OS Singlies - We Do It Our Way!

singlestep

Been lurking if I'm lucky these past few nights; I've been so busy. Was working towards a night off tonight and recharge enough so that the weekend isn't a complete washout but, at 4:55 got a call to say my night class would be running after all. This evening. Starting at 6:30. Over an hour away from work. I didn't have to go - and I'm paying for it myself - but it fits nicely in with something that's happening at work this year and gives me one less missed development target!

Am shattered, though. I've been talking all day and talking all evening and frantically trying to do paperwork in the minutes in between. May just have to see if the chocolate cure works for me too Feel better soon, BookWorm.

Another one here who finds socialising in big groups daunting. I work in a large workplace and can't cope with the Christmas night out. Whole staff meetings are also quite traumatic. On the whole, my colleagues are nice, but I'm still the one who lurks in a corner. Small groups are nowhere near as challenging. All a bit strange because my job involves working with largeish groups and I manage that ... just about!

mum2one

I'm no good with socialising either, thou the amount of tutorials I attended with Open Uni, should have got use to it, my problem is coz I'm on crutches, people see them 1st and the person later, so some will judge why usually coz I'm not a size 10... others are brave enough to ask - which is simple some idiot tried to right my car off while I driving it. now celebrating 11 1/2yrs on crutches.. xx

groatie_queen

I'm glad to say I comfortably made it to pay day yesterday (last pay was 6 weeks ago thanks to Christmas), courtesy of a 'use-it-up' month, making soup to take to work and always having a casserole on the go or the fixings for stir fries in hand. Prior to the Christmas break I was operating on fumes energy-wise, and due to fatigue I wasn't coping very well with food prep - a downwards spiral, and not good for the budget.

As a result of this month's better nutrition and quite a few early nights, I'm feeling so much better - and so is the bank balance - no meals out or ready meals.:j:j February I'll add in some regular exercise, probably walking, so long as it is dry. March is earmarked for adding in a swimming. April I'm away to the Antipodes visiting family - got to be fit for that!

Re the finances, stretching to extra weeks when only one wage comes in is something that comes up for monthly paid singlies every so often. How do you cope with this? We've remarked before that all the household bills need to be covered by one person - sometimes for me it's a bit of a stretch, and although I have savings I'm loath to use them, tho I would in an emergency. And I no longer have kids to feed... respect to singlies feeding dependants. :T:T

moneyistooshorttomention

Every bill I have is monthly direct debited, except for the yearly gas servicing (which I pay at the time and is/was £60) and the yearly tv licence. I ensure that my Council Tax bill is split between all 12 months of the year. Overall, the aim is to keep bills as evenly split as possible between each month.

The house and contents insurance bill can be a bit of thing, as many companies charge extra for those monthly direct debits (including mine) so, being a big bill, I do have to plan rather for that one, as I pay that one yearly too (in order to avoid the extra charge for monthly debiting there).

I try to make sure I'm always well stocked-up with food and household goods and, if need be, could just take a lot of stuff from my "stores" and replenish with spares again in a "better" month.

I must say I do my best to maximise my use of Council services, due to having to pay 75% of a households bill (motto = I pay more than many, so I try and use more iyswim).

I know singlies need to meal-plan more than anyone else, as its harder for us to use up fresh food before it goes off. That's something I must look into more personally, once I've got my kitchen in "new to me" house up and running properly. I think we need to be more aware of batch cooking too than any other size of household. Now I've got a much bigger freezer I've taken to cooking up the whole 4 portion sizes usually down in recipes, rather than my previous "halve the ingredients and make 2 portions, which I have 2 days running" philosophy I had before. I put the other 2 portions in the freezer and have them to "draw on" in time (or money) emergency. I've found that soup is particularly amenable to this and now always make up 4 portions any time I am doing some and 2 portions fit comfortably in the large-size cartons of a certain yogurt manufacturer (clue = think "Valley" in the brand name) and their carton lids are plastic (rather than foil or the like) and hence easily re-usable.

So I've dedicated one freezer drawer to those "extra portions" and can grab something from there the day before I anticipate a particularly busy (or broke) day.

groatie_queen

Like you, moneyistooshorttomention, I pay council tax monthly by direct debit over 12 months. This goes from the account my pay goes into, and every month I transfer an amount to a separate account to cover all yearly paid bills, and another amount goes to a third account for cash and spends.

So, it's a 3 account shuffle: the account I get paid into, all the direct debits come out on the 1st of the month (plus the two transfers for the yearly bills account and the cash and spends account). My not very numerate brain can then keep an eye on the cash and spends account without worrying about having enough to cover the monthly and yearly bills. Then I keep an eye on those pesky 5- or 6-week months and divide the amount in cash and spends account by the number of weeks. Most of the time it works, so this system works for me, and am intersted to hear how others manage.

I so agree with you that food planning takes more management, and avoiding waste takes more effort for singlies. Unfortunately I have a smaller freezer section since I moved house (integral fridge freezer here: I left behind my free standing one which had plenty of freezer space). I still freeze extra, just not in such quantities as I would like. And I agree it's a godsend to have a storecupboard buffer for leaner days...

calicocat

I usually overpay on my council tax every month (not on direct debit, I just ring up), this usually means I have paid it by December giving me more money for Jan and Feb, or less to pay out those months.

I don't have my utility bills on direct debit either, I save in a separate account for bills. For some reason I have a mental block paying them by direct debit, I don't like that they have my money up front, or that they can just change payments anytime they like. I may be costing myself a few quid more...and I am maybe being a bit stubborn on this one, but it's my money and I want to decide when I pay/save for the bills.

I always have a freezer stuffed full of food, and plenty of dry stuff in, so if needs be I only need to buy fresh veg etc in if I have a tight spot.

moneyistooshorttomention

Actually, on the direct debit front, I am contemplating whether I might be wise to hand over rather more money than I think necessary each month for the type of direct debit that is variable on my say-so. That is, handing over rather more than I need to for ones like fuel for instance. Double whammy benefit = I could cut back to lower than I think I use if it comes to "times of shortness" on the one hand and that is savings that aren't there in the form of "savings" iyswim in these "uncertain...who knows whether our own Government will make a grab for some of our savings times" I believe we are currently living in. It aint "savings" if its in the form of credit with our direct debited companies is it?;). Trust our Government (and those people who think its perfectly acceptable to be in debt even if their income is uncertain) = NO chance (cynic/practical that I am....:cool:).

Though I do have a figure in my own mind of savings I think it will be "safe" to have without risk of our Government thinking "Oh whoopee-do...little Ms MITSTM seems to have a lot of savings....think we can get on in there and grab a bit with a Cyprus-style haircut if we want" and, at the rate I personally am spending on renovating my house, then I will soon be down underneath that figure anyway...:cool:...but I'm cautious and I like umpteen "layers of protection" on my finances personally:) and then sit back and wonder if anyone can manage to get through about six "layers of protection"....:rotfl:

You could call my form of money management the "Guarded Fortress School of Thinking"...now can I stick a moat around my personal "English persons home is their castle?" LOL

Byatt

Just made this, http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/4686/chocolate-pudding-cake.aspx?o_is=Hub_TopRecipe_5

in the oven and looks amazing, I had a hankering for chocolate but didn't want to spend anything...plus only had one egg in and didn't want to use it...

also cauli/apple and blue cheese soup on the hob...will make about 4 portions if I'm not greedy.

edit, just eaten some of the chocolate pud and it's lush, will be fab with ice-cream. I will cut it into portions for the freezer, I will, I will...

moneyistooshorttomention

I've been watching this recent thing about chocolate oatmeal cake and had some googling around and thought "I think I can adapt that idea to my way-o-thinking". That boils down to substitute carob for cocoa and honey for sugar and am planning on giving it a go soon. Have a feeling it might be lush...:)

greenbee

calicocat wrote: »

I usually overpay on my council tax every month (not on direct debit, I just ring up), this usually means I have paid it by December giving me more money for Jan and Feb, or less to pay out those months.

I don't have my utility bills on direct debit either, I save in a separate account for bills. For some reason I have a mental block paying them by direct debit, I don't like that they have my money up front, or that they can just change payments anytime they like. I may be costing myself a few quid more...and I am maybe being a bit stubborn on this one, but it's my money and I want to decide when I pay/save for the bills.

You actually pay for utility bills in arrears - after you have used whatever you are being supplied with (the utility companies have some of the largest amounts of unsecured debt of any businesses). And there are options that allow you to put in monthly meter readings and be billed only for what you have used that month. So you don't get billed the same amount each month, but you do have control over how much you pay. My tariff came with an energy monitor, and it shows me how much I have used each month in relation to my budget. If necessary, I can then cut down on energy usage.

Unfortunately, I now have oil heating, so have to pay for that upfront (and it cost me a LOT of money to fill the tank when I moved in).