My first apt alone

[Viq]

But it's a great way to save!

[Yuri-G]

There is so much goddamn free porn on the internet you better not spend a red cent on that shit, you hear me?

Also, cheap food + multivitamin pill > expensive yet nutritious food.

[Dalecia]

because synthetic vitamins are apart of a daily balanced diet to make up for healthy foods.

[Yuri-G]

because synthetic vitamins are apart of a daily balanced diet to make up for healthy foods.

We're not talking about the ideal lifestyle here, we're talking about shortcuts and ways to be cheap.

[Elesirdur]

Don't eat out. Ever. Well, if you're taking a girl out then yes, but if it's just for yourself then always eat at home or pack meals for lunch at work or w/e. Eating out or ordering is in the quickest way to blow your budget.

Roasts, especially pork loin roasts, and stews make for some of the cheapest, and tastiest, home cooked meals. For example, I've gotten into a bit of a habit of buying a centre-cut pork loin roast (usually bone in for flavour) on Saturday and eating it for supper on Sat+Sun nights and taking it as lunch (in sandwiches or on salad or just chopped up and mixed into rice) on Mon, Tue, and sometimes even Wed. One of these costs about $10-12 and I've been able to cook it to succulent perfection in my toaster oven. Protein cost is about $1.50-$2/serving

The same goes for stews, as beef chuck and other stew meats are dirt cheap (like less than $1/serving of meat), are easy to cook - brown meat in dutch oven, throw in veggies to brown, pour in cooking liquid, return meat, put in oven for a few hours, ???, profit - keep and reheat well, and make nice one-dish-meal solutions. Carrots, turnips, parsley, celery, onions, potatoes, etc. are all very inexpensive vegetables and they all keep well either in the fridge or in you apartment root cellar, ie. under your sink in a dry container.

If you drink pop/soda try and cut back and drink more water instead. If your city's tap water tastes funny then pick up one of those Britta filtering pitchers and keep it full and in the fridge so it's ready whenever you're thirsty. I ended up drinking a lot more wine when I got my own place because I got a bit tired of beer all the time, and it can be had for pretty cheap (plus you'll need it for cooking).

If you're unemployed or a student with minimal employment, think about doing your own baking. Cornbread can be made for pennies a piece and (for me at least), fresh bread, even if it's not that great, is so good you might as well stick your dick in it.

Generally, try and purchase food with as little processing as possible. Even now that I'm not completely poor and starving, the most processed food I buy is canned soup - everything else, with the exception of baked goods, is made from scratch. Not only is it cheaper, but it's healthier and gives you more control over exactly how you like your food. Not to mention girls love guys who can cook, even if only a little.

I also found that having a written out budget very helpful in understanding exactly what I could spend money on. If you've got a car, try and walk or bike more to cut down on gas. Hopefully this place you moved into is close to a supermarket or some kind of grocery store. If you find yourself having trouble sticking to a food budget (I always budget about $300/mo), go take it out in cash and keep it separate from your regular money. For the first few months when you're buying food this is a good reminder of exactly how much food costs, and will likely be a disincentive to splurge.

Things that do suck are all the little incidental costs you never had to bother with at home; light bulbs, toothpaste, toiled paper, vitamins, etc. Whether you want to try and build these into your food budget or keep them a separate line item is your choice.

If you're spending $50/mo on a gym membership think about dropping it and just going running and doing weights/exercise at home. Besides, being poor and having to really think if you want seconds or lunch tomorrow will probably lose you some weight (it did for me lol)

Anyway, good luck and I hope you enjoy your first place.

[Deimos]

Get a roommate. Do I always like living with 2 other people? Not at all, but I sure like only paying for 1/3 of everything.

After living on my own for a while, there is no way I am ever going back to having roommates. Way too much bullshit including:

- "Uh, why didn't you tell me you were having 10 people over tonight?"
- "Did you eat all my eggs?" ... "Oh, yeah, I'll get you some more next week or something" ... "Yeah, I kind of needed those for my dinner tonight."
- "Can I use the TV?" ... "No, we're watching movies. Maybe in 4 hours."
- "Did you plug the toilet and then just leave it that way?"
- "Uh, do you have a bunch of torrents running? My internet is barely working."

etc etc. Definitely would not want to go back to that at all. Of course, I've lived with my girlfriend for over a year now, but that's totally different.

On the actual topic of how to save money, one thing to consider is your phone plan. Do you have both a cell phone and a house phone? Do you really need both? Is your cell phone plan more expensive than you actually need? There's plenty of other things like this that other people have suggested that's usually "expendable", like cable TV. You could also consider other things like using public transit instead of driving all the time, if possible.

Overall your rent sounds pretty low to me, I don't know what wages are like around there, but you should be able to cover that pretty easily even with a decent part-time job, if you don't spend a lot of money on extra things. I wish things were that cheap around here, we pay $1300/month (with all utilities and a parking spot) Canadian for a one-bedroom apartment decently close to downtown. Closer to $2000 is pretty common once you get into the actual downtown area. Yay city life.

[Ohemgee]

I'm almost dreading moving in with 3 friends now.

Ugh, Tampa.

[Elesirdur]

Deimos, where do you live in Canada?

Last place I had here in Victoria was a bachelor for $650/mo, and that's quite reasonable here. Although it was on the 9th floor and looked south over the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the Olympic Mountains, was in awesome shape, and was a block from groceries/pub/liquor store/7-11/drycleaners/doctor it was well worth it. Sucks I had to give it up but I wouldn't have wanted to live in a south-facing apt with no AC anyway lol

Rent in Victoria (or Vancouver for that matter) is absolutely silly. If you're not pulling in over $1300/mo after taxes forget about living by yourself in this city in anywhere that's not a total shithole or some skeezy illegal secondary suite.

[Jefe]

Fock the cup and noodle diet man, your body is the most important part, you gotta take care of it. Learn to cook basic and healthy meals. Preparing your foods saves you a lot of money, so buy a lunch box or w/e to take to work. Also, keep an eye on your telephone services, most people don't need all that junk, which adds quite a lot. Not having a cell saves a ton, you don't need that shit unless your job requires it for some reason. With the intrawebs, you don't need cable so that saves you money. For apparel, check out your favourite brand and they usually have sales for a fraction of the price. Don't forget about public transportation. Last, be conscious of your situation and know you can't be blowing your money.

Summary:

• Cook your meals.
• W/e services you get, make sure to get the most affordable and avoid extra you don't need.
• Consider not getting a cell.
• Apparel stores offer sales and discounts over the intrawebs.
• Public transportation.
• Common sense.

[Denchi]

Ramen Noodles + Eggs works a little better. and PBJ's!

And yeah, roomates do suck balls. I've finally found a dude who's like 29 and has a steady job so he's not so bad, and he owns the condo I rent the room out of. I just gotta deal with the constant "You're just a college kid who's daddy pays for your apt" cracks every once in a while. Compared to what I've had to deal with in the past.... it's quite a good deal. I pay $450/month for rent + full utilities. We have Direct TV with a DVR and the fastest broadband Qwest can install, washer + Dryer, all brand new carpet/tile/appliances. And it's in Flagstaff, AZ like 2mins away from campus. It's a good deal...

anyways..... roommates are usually asshats.

[Deimos]

Deimos, where do you live in Canada?

Rent in Victoria (or Vancouver for that matter) is absolutely silly. If you're not pulling in over $1300/mo after taxes forget about living by yourself in this city in anywhere that's not a total shithole or some skeezy illegal secondary suite.

I live in Calgary, so pretty much the same situation as Vancouver or Victoria, if not worse. As you said, unless you want to live in some shady basement suite, you're either going to be paying a lot, or it's going to be way the hell on the edge of town. I work downtown, so it's pretty important to me to be at least decently close. I can get from door to desk in about 25 minutes from my current apartment, before I moved it used to be about an hour and a half each way. Saving two hours a day on my commute is a pretty big deal.

[Militant]

Reading what some of you guys pay for rent makes me so jealous. A STUDIO apartment anywhere around here is 800/month or more. 1BR = 1k+. Gogo Bergen County NJ.

[Kroni]

I live in Calgary, so pretty much the same situation as Vancouver or Victoria, if not worse. As you said, unless you want to live in some shady basement suite, you're either going to be paying a lot, or it's going to be way the hell on the edge of town. I work downtown, so it's pretty important to me to be at least decently close. I can get from door to desk in about 25 minutes from my current apartment, before I moved it used to be about an hour and a half each way. Saving two hours a day on my commute is a pretty big deal.

Same thing in Saskatoon If you cant afford 1000+/month rent your screwed

[Tyche]

What the hell kind of car do you drive where you pay $145 a month as a female over 25 even with full coverage...

My Bill breakdown/month is pretty substantial...

$450 in daycare costs (odd we pay for daycare because my fiancee directs it, however it's a state non-profit facility)

$100+ in Cable TV/Internet

~$200 In food

~$200 in Gas

$780 Mortgage

$180 SUV payment

$160 for insurance for 2 vehicles

$100 for cells

$115-$400 for utilities (gas furnace in winter blows)

I can't really place a monetary value on the baby essentials, because that's about the only assets that I don't handle. A pack of 108 diapers is about $25 and lasts about 2 weeks.

I'm sure there's other stuff I'm forgetting >.>

[Tyche]

Wow, that's one thing we've been fortunate with. 0 accidents and 1 speeding ticket between the two of us. That's still really fucking absurd, they are pretty much raping your total vehicle value over the course of 2 years. Silly they make you keep full coverage.

[Taera]

Wow lots of good responses! I am very very grateful! A lot of it i hadn't thought of such as the light bulbs and buying in bulk(we have Sam's Club around here but i dont have a membership =/). Something I forgot to put in the OP was how much power do things sap when they are plugged in but not on? Like the standby lights on my TV/360/Wii/PC monitor. Are they worth unplugging or is it insignificant? My current budget turns out to be:

370 - Rent
70ish - Electric/Water
30 - Internet
70 - Cell
65 - Insurance
25 - Gym(Contract I cant get out of unless I have a doctors note saying it's harmful to my health to work out)
160 - Gas

I usually bring home about 1100 a month and I have to drive to the next town for work. When I find a job in this town that will work me 40+, around school, and pay more than minimum wage, gas cost will go way down. I get left about 300 for food and other things I need around the house.

[Beckwin]

Gonna disagree with the no cell phone idea:

1. cell can replace landline completely, plus cell phones are damn handy (I'm not even a big talker/texter, but it's just helpful to be contactable/in contact wherever you go).

2. work with your parents- stay on that family plan. family plans are dirt cheap and only cost like, 10 bucks per extra line. This works if your folks have a good plan with unlimited nights/weekends and a decent number of minutes and you aren't someone who is constantly talking on it all day. If you text a lot, you can pay extra on the line for more texts. Overall you can have a phone line for 120 bucks or so a year if you can swing it.


edit: about the power thing- I'm not gonna say people are wrong about the whole unplugging thing, but really I don't think it's that huge of a drain for most appliances. the biggest electricity users are air conditioning and then probably lights.

[Woozie]

The number one absolute best piece of advice given in this thread is the budget. Do it. Don't even THINK about not doing it. Always be aware of how much money you have in your bank accounts. I set my accounts up so that I get an email early every morning telling me how much I have in my account.

Tell everyone in your family to call your home phone first and THEN your cell (unless they have your same provider and you get free mobile to mobile or something).

Try to plan your trips out to minimize distance. By that, I mean plan out both your actions and your trips. To give an example, I used to cook breakfast for my mom a lot, but with the way gas prices are, I now only do so on Wednesdays and Sundays because she lives across the street from my church and I know I'll be going that way anyways. I also only visit my bank if I'm on college campus because there's a small branch on campus and a larger one within walking distance. I tend to go to the grocery store after plasma donations because the blood bank is right down the street-which brings me to my next point.

Consider donating plasma. Right now I'm looking for a third job, but until then, I'm making about 240 dollars per month donating plasma.

I know not everyone can do this, but if you can, keep track of the exact amount of your groceries while you're shopping in your head (including tax for any taxable goods you buy). Or I suppose you could just use a calculator (your cellphone has one). Knowing exactly how much you're spending will make it easier for you to put back the stuff you don't *really* need. When I don't keep track of the exact amount I'm spending I'm more likely to buy chips/Hawaiian punch/etc and other things I could do without. I'm also more likely to go over budget.

Also, always be aware of how much each meal costs. For example, my spaghetti costs me about $4.13 to make and can last me an entire day if I make it at breakfast time. On the other hand, my lemon chicken costs about $5.30 to make (and with lemon chicken, I also need a side dish which costs more). Knowing how much each meal costs will help you stay in budget while being full.

Snacking on cheap things during the day such as ramen noodles or sandwiches may help you eat less at dinner, meaning you'll have leftover food to use later.

Have a low metabolism. If your metabolism is high, then change your genetics. This can be accomplished by changing your parents, alchemy and other mystical forms of science, or just by calling your local witchdoctor (and if you do this, tell me what he said). If you have Bulimia, store your puke in ziplock bags and eat them again later. Just make sure you eat it within 48 hours - eating it after two days is just gross.

[Tajin]

If you are not a freak of stuff losing out the clock, you can unplug stuff as it does consume power, it might add up over time depending on how many appliances you have.

Should be, for the most part insignificant

[Nystul]

you can lose a lot of power on appliances that are on standby etc. One of the easiest way to deal with that is to plug appliances into power strips with surge protectors. Get the ones with the on/off switch on them. That way you can just flip the switch when you aren't using them and you don't lose money to leeching.