I’ve helped many of my friends learn to better manage their money and avoid being broke, so I thought I might as well pass some of my knowledge onto you guys by giving you 3 tips that’ll teach you how to live on a budget:
1) Note Down Your Income And Expenses
First of all, you need to know how much money you have to spend:
- Get a calculator and/or a piece of paper, then add up all the money you have coming in per month and write that number down
-  Add up all the money you have to spend on bills and any other regular monthly payments you may have (don’t include the weed man and any other luxuries)
- Now subtract your second number (bills, etc.) from the first number (income) you noted down.
Voila! The resulting number is how much you have left to spend on food, luxuries etc. But before you go out splashing your cash, save half of it (or as much as you can) so that if your income dries up you can still survive.
2) Find Your Local Butcher
Now you know how much to spend on food, how can you eat well whilst also saving money? Well, read the heading again mate. I don’t know how you missed it to be honest. Find your local butcher and buy your chicken, lamb etc. from them. Generally, you’ll get a much better deal at the butchers than you would find at your local supermarket. E.g If you spend £5 on chicken at Tescos, you can make about 2 meals. However, if you spend £5 at the butchers you can double that amount.
3) Rice Is Your Best Friend
Rice is the holy grail of saving money when it comes to food. You can get 1KG of rice for under £2 (although I suggest that you buy the 2KG variant or as much as you possibly can) and that will last for weeks. Eating rice everyday can get very boring though, so change up the meats you’re eating, add a few roast potatoes and vegetables (from a grocer, not a supermarket, if possible) and you’ll be eating well for very cheap.
I hope this has helped you on your journey to live on a budget by making better financial decisions and saving money.
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