Hey guys, I'm introducing a new blog series here- on being skint & fabulous- just because you have no money doesn't mean you cant have a life or have to just completely be a homebody! With the right tips you can still have the things you would like, without burning a hole in your wallet ;-).
I personally love living frugally- it makes my life so much easier and so far it has meant that have a very good credit rating too! I handmake/recycle/mend a lot of my clothes, my whole online business is built this way and I live by budgeting and shopping lists and it has meant that I save a huge chunk of my weekly income, so that I can save for other things like holidays, renting deposits and for other special occasions!
I never used to be like this, obviously- when I was younger, I used to just splurge money on things I didn't really need, but instead on what I thought looked nice or tasted good. But I then learnt how to budget when I moved away from home for a year because my parent's weren't going to support me financially anymore.
And when I started my first full-time job as a waitress the spending habits did get worse- I spent half of my first weeks wage on a pair of Doc Martens, because even though I did want them for about a year beforehand, I wanted to show people that I can afford nice things. Luckily I wear them very often, otherwise it would be a very costly mistake. However it did get worse- bi-weekly shopping trips in Hammersmith on my break, or in Westfield whenever I finished work early, because I thought- I deserved it- I worked for it, so I earned every nice thing I had in my wardrobe.
Then I decided I wanted to move out of my parent's house again, but with no intention of moving back in, mostly because I wanted to support myself fully and live a fully independent life, and a year and a half later, I'm still living that life and it has quite literally been the biggest wake up call ever... I lived in an overpriced tiny council flat with like 6 other people where there was no privacy, constant noise, and no relaxation. Since living away from home, I've had to re-learn how to budget, save up for rent deposits for when my tenancy was finishing, and have small treats rather than splurges!
Now though, I live a fairly comfortable life. I live in a cool-enough bedsit, I have nice things that I have worked towards, I finally am planning holidays, and I'm working towards better things.
This week, I am going to talk about budgeting. If you want the nice things you want, or if you are in debt, or even if you just want your wages to actually last, rather than living from paycheck to paycheck, then you have to plan!
Here are a few things to consider when budgeting-
- Make a list of all the essential things that you will need to pay for, in terms of bills, rent and groceries, and a tiny bit for going out (because we all need a life!) and if it helps- withdraw the money left over and only touch that cash for emergencies, and save for other things!
- Buy in bulk to cut costs- in terms of herbs and spices, loo roll, washing up liquid, etc.
- Plan your meals in advance so that it's easier to just buy the food you need to avoid waste. There's a good website to help with this too: http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/
Here's an example of how I budget:
I make about £250 a week (not including the extra money I make from my tips that I've gotten via card payments, which frankly only really pays the tax before it touches my wages)
£120- rent
£20- groceries
£10- meter key
£4- launderettes
£15- travel
£17- bills
= £186 on necessities, £64 leftover!
I don't always spend money when I go out because it's usually to go to other people's houses, or I spend very little- but I normally spend no more than £20 a week or sometimes even fortnightly.
You may read this and think- how the heck do you live in London and live so cheaply? and I won't lie I have had a lot of trial and error, so it's only really been the last few months that I have worked this out to my benefit, and I will expand on that in future blogs- you would be surprised at how much you can save if you are realistic and plan smartly.
Good Luck!
Ify Katherine xo
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