what do you guys spend a week, minus partying expenses? is $25 a week or $100 a month too low to live off of? this is after bills, and would include all food and gas... an allowance for myself so i can save up this semester to pay for school in january, or in installments through the spring.
Too low, I spend $25 in gas alone a week. If you can be thrifty I say yes but if you need to buy a tank a week and then need to buy food, then yes it is too low.
wow, I am horrible I spend about 200 a week not counting gas or essentials on eating lunch, coffee, shopping at lunch w/ people I work with. If I don't have it I'll let my account go negative rather than cutting back. I am really bad with money and things are really expensive out here. I don't think that's doable because there are always unexpected expenses. Are you totally against getting student loans?
Hmmm...if that doesn't include bills and accomodation and if you forget about gas, $25 should be fine. I don't know how i did it but when i was younger i quit university and only had a shitty part time job, so i couldn't get any dole money, I only had about $15 a week to spend not including rent and bills. It was really hard but i got by by riding a scooter ($5 gas a week) and buying at grocery clearance stores. It was actually kind of fun in a lot of ways. Your country is different of course. I always think a motorbike or scooter is a good idea because its cheaper than the bus.
Nah, don't bag poverty. There is dignity in buying cask wine when you can't afford beer. Or not drinking at all. Making all your own things, making your own food. Being mindful of the way you live. Loving people instead of things. You don't know until you do it. $25 is fine.
haha, i don't spend any money unless its for partying/going out. i live at home, so food and sleeping are taking care of. i don't shop for clothes to often (i do buy my own) but that is maybe 2-3 times a year.
Dude, I've been dirt poor most of my life so I know those things but for ME if I had a hundred dollars a month for gas AND food and all extras it wouldn't work. I spend over $200 a month just on food and $60 a month on gas and I really don't think I'm being extravagant too much. I'm not saying someone CAN'T survive on that amount of money but it would be extremly difficult.
If you're in the right place with the right planning you can do it and its not difficult. Ride a bike or motor scooter and you'll be paying nothing or $20 in gas tops. I know, whats practical for some isn't for others. Also, i honestly find $50 a week on food a bit much for a poor person and i know how you like your nice food. I spend $50 a week now, and that to me is luxury! And food is more expensive over here.
I spend over a hundred a week just in gas. I don't know about the rest of my bills cuz my wife takes care of that. and for beer, pot, and other drugs I have no idea cuz that varies from week to week
cars can be expensive, if you need to keep your budget that low, maybe consider using a bike/public transportation instead. think about the money you'd save in car insurance, maintenance costs and gas.
thanks everybody for your replies... this is my plan. i drive about 5-10 minutes to work (verrrry close) and about the same distance to my parents' house.. a little longer. i then ride my bike to and from campus from there until it gets too cold to do so, and when it gets too cold i park at a church off campus and walk... so i don't have to pay for a parking sticker. or much for gas. i don't go out much anyway, but when i do drink i'm gonna stick to my cheap vodka ($10 for a 1.75 liter) and juice or cheap soda... ummm as far as food i don't buy meat (except the occassional canned tuna) or cheese really... and lately i've been eating at work a lot so i don't have to cook much, which is about $3 a meal, but i'm going to stop that because i can make a veggie sandwhich for like a dollar... anyway, i guess i'm going to see how it works, if i can't live off of it i'll adjust. and yes, i'm pretty much against taking out more loans. i already have $7500 out and well i'm immigrating after school and my future husband and i wont be making too much money off the bat (most likely)
you don't have to pay on them until 6 months after you finish school. It's your last year at college full-time and your last time being spent single (meaning not being financially accountable to someone else), you should enjoy it. If you make under a certain amount you can declare loan forbearance and not pay on it after school until you above a certain amount. Plus the interest rates are really low. I am not trying to talk you into debt but I just think you should enjoy the last few months of living without a guy for potentially the last time in your life. I hope that doesn't sound off. I am so incredibley financially irresponsible and am in debt. I just think sometimes financial sacrifices really cause resentment in a relationship and I know for myself no matter how much I love a person, until I have a ring on my finger I live for myself. I just think you should have fun! Plus you're in a long distance relationship so think of all the fun you have to pay for yourself more often because of that. I mean being alone is expensive not to mention not as fun so why not enjoy yourself because a few thousand in student loans isn't going to mean as much to you in 5 years. I think you should live for the present Elyse. You're too hot not to take advantage of it. hugs
one week for rent one week for o&m one week for fun one week for the bank needless to say, i stay in cheep dumps when it's my own cashflow paying for them. haven't had any in so long this is only a theoretical discussion for me at the moment having a wife who pays the rent, for which i do all the household stuff instead we get by without cable or nintendo just fine, and without a car too so instead i think our rent is close to 7/8ths of total cash flow and we just don't hardly ever spend anything on anything. but most of that crap to waste money on doesn't really gratify anything or never did for me. creating and exploring gratify and only tools that contribute to doing so really contribute anything to it. yah the rest we spend on grocerys and occasionaly on cloths, as cheeply as we can pretty much. once in ten years i get a new computer. three or four years out of five we go to one furry or sciffy convention. that's our big splurge for the year. i think this year is one of the years we'll be skipping that. i still need glassess. maybe this'll be the year i get them. =^^= .../\...
at the moment for me~rent, utilities, internet, phone & food at home are all free. So I don't really need to worry about a budget....boy I home this lasts for quite awhile.
Definitely. If I'm lucky I'll spend that much on food in a month here lately. I went shopping for groceries on wednesday and friday and think I spent $12 total. And that's a generous guess.
