Single Money Saver living on my own

doinwell

dollydumpling wrote: »

Hi doinwell - if you go to lastminute.com you can you can get a cinema ticket for £4.99 but I think its only for Vue cinemas in London which might not be any good for you.

i wasn't sure if lastminute were still doin that so thnx very much for the info. as it happens the 2 cinemas i visit are vue cinemas and when i went 2 c sweeney todd last saturday, i was horrified that the price of a ticket was £8.10!!!! can u imagine if i wanted something to eat and drink as well:eek: so thnx once again.

i don't know how many people may find this useful, but for the last two christmases, i have bought the meat, prepped it, and if for example it was a joint/whole chicken i was going to roast at a later stage, i lay out the foil, i season the joint etc on it, then i wrap it up and place this in the freezer (don't 4get 2 write what type of meat it is on the foil if u've got more than one!). when i'm ready to roast, i defrost the joint in the fridge for a day or so (u can usually tell when it's thoroughly defrosted) and because it's already wrapped in the foil in which it will roast, i simply then remove the whole thing from the fridge and place that in my roasting tin in the oven. when everything has cooled, i slice it all up, put them in freezer bags or cling film (this takes up much less space in the fridge!) and u've got a nice supply of meat to do with as u please. i also prepare roast potatoes in the same way.

lilac_lady

Living on your own means that you're responsible for any debt incurred. I feel so sorry for people who post that while they've been cutting back severely to live within their means, their OH has wasted all their efforts by carrying on piling up debt. Must be very disheartening.

tigerlily

I have been reading this thread for a while.......its very interesting. Living on your own is expensive, council tax, rent/mortgage, all the bills. I have a BF but live on my own. I do find it hard sometimes as I have all the bills to pay plus the cost of going halves when me and the BF go out. He does pay sometimes when we go out but even so its difficult. ARGH!! LOL

freelancemermaid

dear doinwell,

i would highly recommend you arrange your own independent travelling.

i don't speak foreign languages much beyond hello/how much is that/please turn right, i'm not particularly brave or outgoing and yet i managed to travel round thailand and china on my own and had a brill time, met lots of people.

doing your own travel, you tend to book local places to stay, which are way cheaper and i don't believe i was ever charged for being single!

i ate in local places, so paid next to nothing and ate far better than in a hotel restuarant.

just go for it!

Stephen_Leak

freelancemermaid wrote: »

i don't speak foreign languages much beyond hello/how much is that/please turn right

This little book might be of help ...

tink1981_2

I've done quite a bit of travelling on my own sinse I've been single... it was quite daunting at first, but I've tended to book cheap flights and then nights in hostels. I've met some great people and have ended up not feeling like I'm travelling on my own after all!!

tink x

Roz_V

Wooo managed to get a cheap(ish) meal plan sorted!!! Here goes...

Day One
Breakfast: Apple & Value Yogurt (17p)
Lunch: Pasta with Salmon, Mayonnaise and Pepper (87p)
Tea: 2 slices of Cheese on Wholemeal Toast (90p)

Day Two
B: Apple & Value Yogurt (17p)
L: Tesco Minestrone Cuppa Soup with 2 slices of wholemeal bread (23p)
T: Pasta with sauce made from Passata, Mushrooms, Onion & Garlic (63p)

Day Three
B: Apple & Value Yogurt (17p)
L: Jacket Potato & Cheese, with baby gem lettuce, 2 sticks celery, 1/4 cucumber and 1/4 punnet cherry toms (£1.76)
T: Stir Fry and Noodles (£1.08)

Day Four
B: Apple & Value Yogurt (17p)
L: Tesco Chicken Noodle Cuppa Soup with 2 slices of wholemeal bread (23p)
T: Cottage Pie/Hotpot (£1.02)

Day Five
B: Apple & Tinned Pineapple (32p)
L: Cheese and Tuna Salad - baby gem lettuce, 1/4 cucumber, 1/4 punnet cherry toms, 2 sticks celery (£1.61)
T: Spaghetti with Cheese (46p)

Day Six
B: Apple (9p)
L: 2 slices of Cheese on Wholemeal Toast (90p)
T: Half Value Quiche, served with 2 sticks celery, 1/2 carrot, 1/4 punnet cherry tomsand 1/4 cucumber (82p)

Day Seven
B: Apple (9p)
L: Half Value Quiche, served with 2 sticks celery, 1/2 carrot, 1/4 punnet cherry toms and 1/4 cucumber (82p)
T: Mum's

Milk - 40p/week

£12.91

I could probably get this down by buying the veg from greengrocers but for ease I've just costed it from Tesco.

Pasta I use 150g/portion and Spaghetti and Cheese are 100g/portion

givememoney

Roz very well done.

Only thing though it doesn't seem very much food. Do normally only eat that amount? I am thinking snacks here no biscuits with tea or anything like that. No pieces of fruit as snacks.

Roz_V

givememoney wrote: »

Roz very well done.

Only thing though it doesn't seem very much food. Do normally only eat that amount? I am thinking snacks here no biscuits with tea or anything like that. No pieces of fruit as snacks.

I only have a small appetite but keep a biiiig pack of raisins on my desk at work to pick at through the day (bought for me by my mum about 2 months ago and still only half gone!) and things like biscuits I only tend to eat when I'm at work where they're free

Trying_to_save_2

Hi everyone, :hello:

I've FINALLY got some time to sit down and post a message about some of the things I try doing to save money as a singleton living alone. By the way, I agree about the expense - ALL the bills to pay and trying to have a bit of a life on just the one income. I work full time and also do a few hours in a shop on Saturdays.

One great thing I did for the first time last Christmas/New Year was to work at M&S as additional seasonal staff - my freezer is HEAVING with food from the staff waste sales of food sold off each night after closing time.... Its saving me a fortune on my food shopping at the moment...

I also have a SC which is fab, but I also use my George Foreman grill and elec steamer loads too - I can't really remember when I last used my oven (except for the odd pizza now and then ). Another thing is that when my freezer is a bit too much on the empty side, I put empty boxes in it to take up space - the ones from the washing tablets are ideal - as its cheaper to run when fuller. I also tend to turn my heating down a couple of degrees and / or put a warmer top on ( or as I have now, my PJs....:rotfl:)....

One more thing before I go, this is a recipe for a fab veg soup which I spice up with black peppercorns and hot chilli sauce....

Serves 4, but I either freeze it or use it all within a few days having kept it in the fridge:

1oz butter, 2 large leeks (chopped), 1 onion (chopped), 3oz carrots (diced), 15oz can tomatoes, 1 1/2 pt chicken (or veg) stock, 1 tsp worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper -

Melt butter in large saucpan, add veg and cook for 15 mins.

Add rest of ingredients, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour, until veg are soft. And hey presto....done :T

Mind you, I prefer to zap mine with a hand held blender and have it smoother. I also triple the quantity using a pressure cooker size pan and freeze it. For that I use 2/3 oz butter, 3 med onins, 9 carrots, 6 leeks & 4 1/2 pts stock, adding tom puree and herbs too. Its really nice - and thats from someone who only has a kitchen 'because it came with the house' :rotfl: :rotfl: .

Hope that has been of some help - oh and by the way - someone mentioned a single money saver dating idea - could be fun...:o

Bye for now,

T to S :hello: