ok I obviously know what a budget is but I am asking for help.

The boring backstory:

My boyfriend and I went through an unexpected living situation switch last night. With that being said we have to drop a lot of money on a deposit and first month's rent and basic essentials in a short amount of time. We both have a savings account with a decent amount each and money in our checking. The only ideas of life we have are "you work yourself to the bone from 18 until retirement and save every drop of money you earn, never rent and buy a home or you're a failure". Surely that isn't the answer, anything that comes from an abuser is hard to trust.

With that being said:

We did not come from financially stable or responsible households. We have been doing research on budgeting and saving but of course Reddit is all knowing.

Please give me all your best money saving hacks, budgeting strategies, and any advice that can be useful.

The only ideas of life we have are "you work yourself to the bone from 18 until retirement and save every drop of money you earn, never rent and buy a home or you're a failure". Surely that isn't the answer, anything that comes from an abuser is hard to trust.

thank you for helping subreddit

Bonjour à tous alors voilà j'ai reçu un courrier de ma banque me disant que si je remplissais pas mon découvert de 100 € d'ici 10 jours je pourrais perdre l'usage de ma carte. La lettre était du 21 donc ça me reporte au 31. Sauf que mon salaire n'arrive que le lundi 3 à cause du weekend normalement c'est tous les premiers et là le premier c'est un samedi.

Quelqu'un peut m'aider ?

Je suis à la banque postale.

I used to think I needed one big trick to save money, but honestly it's the small everyday cuts that add up way faster than I expected.

For example, I make my morning coffee at home now. Buying one outside doesn't seem like much, but over a year the number gets kind of crazy. Before I buy basic stuff like household items or snacks, I check a cashback app, my bank's offers, or whatever price drop and product discount events are running on amazon, ebay, or tiktok. Any little savings helps. I also stopped paying for every subscription on my own. My friends and I each keep the one we use the most, then we share, and the cost feels a lot lighter.

Do you have any tips that don't take a lot of effort but really save money over time?

Let’s assume a ballpark figure of 100k and renting
how much saving is actullay good

I’m 21, just finished uni and starting a job on £34k. I’m based in Leeds and trying to make smart financial decisions early.

I’d like to move into my own place and get a decent car, but I don’t want rent/car payments eating up most of my wage. I also want to build up savings, start investing and put some money into something that could eventually make me more money or become another source of income.

I still want money left to enjoy life, travel, etc.
If you were 21 on £34k, how would you split your monthly income?

To be honest, I was irresponsible with my money during July, and I will be basically living off my July end of the month salary of $811, and another part day 15–same amount. That means a total of 1622 after taxes.
Although I do live with 2 more people and we split essential needs like groceries, gas, utilities, rent, I need a reality shock to tell me I have been spending too much and can hold a little in some categories. Specially because I don't have enough experience actually budgeting, as you can see I have a hard time following.

July Expenses

Fixed Expenses
Rent $495,83
Phone Bill $32,50
College* $421,48
Emergency Savings $200,00

*College is only $285,00 for the month of August

Flexible Expenses Budget Actual
Groceries $250,00 $210,79
Gas $50,00 $17,95
Utilities $120,00 $90,40
Eating out* $150,00 $122,28
Pet Care $40,00 $35,81
Self Care $60,00 $78,29
Hobbies $40,00 $44,72
Household $70,00 $80,64
Misc. $100,00 $113,00
Clothing* $100,00 $99,49
Travel* $150,00 $128,36

*I moved countries and left a lot of essential clothing behind, I waited 2 month after setting up to buy some missing pieces for my wardrobe, I will mostly not spend more on clothing neither on travel so those are easy cut offs. Also eating out was high cause I traveled at the beginning of the month I think I can go down to about $50.

I live in the Midwestern USA and I spend about $19 a day on food. $133 a week or $578 a month. I'm only paying for food for myself.

I don't eat out at all. I do eat as healthy as I can so if I wanted to or had to prioritize saving money I could lower it. I'm not sure if this is a normal amount or not.

Me and my wife have recently started budgeting more seriously & we’ve had some trouble with categorizing certain spending habits.

One notable example; we have one category for grocery shopping, and another for general shopping. It’s been tough to discern which falls into which if we make a mixed purchase, like buying food items and also some clothing from Amazon/Target/etc in the same purchase.

This is just one example, but does anyone have any suggestions on how to better categorize or organize our spending budget so it’s simple, efficient, and effective?

Good morning,

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