How should I estimate everyday living costs?

Create columns for category, source/date, billing frequency and expected annual cost. Include rent or mortgage, electricity, water, communications, groceries, transport, insurance, shared charges, healthcare, maintenance, travel and pet care as relevant. Obtain actual quotes or recent home-specific bills rather than filling categories with unsupported averages.

Convert annual costs to monthly reserves by dividing by twelve; for variable bills, use a full year where available and mark gaps. Keep deposits, moving, furnishing and setup costs in a separate one-off total. Add a clearly labelled contingency and test a higher-energy or higher-travel scenario. Compare the resulting monthly total with reliable net household income; ask an adviser separately about tax and pension consequences.