General Discussion

@Yuukiji
that spinach salad sounds really good and filling! could definitely go for that if im running dry on ideas! and golly i love fruits and nuts too much to have any patience to cut them up and rearrange them prettily in a bowl :p

ha gosh i never thought of putting anything other than water in a kettle, i would get a little experimental but i feel there would be weird things sticking to the innards of the kettle and making some kind of horrible substance. though now i kinda do want to do that just to examine what that would look like under a microscope.

thanks for the help C:

As soon as you are allowed to, move out of shared dorm rooms to a suite-style dorm (where they share a living area but have separate bedrooms, or even an apartment off campus. I wish with all my heart that I had done so, but I lived in dorm rooms for all four years of college and regret it so much.

Since you use FR, I assume you have functioning internet. If you need food ideas, there are a bunch of websites with recipes. Some even have recipes made for dorm rooms that use a microwave.

Definitely don't go crazy with the rebel stuff. I know a lot of people who immediately started binge drinking, skipping classes, staying up all night, etc when they first moved out because it was new and exciting but trust me, it gets old fast and you can potentially get yourself into a lot of trouble. Being your own authority figure can be tough at first but setting boundaries for yourself is really important and I'd encourage anyone to practice that.

Any advice for saving money/making more money?

My issue is having a job that is 25 miles away that pays minimum wage, but has weekly dues that take anywhere form 10%-20% of your paycheck. I feel like most of my "extra" money goes to gas and food...

I've lived in my own apartments for the last two years, but I've been out for at least four years,

TRY to leave the house. It's super likely that you'll get depressed if you live alone, and you don't ever leave the house.

DO NOT settle on the first cheap apartment you see(they try to get you to, tell you that it probably wont be there) It may mean you lose, the EXACT apartment however, there will be more so no worries. If the staff doesn't vibe understanding, leave. I ended up trapped in a place, and I was late with rent about three months in a row, and after that the staff was totally awful to me, they became catty, disrespectful, and easily agitated. when I was first signing up, they read as really fake to me.

Learn to get out of the house, without spending money, try to re learn enjoying the park, and super cheap things. My favortie thing to do when I was SUUUUPER broke was to bum around WAL-MART and Parks.

Its no fun to work allll the time and not have money, so budget, meal plan, etc.

When you meal plan, plan two meals a day, so you can decide you don't want one, without defaulting to eating out, plan eat out days too!

If you have a lot of extra split it between your savings and a fun budget, if you only have a little, try to tuck away a couple bucks in savings where you can. Remember, that alot of state parks only cost you gas and maybe a few bucks towards a park fee.

If you are considering room mates be very careful, especially if they are friends. If they have a small annoying trait that you can get along with when you don't see eachother 24/7 think about living with it. Room mates are super nice, because it increases your budget, but ONLY if you guys are very communicative, and they have a very stable job that they don't intend on quitting. With my roomies I was lucky enough to have been trapped in an apartment with them for almost three weeks. I knew exactly how I would react to literally not being able to get away from them, and that helped me decide how easy it would be to room with them.

Divy up the hated chores. I don't mind doing laundry, and dishes, but I HAAAAATE cat boxes, and bathrooms XP if you don't have room mates, make yourself a chore schedule.

Order pre-made lunch. Saves multiple hours every day.

@RiverEcho something my granny taught me was to buy things at the cheapest store first, and then work my way up so I was only buying one or two things tops at more expensive ones. It means more shopping around but it does save money.

If something you're going to use is on offer, like shampoo, soap, cleaning products or long life foods like pasta, and you have the money, buy it whether you need it or not. In future when you do need it and it's not on offer anymore, you'll have it.

Some things can be done more cheaply, like for breakfast I just have porridge/oatmeal because I can buy a massive bag of oats for the price of a box of cereal and it lasts easily four or five times longer. Plus it keeps you fuller for longer so you're less likely to snack!

Cooking for five people isn't much more expensive than cooking for one, so make a load of whatever meal you make and freeze it. Dinner might be more boring that way but it does save money (and also cooking time).

If you're in the UK, sign up to YouGov - it's a survey website and every 100 surveys you do (I get maybe 4 a week in my email) you get a £50 cheque. If you're not in the UK look up and see if there are any similar websites. Always check the reviews though because some will scam you.

Make a savings account and commit to putting a small amount in regularly. $1 a week is still $52 a year/$260 every five years.

If you pay bills by direct debit or standing order (the same amount comes out of your account every month) always make sure you claim back any money if you overpay. A lot of companies will charge more than you use anyway - mine was charging me £20 a month too much.

Also a lot of people will say "give up everything except the necessities" - do treat yourself occasionally because you get so stressed living really tightly, as long as you budget for it the odd takeout or coffee is not going to be the end of the world. :)