Monthly income

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.

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.

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.

Agree with poppyred and little Annie both good advice.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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 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.