How Much Should You Plan for Utilities Update You can download our new Printable Apartment Budgeting Worksheet and use it to estimate your rent and budget for all your expenses. Update If you are trying to figure out how much rent you can afford, also check out these three posts for more calculations and expense guidelines To find out what our readers actually paid for utilities in July 2. Our January 2. 01. Watch Apartment: Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming Radio' title='Watch Apartment: Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming Radio' />Our readers often ask how much they should budget for utilities, so we thought wed give a brief refresher course. Weve listed some usual utility categories and some thoughtspricing for each. At the end, youll find the estimated total cost per month. The cost estimates are for a typical one to two BR sized first apartment. Heat. The cost of heating can vary wildly, and can make or break the cost of an apartment. So let me break it down by types Radiator Based Heat in Multi Unit Building if you are in a multi unit, radiator based building, there will almost certainly be no extra charge for heat. This is because there is no way for the landlord to determine which unit used how much heat, and therefore, the landlord will pay the buildings heating bill in total. In this situation, the cost of heating is built into the rent. Radiator Based Heat in a House if you and some friends decided to team up and rent out an entire home, you may then be on the hook for the radiator based heat. Heating a whole house could cost over 3. Gas or Forced Air Heating In the winter months, this can be quite expensive. Bollywood/c9eb3ffa9958d37f00f1eb130203344a.jpg' alt='Watch Apartment: Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming' title='Watch Apartment: Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming' />Intern and eventual resident Meredith Grey finds herself caught up in personal and professional passions with fellow doctors at a Seattle hospital. Watch trailers. E Online Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV showsAccording to Techcrunch, its possible to enjoy all the football you want, though youll need a combination of live TV streaming plans, NFLspecific streaming. Watch the latest Featured Videos on CBSNews. View more videos on CBS News, featuring the latest indepth coverage from our news team. Budget at least 1. One good way to find out is simply to ask the landlord or previous tenant, since each building will be different in its heat costs. Summary Heating can be a bug a boo, and can effectively raise your rent by 1. Make sure you know how much you will have to pay before you sign the lease. Reality Check Per our January 2. RB apartment, if it was billed separately. Electricity. Before we consider the cost of air conditioning which is usually included in the cost of electricity, lets just focus on the electric bill without AC. Watch Apartment Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming VfDuring winter months, or if you dont use air conditioning, it is reasonable to pay between 3. There are ways to lower this bill, such as turning off lights, fully powering down appliances, and using compact fluorescent light bulbs. However, a lot of your bill will simply depend on how much youre home, how much you watch television tube TVs are big electric drains, how efficient your refrigerator is, and how careful you are about turning off lights. Watch Trailer Park Boys: The Movie Online Ibtimes here. Summary Electricity is necessary, and it will cost you about 4. Reality Check Per our January 2. RB apartment vs. 6. July 2. 01. 5 survey. Watch Apartment Rent At Your Own Risk Streaming DevicesAir Conditioning. This expense can be a real wild card and it all depends how much you use. Unlike with heat, in most places in the country, you dont need air conditioning, though its nice to have, especially when a heat wave hits. According to the website Carbon. Rally, the average Americans AC system costs about 2. This seems about right to me, when you factor in a few things first, most people only use their AC about three to five months a year. And, in some places, like Minnesota or Maine, you may only use it a few times a summer, which averages out with the southern US, where youd use it much more. So, for people who live in places with average weather, youll really only be using it May September, which means about 5. This seems about right Ive had my total electric go up to 1. Summary AC isnt strictly necessary, but if you want it, plan on spending up to 6. Cooking Gas. In a lot of buildings, if you have a range stovetop, youll have to pay for the natural gas that you use during cooking. And in some buildings, the natural gas will also provide your heat. As regards cooking, the cost is very minimal 2. It really all just depends how much you cook at home and, even if youre spending a little extra to use your gas at home, youre almost certainly saving money by not eating out. Summary Gas is a negligible expense when used for cooking its usually around 1. Internet. Forty five dollars a month is roughly average. Keep in mind that you can split the cost with as many other people as are using your connection. For example, when I lived in Minneapolis, my next door neighbor and I set up the wireless router so that she could get a signal, too, and then me, my roommate, and her were all using one forty five dollar signal. The other thing to consider is bundling your internet with your cable. You can often get a deal that way. See below for my thoughts on cable. Summary These days, internet is a necessity. Itll run you about 4. Cable. I personally dont have cable, and dont really miss it. This is an optional expense. Especially with the new high definition televisions, and their digital antennae, its easy to get great reception on network TV, and then you can use Roku or Netflix streaming or HBO On Demand, or whatever for the rest of your needs, though this will cost you about 2. If you simply must have cable, look for a deal. They come along frequently, and can save you some money. But be careful often theyll have add ons like free HBO for three months, which will then become charged to your account if you dont cancel it when the preliminary deal expires. So make sure to read the fine print, and to keep active on your account, so you know what youre being charged for. Watch Lymelife Online IMDB there. Summary While its not a necessity, it is nice to have cable, and you can usually find introductory deals that include cable and internet for about 9. Reality Check Per our January 2. RB apartment vs. 6. July 2. 01. 5 survey. Renters Insurance. As Alissa touched on, renters insurance is worthwhile. Think of it as protecting your stuff, come what may. Its also affordable, at only about 1. Other Add Ons. Some things youll only need if you live in certain areas of the country, but its worth touching on them here Parking. In some neighborhoods namely, in big cities, where parking is hard to find, parking will cost extra. In my neighborhood Lakeview, Chicago, its about 1. In other places, such as Brooklyn Heights, NYC, or Lincoln Park, Chicago, it may very well be necessary, unless you want to spend an hour a day driving around, looking for parking Im serious. So know whether youll need this before you get a place. Doormen. If youre lucky enough to have a doorman, youll have to tip him during the holiday season. Usually, its about 5.