Single person cheapest way of living

olb81

What's the cheapest way to live in order to keep saving money?
I would guess its as a lodger with friend or family with all bills included
Although this would mean sharing facilities,  maybe you would get an en suite bathroom and microwave in the room.
After that I guess a self contained annexe maybe from a converted garage?
Most expensive would be renting a whole flat to yourself?
Or even more expensive staying in hotels? Although I've seen travel lodges for £25 which isn't bad.
Any thoughts?

LeafGreen

Yeah bedsits or room in house share.  I did both for a good few years and while it wasn’t great there were advantages, mainly making good friends and being able to save a chunky deposit for my own place.  I was in my 20s/early 30s at the time though, wouldn’t really fancy it any older than that.

Brie

The biggest problem with a hotel, like a travel lodge or similar, is that while it's all in for £25 or whatever there's no cooking facilities so you end up spending lots on eating out or getting takeaways.  

If you live somewhere there's a uni and there's a summer tourist season you might move in to a houseshare when most students aren't at the uni and then move to tourist accommodation for the off season.  I used to work with some people that did this for a few years.  It meant moving every few months but was cheaper than renting a flat as normally all the bills were included. 

Albermarle

Although I've seen travel lodges for £25 which isn't bad.

I am sure they would only be that price for the occasional quieter night, not as a regular item.

Also the cheaper travel lodges are the older ones with poor reviews. I do not think living in one of them is going to help with your mental health ( as you have mentioned is an issue in previous threads).
Are you definitely not staying in the house you bought ?

RAS

Be very careful about self contained annexes and rooms with an ensuite and microwave. You can end up with a very large retrospective Council Tax bill if anyone dobs you into the VOA.

As the chap whose lodger in the attic used by the previous owner as a studio. It had a sink. He didn't know the lodger had a rice cooker, but the neighbour did. So it was re-assessed as a separate unit for CT purposes.

SarahB16

olb81 said:

What's the cheapest way to live in order to keep saving money?
I would guess its as a lodger with friend or family with all bills included
Although this would mean sharing facilities,  maybe you would get an en suite bathroom and microwave in the room.
After that I guess a self contained annexe maybe from a converted garage?
Most expensive would be renting a whole flat to yourself?
Or even more expensive staying in hotels? Although I've seen travel lodges for £25 which isn't bad.
Any thoughts?

Similar to what I've highlighted in bold but I'd say a room in a shared house.  A room in a shared house (sometimes with bills included sometimes without).  If I were you I wouldn't stay with family as you want your independence.

There are quite a few websites where rooms are advertised and there is usually quite high demand for them. 

Edited to add:  This would also include the use of the kitchen and lounge (shared with maybe two or three other people) and a shared bathroom.  It is usually quite a friendly set up.  Many young professionals straight out of university live like this and with the cost of accommodation people are continuing to live like this for a lot longer.   

youth_leader

My daughter shared a house with other students at Uni.  She had been able to save from her grant and tiny business on Etsy,  and when she left came home for a while and got a full time job with shift work.  I don't like driving in the dark and sometimes had to pick her up at midnight - she moved out to a professional house share.  She saved there too, and at 29, has just bought her first house with her boyfriend in NI.  They have rented it out for a year and are now in Canada having a great time.  I'm not having such a great time with her cat, who seems think I should be up at 5 am!

olb81

And the best place to look is spareroom.co.uk ??

youth_leader

I've just tried it for my area, I've got 22 hits.  I think people can rent out a room and earn up to £7K per year tax free, and more people are doing it? 

Murphybear

youth_leader said:

My daughter shared a house with other students at Uni.  She had been able to save from her grant and tiny business on Etsy,  and when she left came home for a while and got a full time job with shift work.  I don't like driving in the dark and sometimes had to pick her up at midnight - she moved out to a professional house share.  She saved there too, and at 29, has just bought her first house with her boyfriend in NI.  They have rented it out for a year and are now in Canada having a great time.  I'm not having such a great time with her cat, who seems think I should be up at 5 am!

That’s cats for you 😹😹😹😹😹

SarahB16

youth_leader said:

My daughter shared a house with other students at Uni.  She had been able to save from her grant and tiny business on Etsy,  and when she left came home for a while and got a full time job with shift work.  I don't like driving in the dark and sometimes had to pick her up at midnight - she moved out to a professional house share.  She saved there too, and at 29, has just bought her first house with her boyfriend in NI.  They have rented it out for a year and are now in Canada having a great time.  I'm not having such a great time with her cat, who seems think I should be up at 5 am!

I once read of somebody who fed their cat at lunchtime for exactly this reason so they didn't wake him up.  The cat had its first meal of the day at say noon and had dry biscuits left out for it before they went to bed.  Not being a cat owner myself not sure how often you need to feed them but I presume the cat was also fed again perhaps at 6pm. 

I wonder if it's worth training the cat to be fed slightly later.