Monthly income

I would recommend that you download a budget app. And then feed all your expenses. Put in absolutely everything. Then you can decide where you have to cut etc.

i think it all,depends on your income and outgoing everyone has different expenditures. I save by not going out on an evening too much but I'm usually still tired from work. I also budget on food shopping shopping at aldi saving money. Check all your direct debits and make sure you use all you are paying for.

I divorced a few years ago. I don't want to give too much away, but I was married to a highly successful professional and money was no problem at all. Following settlement, I am now living on 1/20 of what he earned. It's hard but do-able. No fancy holidays etc. But then, I have no craving for that now.

Or write down all your essential expenses for the month and start from there.

Start by shopping in Aldi or Lidl if you don’t already and make sure that you are getting the best deal for Gas and Electric and insurance etc. You can also get discount on your rates if living alone.

Cook from scratch if you can and freeze any leftovers for another time.

It’s not about how much you need to live on but how much you actually have to live on. As said upthread , go through absolutely all your fixed outgoings first. As well as checking if you could get anything cheaper, have everything you can on a monthly direct debit ( as long as it doesn’t cost more). Are you on a water meter. Once you’ve made a list of all your fixed costs, you’ll then see what what’s left for things you have control over such as housekeeping, clothes, social life, presents etc. Do a weekly meal plan and then shop for that. I frequently cook double and freeze the other half. That saves fuel and generally avoids waste more. I designed my own excel budget sheet and it’s divided into three sections -fixed outgoings, car expenses and thirdly expenditure I control. Good luck

Go through your wardrobe. We all have things we don't wear very often. Wear them instead of buying new. When I was left on my own I didn't buy anything new for quite a long time!

If you still go out to work, make sandwiches to take instead of buying them, and don't buy expensive coffee when you are out.
Use your local library instead of buying books.
Make a shopping list and stick to it, no impulse buying.
Only buy essential toiletries instead of buying any you see 'just to try'.
There are lots of money saving tips online.

Agree with poppyred and little Annie both good advice.

How much depends on housing cost, you don’t get much for £1000 a month in the south, below that it’s social housing, hardly an enticing prospect.
As long as you have regular work, do as many hours as you can, get a second job, you’re going to need to fill those lonely hours somehow, so get paid, a friend of mine (60) does a few shifts in a call centre, pays OK, passes the time.

So yours is an open ended question there are so many variables from not very much, to quite a lot.

If it’s any consolation I know a few single mums who have to work 12hour night shifts doing care work while a friend looks after the kids that’s hard but there is no other work and no social life.

We tend to live up to our income, so of course you need to start there. Then budget accordingly. How much others spend doesn't really count.

Review all monthly income to check you are not overpaying on essential bills. Claim single person discount on council tax. Use cash back sites when renewing services. De clutter items you no longer use and sell on auction sites or local facebook. I subscribe to a forum on MSE ( make £2019 in 2019) full of useful info to increase income. Unfortunately we all have times when we need to live within our means.

Well suffice to say I manage on the amount the government allow before you need to pay tax! ......plus a little dipping into savings. Would be a lot easier if I wasn’t one of those deprived of my pension at 60! I was used to much more when married......you cut your cloth etc.....

If you’re retired, I’m guessing you’ll have your state pension..and maybe a little more? I would list down what you can’t not spend eg housing and energy costs etc. What is left is what you do have to live on, like it or,not. As above, look at ways to economise-and there will be things that you really don’t want to cut corners on-and gradually you’ll have it all prioritised. I was ‘poor’ for a while at one point in my life. Don’t let the fear cripple you. It often works out ok...and a bit better than you think! Good luck!

I have just cut my car insurance by half by going on a compare site. I will be looking for tips on this thread as I hope to retire next Spring.

You have to manage ! Sell an over-sized property if you live in one for starters as large homes equal large bills then take it from there.

I live on state pension plus pension credit and lower rate Attendance Allowance. The latter helps to pay my daily help.
I never eat in cafes or restaurants.Take my own sandwich and drink when I go shopping once a week to Lidl. Do all cooking from scratch and do bulk cooking to freeze.
Rarely buy new clothes. I used to buy good quality clothes so they have lasted.
I have always been careful with money. My late husband said I was economical to the point of meanness!
I am content.

I buy "bargains" a lot- mainly cleaning stuff, deodorants, washing tabs etc. There are times like now when I could restock a corner shop with cleaning material because some was selling at half price and unlike food, it keeps for many years.

I was in Sainbry'sd yesterday, saw an item of food greatly reduced but had to be eaten yesterday- nop problem that was supper sorted.

I live on my own and mainly cook from scratch so I would eat that food today, tomorrow and I usually have two portions left over so I freeze that and on the days when I cannot be bothered cooking all I have to do is gook pasta, rice or whatever. I rarely throw out food because I do not buy 3 for a tenner as I have insufficient freezer space.

I do online shopping and when I first order I order just what I fancy. A few days later I have another look and can usually shave off a tenner or whatever.

I live on my own so maybe I do have an extra stock of eg loo rolls in case I cannot shop online or go out but again it gets used.

I shop online for my cat's prescription food because the vet charges around £8 more for a bag of her food.

I've always been careful with money. When my husband was made redundant and on Income Support. I had to feed both of us, and two ever growing teenagers over 6ft to feed. Fortunately I did Domestic Science at school, so I have always cooked from fresh. It's a joke in our family that if they get anything different to eat, it must have had a Yellow Label on it (i.e. marked down)! I always buy fresh meat and veg., whatever is in season.
I'm better off now, can afford holidays and clothes I like whenever I need them, but our diet hasn't changed much.
!0 years ago I had a knee replacement, and couldn't get out to shop. With a son who does a very physical job, well over 6ft tall, 52" chest, I did all my shopping with Tesco Online.
We ate really well, including roast beef and all the trimmings on Sunday, for under £100 a week. Last night we had some left over Bolognese. I added a tin of red kidney beans with chilli sauce, cooked some rice to go with it, and had a really filling meal for next to nothing.

Look at Martinsmoneywebsite for cheaper living tips. Good luck. ??

The basic state pension is £168.60 a week usually paid four weekly into your bank account so it’s £674 a month with a thirteenth payment one a year, making a rough total of £8,767 p/a.

If this is your only income you would be entitled to help with your rent. If you live alone you get a discount off your council tax. If you own a house and have a big expenditure like a new boiler and no money you might have to release some of the equity to pay for it.

Other than that you have to cut your cloth according to your income - some people manage to run a car. I would suggest making sure you have some good quality clothes that will always be in fashion, then make a habit of checking out charity shops - if you live in a poor area try going to a more upmarket one occasionally.

The irony is that the single persons tax allowance is £12,000 p/a to some of us that would be a fortune! I wish the government would consider using the tax credit system for pensioners - lumping the fuel benefit (£200 paid in Nov/Dec) in with the pension income and topping it up to say £10,000 for a pensioner living alone. Of course two people each with a pension living together can live comfortably, but a single person might have to watch the pennies otherwise any savings will melt away at an alarming rate.

If we had no debt or mortgage I am pretty confident that DH and I could live perfectly well and happily on £1200 per month (or even a bit less). That would pay our CT and other bills and leave enough for food etc. We have never been in the position to travel much anyway and what you have never had, you wouldn't miss. I think it would be much harder for someone who has been used to a good income to suddenly have this cut drastically.

At my lowest, after my divorce, I left with just the clothes on my back and had to start life from scratch, I lived on £700 per month, that was paying £300pm mortgage, £100 council tax leaving £300 for everything else, running a car, bills, food etc. To cut costs I went on FreeSat TV no monthly TV bill. I only bought reduced food eg once I got a bag of spuds and bag of veg sausage rolls for 50p, and that is what I ate all week. If I made a purchase always used reward cards like nectar, tesco points, and online shop via quidco, and my cashback added up, also got cashback from credit card so double whammy on rewards. I sold almost everything I owned on ebay when times were mega tough and I got ill and housebound. Hermes courier would even come and collect parcel as I could not leave house, and had a milkman deliver milk and bread. I grew my own salad in window boxes so fresh salad pick my own in summer. It was very hard and very scary being on my own and then being ill unable to work. I survived just had to watch every penny. good luck!

As well as this forum, head over to Money Saving Expert. There are forums over there on lots of specialist subjects, and my favourite 'Old Style' full of hints and tips.

I would certainly look at Compare websites for reducing energy costs and especially water charges,onour local radio this week a man had a huge reduction in his monthly payments by switching water suppliers,make sure you claim all you are entitled to regarding heating allowances.
Buy your vegetables loose and what you need rather than prepacked that way you have no waste and need to throw away or use left overs for a warming soup.
Cut your TV and broadband packages to the cheapest you can find and when ordering them ask again if that is the best price they can offer,never be affraid to ask for a further discount on anything.We are very lucky to have a good income but I am always on the look out at ways to increase my savings.Charity shops are my best friends and I have had some wonderful bargains on items I could never normally been able to afford,this past month I have bought 2 x Per Una bags still with new labels priced at £39.95 both bought for £1.99 each at local cancer care shop so bargains are out there if you look and search.