New guy here - living on my own for first time

hollisterbay

Ok so here go's! I've lived most of my life with my family, I always gave money to my mum on side for like "rent" to go towards the mortgage and my only other fixed deduction was my gym membership.

So last 3 months I've moved into my own place

Now I have a goal and an aim - Goal is, as soon as I get paid on the 25th of every month, I want to LOCK AWAY 50% of my wages.

The thinking in that - if you don't see it in your account, you won't spend it ;p

Now my main monthly fixed deductions are - RENT and GYM.

If I take those two away and also obviously the 50%...I am left with £700 a month.

That 700 needs to cover me monthly for...food/cleaning things maybe like washing up liquid/I have little dog too so dog food.

I'm not used to being away from my fam so if anyone can give me tips would be appreciated.

I'm not much of a cook also but I know I have to get into the kitchen instead of eating out.

One good thing - I like the active life, playing footie,gym etc and the other side of me I'm always online so I don't have that much energy so to say to go "window shopping"

700 to work with on a monthly basis for me and my dog - I'm an active guy and am into bodybuilding so I eat quite a bit too ;p

allydowd

Put a little bit of money away in case your dog needs to see the vet.

Always have spare lightbulbs and spare loo roll in the house.

Fit smoke detectors and test them once a week. The Fire Brigade will come and fit them for free if you don't have them already.

Keep a torch in case of a power cut.

Be a good neighbour, don't make too much noise....you never know when you might want a favour from them.

Should you be paying Council Tax? Ask your local council if you're not sure. Council Tax debt is one of the few debts you can go to jail for.

If you have a tv you will probably need a TV Licence, or risk and ENORMOUS fine: Here's the link:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index.jsp

GemmaBuckle

Welcome! I think everybody's pretty welcoming so hopefully you'll find lots of helpful advice. £700 shouldn't be too difficult (she says, knowing full well that she has about that much too and never has any money!), but you're smart to be thinking about it. Check out the grocery challenge sticky - lots of help, advice and simple recipes. May I suggest lots of pasta? Pasta is good...
If you have a little dog, don't forget to factor in vets / insurance etc - you don't want any huge unexpected bills!
Have you factored in things like TV licences / utilities, or are these covered by your rent?
G

Little_Vics

Welcome to this side of the board! You might want to do an SOA (statement of affairs) to get your bills in order - it's really good to get your head around what your outgoings are. There's always little bits you forget! There's a link on the top of the debt-free wannabe board.

hollisterbay

Haha cool - thanks for the replies guy, seems like a cool place! I just thought I'd give it a try and see if I can learn something...I think I will learn a lot here

Gemma, pasta IS good but not for me ;p - I'm on a high protein, low carbs diet as I do bodybuilding and am working to get "ripped" so I can't eat things like pasta/bread/ as they are high in carbs ... I know I'm a food freak, not really only recently I have become so as I want to get on the cover on Mens Health soon

Yep I've taken account of Bills in my rent so that is fine

I agree with lightbulbs and spare loo roll - that's taken care of. I actually get a load of rolls given to me by the caretaker at my company because...she likes me so one time I asked if I could get one and she just keeps on giving me them now for free ;p

TV license is np - I don't have sky/or normal TV connected - I'm into my techy stuff so I have a system which streams videos/movies from my Apply Computer directly to my LCD...I hardly watch TV anyways, more of an internet guy for latest news etc

Like I said, my main concern and what this £700 will cover is -

My food for 1 month. Food for my cool little dog for 1 month.

Basic/Mandatory Accessories like...cleaning stuff for bathroom maybe...batteries? Can't really think what those accessories might be right now but hey, if I can keep my food for me and my dog to £500 a month I think that would be great.

Seakay

Welcome to OS!

Some previous threads which you might find useful:

the recipe thread - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=710445

Weezls 50p a day challenge- http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1157641&highlight=weezl

Loads of recipes for you to try - put an ingredient in the thread search and see how you go!

Best way to save money on food - where ever you end up shopping, is to make menus for a week, then a shopping list, then only buy what is on the list.
You might spend more at first because you'll be building your store cupboard of spices, herbs, oils, rice, flour etc, etc

After a few weeks check your storecupboard after making your list to avoid buying doubles and to check what is running out.

Next stage is to start shopping around for the things that you want - again you will find threads telling you what is cheap at Tesco and what is good at Lidl.
This stage is where you have to balance the value of your time against the value of money saved. If you have a demanding job taking up long hours then you may not think it is worth the ten pounds saved by shopping at several places when you could be spending that time with your dog, or whatever.

If you have an Aldi and/or a Lidl near you then sign up for their emails and keep an eye on their specials. Don't buy on spec but look out for things that you know that you want but don't have to have right away eg a battery charger and rechargable batteries


If you really get into it then you will find threads on stardrops and on vinegar and bicarbonate of soda - either will answer most of your cleaning needs and save you cupboard space as well as cash.

Anyway, never be afraid to ask any specific questions at all, from what to do next in a recipe to how to clean a window - anything at all. We all do it and that is why this thread is such a mine of information!

I think that there is even a recipe for dog biscuits somewhere - yes, here we are, along with other money saving tips concerning dogs and other pets.


H.M Dog Biscuits. (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=238138)

Reverbe

Welcome hollister. You will find some lovely people and some great tips here in the OS forums. Loads of yummy recipes too..

avstar

hollisterbay wrote: »

Gemma, pasta IS good but not for me ;p - I'm on a high protein, low carbs diet as I do bodybuilding and am working to get "ripped" so I can't eat things like pasta/bread/ as they are high in carbs ... I know I'm a food freak, not really only recently I have become so as I want to get on the cover on Mens Health soon

.

There is a low carb diet thread on the health & beauty board, which has low carb recipes, meal plans and special offers that might be of interest to low carbers. Lots of peeps doing low carb to lose weight but some also for health reasons. Lots of us on there trying to low carb cheaply :rotfl:

hollisterbay

avstar wrote: »

There is a low carb diet thread on the health & beauty board, which has low carb recipes, meal plans and special offers that might be of interest to low carbers. Lots of us on there trying to low carb cheaply :rotfl:

Man I am reeeaaallyyyyy liking this forum really quickly ;p

Great forum - great people....or I havn't come across the grumpy members yet hehe ;p

Skint_Catt

What cooking facilities do you have and what freezer space? You can often buy multi-packs of beef/chicken etc which are good to stock up on when you see them (if you've got the freezer space). If you do have a big freezer check out your local butchers - mine offer huge packs of various meats & cuts for better price than the supermarket, but I don't have the space at the mo!
I would say for you and your dog you should only need to spend a very max of £200 a month - taking into account the odd extra's like batteries and the cost of meat.

Don't forget to factor in things like Christmas/birthdays/other events if you want to stock up/save for.

C xx

McKneff

Buy yourself a two/3 tier electric steamer.
You can cook a whole meal in one go in half an hour.
Meat/chicken/fish on the first tier, veg on the second.
Saves having 2 or 3 hobs on the go using all that electric.