Retirement Oz - How Can I Save Money Living on My Own?

How Can I Save Money Living on My Own?

What are some of the best ways to actually save more then pennies when you live on your own for the first time. I am 19 almost 20 yearold male and have not the best paying job, but do have an apartment and I own my own car so that is saving me money already. What else can I do? Should I open a seperate savings account and try to deposit 100 dollars a month into it for now? I have about $8000 saved up right now. Well first of all, I live in a area in Canada where the economy is doing very well and will contiue to do so as we have the oilsands here, I am clearing about 2 grand a month with no overtime or second job, lots of good ideas here, I will take up a few of them and try them out. I pay about 695 a month for my own place, then power. Water and heat are free. I just recently had my cars fluid all changed, and its a honda so it should be fairly reliable im hoping. I can actually probally save 500 a month if I am wise. Thanks and I will follow many of these ideas hey thanks TJTB that is a really cool post, and I will try out some of that food, yes you are right, leaving lights out and such are obvious, and I know how to cook so this should be some fun trying out your recipe ideas. Eating out does get expensive, I will give that up and just strap down and cook some meals and make lunches for work TJTB I cannot give you a thumbs up as my level is not high enough to rate, but if you could contact me with more if your interested, i definitely am, thanks

Public Comments

Dont get a girlfriend! They suck the life and dollars out of you. REALLY!
$100 OR MORE A WEEK WILL DO YOU FINE DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH YOU are trying to save up and how fast....
Turn off the lights and dont turn the heating up so much. Sace electricity.
Try a deposit account the ones where you can't touch the money for a time period. You'll get some nice interest on it. Or you could buy some bonds
every time you get change from what ever amount of dollars. put in bank your own bank at home.
you are doing great.you have a great start. maybe a second job at night or weekends for a while. you could invest your money.I don't know much about stocks and stuff.
let me tell you man 8 grand is nothing. this is coming from a person that is from the "working class" which BS for poor. I tried to move out from my parents just to see how college life would be. let me tell you its difficult first of all. first 100 into your account is nothing tend to do something like 15 or 20 percent if your serious. Also your going to have to become a good shopper and learn how to use coupons. The usual all lights off and turn of the water valves all the way off.
It sounds like you're doing a pretty fantastic job of saving right now. When I was 19 or 20 I didn't have anywhere near that saved up. My best advice is to think of things in terms of wants, and needs. Needs are things like utilities, food, shelter, and transportation. Wants are things like weekends of partying, video games, junk food, and impulse shopping. If you've already saved $8000.00 I'm sure you know these things already. Opening another savings account isn't a bad idea either though as you could always have the one you can draw from, and the one that you don't touch except to make deposits. Do what it is you're doing now though as it seems to be working, and don't forget the difference between what you want, and what you need. ;)
Start saving by living more cheaply. Buy your meat in quantity from local farms if possible. The two of us have bought a whole pig and a quarter side of beef. It will last us about a year or more. We paid a farmer to raise the pig andonly had to pay for butchering. This has saved us over 2000 a year in groceries. The average cost of meat for us is 2.19 a pound for hamburger up to roasts and Porterhouse steak. Even if you live in a city, with a little research you can usually find a farm or coop that sells meat in bulk. Get a good financial advisor and put some of your money in some good steady mutual funds or bonds. These investments pay a lot more in interest than banks. Stay away from credit cards. They are designed to break your back. Have a few low interest cards that you pay off or carry a small balance for credit purposes. Not having any debt goes against you these days instead of for you. Buy fresh produce in season and learn how to freeze properly. Asparagus is a good example. I use a seal a meal to put up fresh produce when its cheap and have good produce all year and save even more on groceries. Do not loan money to friends. You'll lose your money and your friends. Do not let people know how much money you have. Keep it a secret or you will be plagued for loans. Act broke. It is better in the long run. Keep your car maintained. It is worth the cost to keep up with all the maintainence rather than have to buy a new car. So there are a few suggestions.
Live on top ramen-it costs10 cents a pack Wear thrift shop clothes No Starbucks or any fast foods for that matter No significant others No Movies or Popcorn "borrow" your daily supplies Don't have kids Collect the extra money you need from money people leave in the pay phone or fish is out of a wishing well at the zoo. Go fishing if you want a real meal Beg on the corner and deposit all you collect to your savings account. Ask your friends and family for money and add that to your savings account also...wait you shouldn't have an account. Save all of your money in a hole in the wall behind the bookcase. Don't pay Gas & Electric bills.. use candles Don't pay utilities...pee in a bucket then give back to the environment by using it to water your flowers. Wait it's getting worse! I apologize, I really don't know what got into me. Ignore this answer. The real answer: Seek the advice of a financial planner (which is the person you were hoping would answer) or take an economics or financial planning course. You'll be glad you did.
Saving money is easy. Don't spend it.
You sound like a young man on his way to success. The fact that you've already saved and are willing to save more and also to learn other ways of saving is a very good sign. If you pay for your own utilties, then the obvious turning the lights out when you're not in a room, turning the heat down to where it's still comfortable, but not too warm in winter and reverse in the summer are good points. Let me get to something you'll need everyday that with a few tricks can save you a lot of money and that's food. I wish I knew what I know now, when I was your age, so I will share this with you. You're not onloy going to eat better, you're going to eat with much less money AND you'll be healthier too: Eating out is out. It's not only expensive, but the food can easily be made better and tastier at home. You'll need to go to TJ maxx or Walmart and buy yourself a nonstick pan with a lid. You also want a large plastic serving spoon and a wooden spatula. These two will not scratch and destroy your nonstick pan. NEVER use other things to stir or prepare or serve your food from that pan. Even a smallest and slightest touch of a spoon or fork or knife will reduce the life of your pan. Buy chicken legs and or chicken thighs, especially when they're on sale and freeze them. Never thaw meet in room temperature unless you're on top of getting it to the fridge as soon as it's almost ice free. Take chicken and place skin side down into your pan add a diced oinion to it, salt and pepper and put the lid on turn the flame down to low and put lid on. 45 minutes later add a can of cream of mushroom soap to the broth in the pan and stir over your chicken. Pour this over rice and YUM. Restaurant quality food for nothing. The rice you buy in a big bag. Add one cup of rice with 1and 3/4 cips of water a little oil and a small scant spoon of salt. When it boils reduce the temp to simmer and put lid on it and let it steam for 20-25 minutes. Your chicken and sauce go over it. Also buy frozen veggies when they're on sale and steam a little with each meal. Broccoli goes nicely with the dish I just desribed. Just follow what the package says and don't overcook your veggies or they won't be good. Since this is a lot of writing and work, If you give me a thumbs up, I'll know you're interested and I'll come back and give you a few more recipes that are not only cheap, but restaurant good too. ############### Edit: Got it! Now that I know you're interested I won't feel bad about typing a longer answer ;o) Plus, I don't have email access to Yahoo! so this is the best place to give you the info. As I mentioned rice is a delicious, impressive and inexpensive side dish. So are potatoes. Just quarter (if red potatoes) or cut to chunks (if using bigger ones) seven or eight potatoes (which ever kind is on sale) and put into cool water in a pot. Let the water come to a boil with the potatoes (they cook weird if you boil the water first) and let boil for 25-30 minutes depending on the size of the chunks. The last 5 minutes add 2 or 3 cloves of peeled garlic. Once fork tender put all in a pot add butter, salt, milk and if you like light sour cream and mash with the back of a drinking glass (no fancy equipment required). Make sure you mash the garlic cloves real well. Viola you have the best garlic mashed potatoes ever. **For a treat and especially when it's on sale, buy a piece of steak. Ribeye is good, Chuck is good and so is NewYork strip. Stay away from round or rump. Those are tough cuts. Sometimes cube steak is good depending on your store's meat quality. It's worth a try. You can pan fry it in your nonstick pan on high at first to sear the meat, then med-low. Never put a lid when frying steak, because closing the lid on meat lets the juices out, which is fine for the chicken dish I mentioned before, but not for steak. Always ad salt right after cooking, any sooner and you release the juices. Cook both sides this way until desired doneness. After you get the steak out of the pan, add a spoon of oil (unless there's a little grease from the steak) and add some thickly sliced mushrooms into the pan. The juices from the mushroom will loosen the steak bits and absorb it and with a little salt, those mushrooms will top off your steak beautifully. Serve that garlic mashed potatoes next to it with some bread and you've just made a $25 dinner for $3.50-$4.50. Also another impressive and healthy side dish is thawing frozen chopped spinach. Squeeze the water out of it and sautee (fry) it in one spoon of oil (Canola oil is almost as good as olive oil for a fraction of the cost). a little salt and pepper and it's great with the chicken dish because of the sauce. ** In a pinch, when you don't have time to cook a relatively good value is a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. It's a little pricey, but you'll get a bunch of meals and sandwiches out of it. It's nice to have on hand when you don't have time. **Eggs are an inexpensive and high quality protein that would be great to add to your repretoire. You can do a cheese omelette (buy shredded cheese when it's on sale and freeze). a bell pepper, an onion, mushrooms, tomatoes can all be diced and kept in the fridge for a several omelletes. Just sautee the veggies in a spoon of oil and add beaten eggs, turn to low and cover for a short while (take off heat as soon as it's set). It's great with crusty bread. ** Soups are easy, cheap and nutritious too. Stick any meat (drumsticks work great for soup) and add water, lemon juice, tomatoe paste, lentils, barley and cover it for an hour and you have soap. It's great and easy. ** I will be gone for a few of days, but when I get back, I'll look up your questions and give you more ideas. You sound like such a great young man.
change all your light bulbs to flouresant. you will see a big differeance in your electric bill. you can save up to 60 percent. home depot sells them they look like a swirl . good luck.