How to Estimate the Cost of Utilities

There's probably a long list of utilities you use each month, but not every one of them is essential. As far as what you need to live comfortably, you're basically looking at power (electricity/gas), trash pick-up, and water and sewer.

Water and sewer can run the gamut from $10 a month for a small apartment to, say, $200 a month or more for a large home with lots of grass to water in the summertime. Trash pick-up fees will usually stay constant regardless of season and start at around $10 a month for an apartment (possibly with additional fees for recycling).

As far as the essentials go, the single largest piece of your utility estimate is the power, and there are lots of factors that can affect what you pay there. The two root factors are how much power you use and how much that power costs. The former is up to you -- you can switch to fluorescent bulbs or use a clothesline instead of a dryer; the latter is tougher to control.

For gas, which often (but not always) runs dryers and heating systems, the main factors in the cost are where you live and the time of year. Prices fluctuate by region and season.

For electricity, you pay by kilowatt-hour (kW/h), and the factors in that rate include not only location and time of year (summer is usually most expensive), but also the time of day. You'll pay more per kW/h during peak times, particularly early evening.

If you have any money left after power, which can run, say, $30 to $60 a month for a small apartment, you'll be considering the non-essentials like home phone (progressively less essential these days), in the area of $30 to $50 a month; cell phone, anywhere from $40 to $200 a month; Internet, averaging $10 to $50; and cable or satellite TV, which can run from $25 to $150 a month.

Because all of these factors can really add up, you may need to ask yourself some questions at this point, like:

It's a lot to consider. How do you even know how much electricity you can live on? What's your bottom line?

You can go through your current utility bills, research current rates and come up with a fairly precise number.

Or, if you're looking for ball-park figure, there's an easier way…

For trash pickup, you'll have an exact number: Either your landlord is paying it; you're paying it and the amount is stated in your lease (for renters); or you're paying it and you know the price because you set up the service yourself.

The same goes for phone, cable and Internet.

Energy use is a different story.

If you live in a small apartment and use about 550 kW/h per month, which is about average, and you're paying about $0.10 per kW/h, again the average, you'll receive a bill each month for $55. Easy enough. But how do you know how many kW/h you're going to use?

To get a nice big picture of your electricity expenses, you can turn to any number of calculators on the Internet, provided by power companies, government agencies, energy-efficiency organizations and apartment rental Web sites.

You'll find energy-use calculators that ask some questions about appliances, lights and heating and cooling in order to give you a number, either in kW/h or in dollars. You can also use many of these to find out your local kW/h rate and to calculate how much you'd save by altering your energy habits. For example:

And then there are the overall budgeting calculators that will ask about everything -- phone, trash pick-up, water, student-loan payments, electricity -- to help you get an overall picture of your expenses. You'll find a few of these here:

Most experts say you should spend no more than 40 percent of your income on housing, and that includes utilities. Calculators are a great way to estimate this cost, but other, still simpler options may be available to you. You could ask your landlord, a previous tenant or homeowner, or find estimates online for the specific apartment community you're considering. These approaches may be somewhat less precise than individualized calculations, but they can give you a quick answer as to whether you're coming in below the 40-percent threshold, so at least you know if you're on the right track.

For more information on utilities expenses, budgeting and related topics, look over the links on the next page.