I think this site is great. I've always been frugal by nature and since my divorce a few years back I'm frugal by necessity. I'm not a big cook, and so enjoy many of the recipes posted here.

I think it's great that so many moms and folks with families are frugal.

However, I'm just wondering whether there are any other single folks (without dependents) on this forum?

 That would be me. There are others, too, so hopefully they'll chime in. What's the biggest financial challenge you have in being single?

 I am married, no kids.   Not single but close...  : )

I am single!  The hardest part for me is all the responsibilities related to owning a home--mowing, painting, and the endless maintenance.  I cook everything I eat so I have gotten pretty good at freezing my leftovers but occasionally there is some food waste---I really try to stay on top of that.   Also, with only one income, it is a lot harder to adjust to rising expenses.

I am single, never married.  I am very close to my family, & do not find myself to be lacking in relationships (but I also has a strong one with my private physician to whom I pay $600/mo, so that probably makes a big difference) with friends as well.

The only difference between being single & having a nuclear family that affects me is how to have a variety in my meals.  And, as so many times I have postedd, I divvy up all but the 1st serving of everything I cook into square pint containers, & freeze them.  (I also freeze my home-baked breads & cakes.  I slice the bread 1st.)

WhosWho,

I relate to everything you wrote. My single friend and I were just discussing the other day many of the things in your post. I laughed because I am FAR from rich. As you said, I don't have any dependents (and would have no idea how to support them if I had!), but I also have to pay for EVERYthing and I have very little "extra" money left over each month, even though I'm extremely frugal. Many of the guys I work with are the primary wage earners in their families--as I am--but when they get home, their wife has handled the many, many day-to-day tasks of living, so they don't have to do that. I have to handle everything on both the home and work fronts. I'm fairly well-suited for this by my nature, but it's something non-singles never think about. I guess they figure I'm living some kind of wild rock-n-roll lifestyle with endless parties and fine clothes (like in Sex and the City)... but that's so not how my life is! ;-)

I do have several very close friends that I can talk things over with and I feel blessed not to feel alone in that sense.

Now don't misunderstand. I know every situation in life has positives and negatives and I'm certainly not all "woe is me."

On the positive side of being single, I don't have a spouse to try to "rein in" (the ex always had to have any and all of the latest technology gadgets) and I can decide exactly what my priorities are.

I just feel overwhelmed sometimes, but then, I'm sure everyone else does, too.

I do find food challenging--it's often way cheaper to buy in bulk and I do for non-perishables. I also found out you can freeze milk (but empty a little out or the plastic will swell and leak). I also don't like cooking only for me... I know I could freeze some meals, and I do sometimes...

With most of my income going to cover expenses (pared down, believe me), it's hard to save.
 

I am a single female in my late 20s.  Just bought a small house last fall.  Frugal by genetics and by necessity.  My biggest challenge is eating frugally, since I am not much of a cook even when I do try it (which isn't often since I don't enjoy it much!) and it's so much easier to go to a drive thru on the way to work.  It's good to know there are other singles out there.

Eliza

Hello,

 I'm a frugal single woman of 33.  It's good to see that some of the posters here are single too. 

 My biggest challenge is living on a disability payment of $1094.80 a month.  I live on my own and own my own home.  This definitely is a challenge for me.

TASSIE That's A Stretcher

This post has won a TASSIE award. The award chosen was... GasDandy software!

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I am an Australian single, (divorced), and have lived alone for most of my life.  Ten years ago I read 'Your Money or Your Life' and began to form a plan to become mortgage free and cut back my work hours, (I have worked continuously since I left school and thought I deserved it!).  As with all plans there were a few hiccups - the main one being the unexpected find of a very cheap 10 acres with a derelict cottage on it and, with the equity I had built up in my other house I extended my home equity loan, bought it and owned 2 houses for a year, while I was putting the finishing touches to the one for sale and renovating the other to a liveable condition!  Renovations are now complete, mortgage has been paid off, (almost a year ago), and I am only working 30 hours a fortnight, (3 x 10 hour shifts - I am an RN).  With renovations and piling as much money off the Home Loan as I could I have lived on less than half my income for so long it was easy to painlessly reduce my work hours/income by half.

People have already mentioned the cons of single living - the fixed living costs whether you are one, two, or more in the household, the single income, food purchase and cooking for one, etc. so I will concentrate on the pros.  The first and main thing for me in being a single frugal person is you can decide what you want and when you want it by, and go for it.  You don't need to negotiate with anyone to set combined goals and how they will be achieved.  This is the most important point to me,  In any decision to be frugal or save money the thing that should come first - before reading books, searching the Dollar Stretcher or planning a strategy, is setting the goal that will be achieved by your savings.  It could be like mine, to downshift and go part time or your's could be to buy a new car or invest so you can retire at 40 or pay off your student loans - whatever your personal goals are they should be clearly defined and kept in the forefront of your mind.  This will be the driving force or motivation to choose not to spend - on whatever doesn't further your goal savings.  Otherwise it would be easy to say, Why deprive myself?'  In my local frugal groups I find there are frequently conflicting ideas/goals between couples.  In fact many couples 'assume' each others goals and are not working toward the same thing at all.  Luckily singles don't have this problem

The next difficulty for couples, once they have decided where they want to be, and checked where they are now, (levels of debt, fixed living costs, etc), they have to decide where to cut back - they have 2 sets of wants v needs!  Needs are easy - wants are more contentious!!!!  Its much easier to 'deprive' yourself, and see the value in your own 'treats' than someone else's  A personal budget is much easier to develop, adhere to and track/monitor when only one person is spending!

As for the cons - I think we still win from the grocery/food angle - we can choose to have breakfast cereal for lunch, rice and vegies for breakfast, tuna salad for dinner, (every day for a week after a special on tuna!!) and we can cook the same amount as we would for a family and have 4 or 5 individual 'ready meals' frozen for the days we choose not to cook, (stored in the free takeaway containers collected from friends of course!).  We can be as flexible as we want to be frugal, question all our spending and answer to no one but ourselves.

Regards

Jo

When it comes to food check out the food angel. This may not be for you but it is worth seeing if there is one near you. You can buy 50.00 worth of food for 25.00! the website will tell you all about it. ALBERTA