I just looked round a house. Its shared accommodation, with three other students. Reasonably priced, and nice. I need to get my parents to sign a rent guarantee, which I haven't asked them about yet, but aside from that, I'm all sorted. Assuming I can persuade them to do so, I could be moving in the next couple of weeks. Which brings me to my point: Any advice, particularly from those who live alone? I've identified where my money will come from, as far as food and transport fares go (bills are included in the rent). But I'm sure there must be other things I need to consider, so I'm turning to people who might have experience with it. I'm terribly sad I'll have to leave my cat with my parents. But at least that way I might get a good sleep once in a while.
Living alone is hard, I was on my own for a year and it had it's ups and downs. The only advice I really have is don't spend money on things you don't need. Always have a savings because something might come up and you'll be thankful you have it. Also make sure you have a steady income and also MAKE SURE YOU GET ALONG WITH WHO YOU LIVE WITH. I lived in shared accommodations and it was hell. None of them did anything and I was stuck paying rent half the time for one of my roommates. So just make sure you all get along and understand that it's not just their home but yours too. As long as you have money for rent and food, you'll do great. Best of luck
The contract is for me only - if a housemate doesn't pay, they deal with it themselves, if that makes sense. And I have £300 savings. Not enough to do shit with, but they could get me out of a little trouble I suppose.
My only advice is that once you get paid pay rent and buy groceries first. Also remember there are other thing that cost money like doing laundry and it seems like every week you will run out of something like dish soap, razors, shampoo,....something. The biggest thing to do is be sure you can afford to 'pay yourself' most weeks. Yes just a few bucks to go to a movie, or if all you eat during the week is frozen pizza have enough cash to go out once on pay day. If you are just scraping by and never 'pay yourself ' then life becomes a stale repeating cycle of doing nothing but going to work/school and sleeping. Having a small reward to look forward to makes a huge difference.
