Thinking of moving out from your parents’ home? Starting your own family? Don’t be blindsided by these 7 expenses that come with moving into a home of your very own.

Moving out of your parents’ or family home isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are a multitude of factors to consider and new expenses you are yet to encounter.

While the learning curve can be steep in the beginning, rest assured the path does get better. Managing your own household and life on your own is a step forward in your journey towards financial independence, go for it.

We list seven expenses that you should consider when you move out. Learn more about these to make your life easier!

Expense #1: Home Loan Monthly Repayments or Monthly Rent

The journey of living on your own or your own family is a stressful one. After all, you are either buying a new home or renting. Both expenses in which you didn’t really think much about when you were staying with your parents or family.

However, this is probably the most significant expense that you are thinking about as you will probably spend close to 30% to 50% of your salary every month on home loan repayments or rent. Calculate wisely what you can afford on a monthly basis before you make your decision.

Make no mistake, the expense on home loan and rent would be a big hit to your lifestyle initially if you do not plan a sound financial budget around it beforehand. It is best then to engage a licensed financial planner to help you plan your finances before moving to a new home.

Expense #2: Renovations & Furnishings

Whether you are renting or purchasing your new home, there is the possibility that you will want or need to make some modifications to the design and environment of your new home to better suit your own preferences.

There are certain aspects of the home that you are more likely to renovate and change. As many say, you don’t want to be living in a home where you hate the interior designs of it and always be thinking what an eyesore some aspects of it are.

Renovations for your home no matter how big or small would still account for quite a big amount of your finances. Consider what you want done and what you can live with. Shop around for the best quotes from contractors before engaging a trustworthy and reliable contractor who offers a good price. If renting, be sure to clarify with your landlord what renovations are allowed.

Furnishings can also leave a hefty dent in your pocket. The good news is, even without renovating, furnishings can make a huge difference in the look and feel of your new home. Consider your preferred color scheme and the purpose of each area in your new home to help you narrow down what you should aim for. Do be sure to measure twice to make sure you get furnishings that are the appropriate size so you won’t have to buy replacements.

Expense #3: Household Appliances

Once you have your home, you need to make it functional with some “helpers”. Aside from it being a cave with furniture, you need to add in your household appliances. And these don’t come cheap either.

You would need to buy and install lights and ceiling fans, especially if you are moving into a brand new home.

Then, march in the army of basic appliances, such as your refrigerator, stove, washing machine, and water heater.

Next up, consider other miscellaneous appliances that suit your lifestyle, such as your air conditioner, hair dryer, clothes dryer, coffee machine, microwave oven, oven, air fryer, water filter, and air purifier.

Many a time, you would probably not have thought much of household appliances that you would need until you actually need them. Be prepared and think about as much household appliances you would need for your home when you move out. For this, you might want to consider whether you can buy them second hand or possibly ask your family whether they have any spare ones.

Expense #4: Utilities – Electricity

While you will have to pay up for different utilities, the one of biggest import is electricity.

Probably something you would have always hear your parents complain about – the cost of electricity. While you might have left your air conditioner on for long periods of time when you were still living with your parents, you certainly would not be able to do so in your own home if you are starting out on a small budget.

Electricity is expensive and depending on how you use your electrical appliances at home, you could be looking at a sizeable expense on electricity if you don’t learn to be more economical in your decisions and habits at home.

Now that you are paying for your own electricity, you would need to pay particular attention to the energy guzzlers among your electrical appliances. Take note in particular anything that creates either heat or cold will require the most electricity. This means you will want to be careful on your usage of appliances such as your air conditioner, clothes dryer, oven, electric kettle, and desktop computer.

A good measure of per person usage in the home is around RM30 to RM100 per person. If your electricity usage exceeds that, it is recommended you audit your household’s electricity usage and come up with ways to reduce cost. Today’s technology capabilities enable you to actually monitor specific electric usages of your home but that will probably also require a sizeable upfront investment.

Expense #5: Utilities – Internet

What would you do without an Internet connection? These days, having broadband has become more of a necessity than luxury with many of you increasingly working from home. When you were staying at your parent’s home, you didn’t really spend on Internet services as your parents probably paid for it.

Now that you are living by yourself or with your own household, you would have to spend on an Internet connection and they are not cheap. If you don’t need high internet speeds, you would probably get by with a package that cost less than RM100 per month. However, if you are working and need high speeds for meetings, you would probably have to spend more for it.

Furthermore, it is not enough to just get an Internet service package, you would have to spend on certain hardware like Wi-Fi routers and you would want to invest in good ones. Bad Wi-Fi routers would inevitably limit the amount of speed that you get on your Internet connection and defeats the purpose of getting a good Internet service package.

Expense #6: Food and Groceries

When you were staying with your parents, you would almost always be eating at home. You likely didn’t need to spend that much on food and groceries. Your parents would have sorted out your meals and bought groceries regularly.

But now that you are moving into your own place, you would have to spend on food and groceries from your own pocket now. Firstly, you would need to stock up your groceries regularly to prevent overspending on takeout and delivery foods that cost quite a bit.

You would also have to spend time now on preparing and cooking food, which also represent a time cost to you. Do not underestimate the amount of time that goes into cooking as it is most certainly not a 15 minutes thing to do.

While buying instant food and meals will cut down on your preparation time, they are not healthy when compared to regular food. You might want to consider prepping your meals beforehand and cook in bulk to reduce the amount of cooking time.

Conclusion

Many people actually underestimate how hard is it to shift out from your family home and go live by yourself. There are many expenses that come with it that you would not have thought about or considered before this. These expenses include renovations, home loan or rent, furniture and household appliances, food and groceries, electricity, internet, and kitchen utensils.

 

Are there any other expenses that we have left out? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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