Single? How to money save as a singleton?

PasturesNew

cI get annoyed in the supermarkets by items that are "2 for £4" when one is £2.50 ... and I refuse to buy one as I feel ripped off. I've not had a freezer to date (getting one in the next 2-3 months) which will change the way I shop and what I can buy.

Yes, meals where it's "2 meals for £X" are annoying - and, again, I'd avoid those places.

Although even eating out isn't a great experience: you go in, sit down, get a menu, order your food, sit and tap your foot until the dinner comes, eat it, pay, leave. So, generally, eating out is off the agenda as you just think "I could buy this cheaper at the supermarket and just go home".

It does restrict what you can buy/eat .... and you do get fed up of cooking for yourself (no joy in that) .... but you do find ways round things... solutions that give you "almost the same outcome".

A lot of "advice" you can get given simply doesn't work though. e.g. if I say "No point turning the oven on for one baked spud", so bright spark will say "just pop one in when you're cooking something else".... trouble is, if you're cooking something else that dinner's probably already enough for 3-4 days of food .... leaving the spud pointless or rank.

So, overall, you'll change what you buy, what you cook, how you cook.

Another one for me is presentation goes out the window. I could cook a nice cottage pie that's browned in the oven with cheese and sliced tomatoes on top .... or, I could just serve up the mince and mash on my plate and forget the extra time, faff and washing up and waiting

PasturesNew

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

One area where you actually do get "no single supplement" is on many of the river cruises. I did a Saga Nile cruise and got a large cabin with 2 huge double beds for the "single" person rate.
Most of these boats seem to have a (small) number of twin cabins set aside for singles. Two people share a cabin for £1000 each - I get the same cabin for £1000 - to myself - great !

But how do those costs compare to other companies? The "no single supplement" probably just means they added it on before they typed up the price.

PasturesNew

I don't go on holidays - apart from the higher cost of living as a single, and the extra cost of holidaying as one .... for me I'd need to have somebody with me so we could point stuff out and say "look at that" ... and then, in years to come, could say "remember when...."

Traipsing round somewhere unknown, alone, doesn't sound like a holiday. I do that here!

Freecall

zygurat789 wrote: »

With an annuity you can elect to have 100% for a surviving spouce, for a smaller annuity, of course.

Exactly my point, which is why it is surprising that so many people elect not to do so.

Not sure I understand the bit about it being for smaller annuities though.

[Deleted User]

PasturesNew wrote: »

cI get annoyed in the supermarkets by items that are "2 for £4" when one is £2.50 ... and I refuse to buy one as I feel ripped off. I've not had a freezer to date (getting one in the next 2-3 months) which will change the way I shop and what I can buy.

Yes, meals where it's "2 meals for £X" are annoying - and, again, I'd avoid those places.

Although even eating out isn't a great experience: you go in, sit down, get a menu, order your food, sit and tap your foot until the dinner comes, eat it, pay, leave. So, generally, eating out is off the agenda as you just think "I could buy this cheaper at the supermarket and just go home".

It does restrict what you can buy/eat .... and you do get fed up of cooking for yourself (no joy in that) .... but you do find ways round things... solutions that give you "almost the same outcome".

A lot of "advice" you can get given simply doesn't work though. e.g. if I say "No point turning the oven on for one baked spud", so bright spark will say "just pop one in when you're cooking something else".... trouble is, if you're cooking something else that dinner's probably already enough for 3-4 days of food .... leaving the spud pointless or rank.

So, overall, you'll change what you buy, what you cook, how you cook.

Another one for me is presentation goes out the window. I could cook a nice cottage pie that's browned in the oven with cheese and sliced tomatoes on top .... or, I could just serve up the mince and mash on my plate and forget the extra time, faff and washing up and waiting

Stuff that's frozen or freezable is ok, but what frustrates me are the number of recipes that use perishable ingredients that can't be bought in the right quantities, and aren't suitable for batch cooking. Someone will always say that you can use up the leftovers in another recipe, but the logistics of arranging a menu that will do that is a pain in the butt that I just can't be bothered with.

[Deleted User]

PasturesNew wrote: »

I don't go on holidays - apart from the higher cost of living as a single, and the extra cost of holidaying as one .... for me I'd need to have somebody with me so we could point stuff out and say "look at that" ... and then, in years to come, could say "remember when...."

Traipsing round somewhere unknown, alone, doesn't sound like a holiday. I do that here!

I've done a lot of fellwalking and cycle touring which can be quite cheap if you use Youth Hostels and self cater. Now that looks as if it's probably coming to an end for health reasons, and finding alternatives feels like I'm doing stuff I don't really want to do just for the sake of killing time.

My last cycle tour was in 2011, and cost £631 for four weeks compared with about £1400 if I'd used B&B and bought prepared food.

zygurat789

Freecall wrote: »

Exactly my point, which is why it is surprising that so many people elect not to do so.

Not sure I understand the bit about it being for smaller annuities though.

For your pot you would be able to buy an annuity of say £1000 per month on one life. For two lives you would only be able to buy an annuity of (say) £900 per month
£900 is a smaller annuity than £1000

zygurat789

PasturesNew wrote: »

I don't go on holidays - apart from the higher cost of living as a single, and the extra cost of holidaying as one .... for me I'd need to have somebody with me so we could point stuff out and say "look at that" ... and then, in years to come, could say "remember when...."

Traipsing round somewhere unknown, alone, doesn't sound like a holiday. I do that here!

Have you never had the "join a group" comment thrown your way.
There are several singles in the groups I go to who benefit from the group outings and holidays arranged on a no profit basis.

PennyForThem_2

PasturesNew wrote: »

cI get annoyed in the supermarkets by items that are "2 for £4" when one is £2.50 ... and I refuse to buy one as I feel ripped off. I've not had a freezer to date (getting one in the next 2-3 months) which will change the way I shop and what I can buy.

Yes, meals where it's "2 meals for £X" are annoying - and, again, I'd avoid those places.

Although even eating out isn't a great experience: you go in, sit down, get a menu, order your food, sit and tap your foot until the dinner comes, eat it, pay, leave. So, generally, eating out is off the agenda as you just think "I could buy this cheaper at the supermarket and just go home".

Yes this poster gets it entirely which a lot of you pratting on about freezers and buying food did not.

It does restrict what you can buy/eat .... and you do get fed up of cooking for yourself (no joy in that) .... but you do find ways round things... solutions that give you "almost the same outcome".

A lot of "advice" you can get given simply doesn't work though. e.g. if I say "No point turning the oven on for one baked spud", so bright spark will say "just pop one in when you're cooking something else".... trouble is, if you're cooking something else that dinner's probably already enough for 3-4 days of food .... leaving the spud pointless or rank.

So, overall, you'll change what you buy, what you cook, how you cook.

Another one for me is presentation goes out the window. I could cook a nice cottage pie that's browned in the oven with cheese and sliced tomatoes on top .... or, I could just serve up the mince and mash on my plate and forget the extra time, faff and washing up and waiting

Yes this poster gets it.

PennyForThem_2

zygurat789 wrote: »

Have you never had the "join a group" comment thrown your way.
There are several singles in the groups I go to who benefit from the group outings and holidays arranged on a no profit basis.

This is my bad. I don't like people that much. I shy away from cheery groups - I know I shouldn't, I know that I should try them but I am not a sociable animal. Yet I am penalsied for being a single.