 3. Your utilities are included in your rent so you don't pay the companies, directly.We pay both and use around $100+/-, depending on the seasons.Cable/Internet: With Comcast, with 6mbs internet and their middle grade cable, we pay $117 a month for the both of them. You can get basic cable with the same internet speed for about $75 a month. And I personally wouldn't recommend Qwest for internet because most areas still don't recieve more than 1.5 mbs and you're going to pay about $50 a month, and when you can get more, Comcast is better for your money, but get what you two need/want.Don't forget about cell phones and landlines, if you choose. Those can run you anywhere from $30-$100+, depending on your plan(s).Also, if you don't have your own health insurance with work/school, marriage status changes it if you're under your parents plan. So look into health insurance, too.Don't forget to include any car stuff like payments, insurance, and gas. You know your cars better than us, so that is what you need to figure out.

fayla79

When I lived alone I spent:1) about $150 on groceries a month2) about $80 on household stuff a month. I mean, like on things like you buy at Target3) $600 for a 1-bedroom apt, maybe $30 for electricity, which was incorporated with rent.  It was around 60-80 when I paid PNM directly.  I really didn't pay water electricity and trash pick up cuz that was part of my rent.4) $60 for internet ... for my verizon wireless card (which is junk BTW) and $75 for cable.But then I moved in with FI last fall and all that got so expensive1) $500 on groceries a month ... becuase we actually eat meals we cook at home instead of going out to eat all thime2) about $100 a month - now I have 3 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms to clean3) sorry, IDK about these because he pays them4) We both have the wireless cards for internet so we pay $120 total but if you wanted the convience of using them anywhere, you caould get a wireless router and buy comcast internet or get a my-fi card. Those are supposed to support mutliple laptops. But I read a review that only 1 computer can be connected at a time (verizon).  I also don't pay the Direct Tv but we pay about $65-75 for one package, plus $50 per UFC event ordered, about one a month, and $50 a month for 4 or 5 months for the NFL ticket.But, not to sound judgemental, becuase I am not trying to be, it sounds like we are in a different place in life from you and your FI.  When I first moved out from my parents house, my lifestyle was way different in terms of what I could afford and I think that may be the point of your excercise.

tengma07

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the help; I'll let ya know if I need anything else

jesunm2008

My fiance and I have been living together for almost 3 yrs and we are living the good life.  No kids yet so we can spoil ourselves.  We bought a house and our Mortgage is 1034 a mo and that is in the NE heights.  Our gas is about 50, water is like 30, HOA is 80, cable is 80 (Directv), internet is 39 (Qwest) , gym is 52 for both (Anytime fitness), groceries are about 300 a mo or so, car payment is 315, credit card payment is 200.  Anyway, we calculated all of our expenses per mo and we came up with an estimated total of 2300 a mo for everything and we rounded up on most bills   Hope this helps!

tengma07

wow jesunm, that helps TONS - thanks!!!!