Parisangel

Hello All!

So here I am with another question, we have found a house and are curious to know what our monthly outgoings are likely to be on gas, electric, water and tv/phone/internet. Thanks for any info!!

Duncan Roberts

Where is it? Does it have gas? How big? What kind of TV/phone/internet are you looking for? Do you care about property tax or just the bills? Is trash collection included by the city or is it on you? There are 1001 things that affect your monthly costs.

Parisangel

Yes, understood, just after a general feel. We are in Houston, 4 bed house, has gas, no idea about trash etc.

Bomjeito

Depends on your house size, age of equipment, and usage, of course.

Our house is 4000 sq ft. We have two HVAC units, one is 10 years old and the other is only 6 months old.

We have Spark Electric and pay about 10c a KW hour. Here in Texas, you get to choose your electric company. The website is Powerto choose.org.

Electric is about $250 in summer, and about $100 in winter. We don't blast the A/C.

Gas is about $20 in summer (only heating the water heater) and about $150 in winter. (Heat is gas, A/C is electric.)

Pool heater is gas, but that is new and very efficient.

Water/sewer is about $75 a month. If you don't live in a MUD (Municipal Utility District), then I think its a different situation/charge.

Unsure how much is garbage - we are in a community so its part of our HOA fees.

We have AT&T cable TV and pay $75 a month. AT&T internet is another $60 or so a month.

We don't have regular land line service for phone - we use Vonage for $30 a month.

We have mobile phones provided from Hubby's work - I have no idea what these cost but know they require 2 year contracts. I'm sure someone else can clarify what those cost in Houston.

Security system is $35 a month. We use ASG.

The big cost in utilities is your A/C!!!

GeoffM

So variable, as Duncan says. FWIW our electric bill in May was $125; in August it was over $400. Gas around $40/mo but that will go up over winter. We're in desert climates so it's scorching during summer days, warm during summer nights, and freezing over autumn/spring/winter nights. We pay $150 for FiOS TV and 25M up/down internet for the medium TV package including two HD DVRs. Trash and water is included in our rent so no idea there. We don't bother with a landline but our mobiles are about $50/mo each, phones not included (bought outright).

Nutmegger

Ask the realtor for the sellers to show you the utility bills related to the house for the past year (electric, oil, gas, water, etc). You're on your own with the internet/TV/phone, as the degree of service you want may not be what the current owner had, and you may want more or less frequent trash pickups.

Bob

Lot of threads on this subject if you want generics.

Some things like cable/phone/internet is fairly universal, $100-150 a month.
Mobile phone, $30-150 a month, depends on wanting data/min usage.

You should be able to ask the utility companies that cover the property what the high and low was for the last 12-24 months as well as the monthly average.

fatbrit

Purchase an Obi 110 for around $50 @ Amazon, then open a Google Voice account for free US calls and $2c/min to UK landlines.

It's never going to add up to $30/month.

Bink

We're in a 3,650 sqft house, 4 bed also here in Houston.

We run similar to Bomjeito with a few exceptions:

Electric: Average $170 (just switched to average billing we were circa $100 in winter, $275 in summer). This is for our heating and AC - we're in a pretty energy efficient house with 2 new AC units, but do like to keep it cool in summer.

Gas: $20/month (cooker and fireplace though we don't use the fire much)

Phone: $175/month for cable/internet on AT&T UVerse (we have 3 receivers and aren't on the cheapest package so this could be reduced)

Water: $100 - $180/month (we're in a new MUD district and are paying a very high premium at the moment as a result - this value is on the high side for most areas though unfortunately we don't get to choice our water supplier). Our trash is paid for as part of our HOA fee since we own our property.

Cell phone - mine is a company phone, wife's iPhone on AT&T (to match my work provider) is a consistent $100/month

Alarm - $28/month

Pest control - $30/month

Yard service - $30/time (once every 6-8 weeks in winter, once a week in summer - we have 1/3rd acre)

Insurance - Ours is not relevant here as we own and need different coverage but when renting it was about $750/year I believe.

For a rented house, this about covers it I believe.

thinbrit

$200 to $600 a month

Parisangel

Really helpful, thank you all!

Rodney you plonker

For me. All per month

Gas and electric is combined to same bill at $300.
Water is $50.
Internet, TV, and phone is combined to same bill at $120.
Mobile phone is $80 for unlimited use.
Car insurance is $20

Bink

What????!!!!
My car insurance is an order of magnitude more than that!!

jeffreyhy

This is the best advice I've seen in this thread. The current occupant's personal preferences can make the costs higher or lower than you will experience, but even so the numbers for the specific house will give you a better idea than you will get from others living in different houses.

Regards, JEff

lisa67

When we sold our last house we were obliged to show utility bills to the buyers before they'd sign.