About renting - how much can I afford?

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This is a set of queries for those of you living in rental land/living independently land whom I hope may be able to answer and give me some advice.

One of my resolutions for the new year was to move out of home. I've been looking around and keeping an eye on the listings in my area to see if anything nice is there and to see what the going weekly rent is on average for my town. Most of the ones that have caught my eye have been in the price range of $170 to $220 per week (unfurnished 2 bed apartments w/internal laundry). Problem is I don't know if I can afford anything over $200/week with the weekly wage I'm on. And I have no way to estimate the amount of living expenses such as groceries and food

More details:
- I earn about $550aust per week after tax
- I have no debts at present
- I have plenty of savings for rainy days/furniture
- I will have to pay electricity and water depending on the tenancy agreement (estimate about $250 and $100 per qtr respectively), sometimes either or both is included in the rent per week.
- Other outlays such as phone and internet and car costs (phone...I have no idea, internet; about $60/month, car; about $200/month includes fuel, insurance, rego, CTP)

Is there some sort of percentage rule in regards to rent expense percentage of weekly income? (ie. should one not have no more than say 50% of their income going towards rent? Or a different percentage?).
Can I afford to rent something in the $200-220 per week bracket and have money left to put into savings, or should I stay in the $170-200 bracket?
How much can I expect to spend on groceries per week for myself, a single person living alone?

It looks like you have a good amount of information to start with. Phone and internet are highly variable. Internet can cost anywhere from free (aol online, i think. it's dialup) to a corporate account with verizon or timewarner. I think at one point we (my bf and I) were getting dsl for about 20 a month, although it was rather slow. We are both gamers, so internet is very important for us.
It depends on what kind of phone service you get. You can get something cheap like pre-paid (which I think is cheap, I don' t know) or Cricket. However, I have heard the coverage for Cricket is shoddy. You will have to research this. There are many options. Just stay away from Nextel, imo, they like to screw you. Most companies do, but Nextel is a little more insane. Verizon customer service is the worst! My blood is still boiling from the last time I called them. Next time, I think, my parents are going for AT&T. They pay for my cell phone so that I have one during emergencies. Otherwise, I mayn't have one. By the way, most phone companies offer a "free phone" option. I highly recommend it... They aren't too bad.
Do you actually own a car and drive? If you have your drivers license and are over a certain age (it depends on the age per company), you can rent a truck to move all of your stuff. If you live in the city or thereabouts you can EASILY get away with not owning a car. I highly recommend this because, as a car owner, they are really pricey! Sh** happens. Make sure you have good insurance. Don't cheap out on the insurance. If you live in the suburbs like me, it's necessary to own a car.
There are more things to think about when moving away, too, such as the neighborhood. I don't know if you've been thinking about this and I don't want to insult your intelligence, but I will go over it anyway. There are some places that are really cheap to live. Some of these places are in the worst of towns. I could use my own city as an example. I would never live on East side or some parts of South or West. It's too dangerous and there are a lot of sketchy neighborhoods. Even now, there are still race wars. However, there are some parts that are both cheap and okay. Adequate, I mean. I would be willing to move there as it's closer to school. Where I live now, the price is right. However, it's really far from school, so I need a car. It *was* supposed to be safe, but there were these hoodlums that lived next door. They were the dumbest people ever. (They looted through my boyfriend's truck and took not the DVD player, not the other expensive stuff, not the cds, but the TRUCK SPECIFIC STARTER that could only be used for THAT TRUCK!! !) Yeah, I hate people. So, the point of my story is that it's almost hit and miss. You can move into someplace that is statistically more safe, but people continue to be very strange indeed.
I hope this helps. These are my experiences. Best of luck!

The old rule of thumb is for people to aim to pay no more than 25% of their gross income (before any deductions) on rent. Obviously, this standard can be hard to actually meet, since in most parts of the world, rental housing is often scarce and expensive.
As an example, in the United States in 1963, someone earning minimum wage of $50 USD a week, could rent a single room for $9 to $11 a week, or much less than 25% of their income. The average rent back then for a small apartment in a crummy neighborhood was about $65 a month, or 30% of a minimum wage.
Today, in my state, the minimum wage is $320 a week, with single rooms renting for $90 to $120 a week, or 28-37% of a minimum wage paycheck. The cheapest apartments are $725 a month for a studio in a crummy neighborhood, or 52% of a minimum-wage paycheck.
Have you tried renting with roomates? That will help pay for a rent.

Probably in the range of $50 a week, depending on what your tastes in food are. That doesn't include any prepared lunches you may be buying from restaurants or takeout places at work, which can add up fast.

With regard to the 25% figure RossMc provides, I think that's quite outdated; housing in all western countries has gone up faster than other expenses. I think a range of 30-40% is more realistic, or sometimes even more than that.

wow, RossMc took me back. My first apartment was $65.00 a month and I made the princely sum of $3.65 an hour. But that was years ago.

Now I rent a modest home that is 43% of my monthly wages if I work a steady 38.75 hours a month. I pay outrageous 15% of that same wage on my school loans, my food,internet, tv, ulilities, I ride my bike and the rest goes to a 401K because I am pushing 60.

As an Aspie, I find I like simple, but very good quality, probably because it lasts long and gives you value for your money. I can live in a small space, although I really am a sucker adequate plumbing and sewage more than anyone that has never lived in a tent can truly appreciate.

Merle

Indoor plumbing is a great thing.

I'd say that budgeting at least 30-40% of your income for rent is a good idea.

Ok cool. 30-40% is about equal to my price range. I just wasn't sure because my father and step mum had a 2 bed unit for $165 a week with a joint income to pay it (dad gets his super annuity, stepma is on disability pension). It seemed a bit steep for me to pay over $200 for a single person living by themselves on one income.

I'll probably connect a landline phone which is usually $30 per month minimum, and I don't exactly have any friends or acquaintances to talk on the phone endlessly with, so my phone bill shouldn't be much above that $30. I'll bundle my phone and net together on the one bill and stay away from Telstra.

Yes, I have a car and I intend to keep it. I live in a large town, well too large to simply be called a town but too small to be called a city. The worst parts crime and hooligan wise seem to be near the CBD and along the beaches, so I'm aiming to look for places not in those areas, but if I have a minimum choice, I'd at least want a lock up garage for the car, or even a gated security carpark. There's always at least one drug dealer in a unit block in bad areas. It's also why I want an internal laundry, so people can't steal my washing.

Move to my area, you can rent a nice furnished apartment for around $350 a month, including everything some utilities. You can also rent a whole house for around $500/month, unfurnished, with a small/average yard and, garage.


Sometimes it's nice living in a crappy small town.

Also look for a place with a washer and dryer in it. It can get expensive and time consuming and boring and aggravating to have to go to a laundrymat.

One thing to take into account is the little things: Toilet paper, cleaning supplies(dishwashing soap, bath soap, toilet bowl cleaner and brush, oven cleaner), pans, dishes, towels, Vacuum cleaner,(many apartment have carpet to help muffle the sound from the other apartments. ) Broom and dustpan for those areas without carpet and a mop for same.

Little things I know but they are what will trip you up when getting your first place.

All the places I've looked at have had a combined bathroom/laundry with no washing machine supplied, but that's no biggie as I can buy a second hand washing machine for real cheap. I'm not sure about getting a dryer as they seem to add a lot to the electricity bill when used too frequently. I might get a large drying rack for my future balcony (too paranoid to hang my washing out on a communal clothes line).

I have a lot to add to my "glory box" I see (all I have is towels, a shower shelf and an iron in it so far )

I believe the 25% number is based on building a complete budget for an individual or family so that you can live a comfortable lifestyle and still put money into savings. It's not based on any current economic indicators. Obviously you can cut spending in one area and put it into another if you want/need to.

Here's a link to a site on the web about building a budget - I think it's probably a good idea to look at the entire picture rather than just one piece of it.

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/moneym ... t_Form.htm

I was once paying nearly 50% of my salary on a mortgage. It was tight but doable.

If I was you I'd go higher, the quality of where you live is very important to your mood.

I'm a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. He offers a lot of common-sense financial stuff, although he will sometimes talk about it in the context of Christainity. If you can look past some of that, then it is good advice based on "what your grandmother would tell you."

His guideline is 25% of take-home pay. Going higher than 30% of take-home pay would be difficult to save money, avoid debt, pay cash for things, etc.

One thing you may consider to get a nicer place is to look for a roommate, but this can be tough. I'm happy with my current roommates and I have my own bedroom, but it is tough sometimes not to live alone.

Ross McC mentioned 1963. A lot of things have changed since 1963. Food prices, adjusted for overall inflation, have gone down, for example, due to improvements in farming technology. Real estate prices have gone up, due to more people living on the same amount of land. I would expect to spend a smaller proportion of one's budget on food now than in 1963, but a larger proportion on housing.