Solo Living 101: Budgeting when you only have just enough

Living alone gives room for a lot of freedom to make personal choices, but it also does not come cheap. There are no divisions to the expenses so planning your expenses and sometimes getting short is not an option.

I am not by any means a financial expert. I still have a long way to go before I even come close to that. This post will not get you rich nor does it have any hacks to magically give you large monthly savings. These are practical tips and thoughts to keep in mind when planning your finances in a month in order to survive well and enough alone without needing to call for back up.

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It is okay if you're only making enough to get by.

I know there are tons of financial advice of a said ratio on how you spend your money. As ideal as it sounds, it is just not everyone's reality. Sometimes, a person only makes enough to have at least 5 or 10% of their total income to save. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you have paid your financial obligations and you are providing your basic needs. Maybe someday you'll be able to follow and have a substantial amount in savings, but if it's not possible for now there is no reason to feel bad about it.

Do not go into debt.

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Having your finances on the negatives, even no matter how little it is, can topple your financial planning and can have drastic effects. Debt is a hole you don't want to dig because it will only get deeper. It is true, there are good and bad debts, but be sure that you are earning enough to still be stable. Seek for advise from your bank or a trusted expert on finances to see if a specific debt is something you are able to pay for.

Have clear outline of your leisure spend.

It is important that you know how much you have to pay for the basic expenses such as rent/mortgage, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, insurance etc with a little bit of allowance for each. Whatever is left could either be for your savings or for leisure spend. It is important that you do spend some for yourself for pampering or other hobbies, but make sure this is not a rock that will drown down your boat. Have some clear boundaries of how much your leisure spend is limited to.

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Have more of your meals at home

There is nothing wrong with eating out once in a while, but you will be surprised how fast and how much it adds up if you do it very often. The advantage of having more meals at home is you can control your grocery expense and it is just cheaper if done right. There are tons of quick but delicious recipes and you can also meal prep if you don't have time or just not very willing to cook everyday. 

Learn to compromise.

Unless you are some millionaire's child (in which case you really don't need to be reading topics like this) or you're just ultra rich, you will have to learn to compromise when you are living alone. There are a lot of things that are not paid off by someone else anymore. 

Your bills are your own to pay. Naturally, you will have to give up a lot of fancy lifestyle choices or simply just your splurges. Your essentials will  have to take over and the extras to the backseat. If don't really think it's possible to be able to live a lifestyle beyond your income and at the same time, pay your bills - well maybe it is, but you'll be in debt.

Oprah Winfrey said, 

"You can have it all, you just can't have it all at once."

In an ideal world, we'd all be rich and we'd all have everything we want or money won't even be a social commodity. But for now, we'll have to live with what we got and we have to make it work.

Hope this helps!

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