How To Save And Manage Money As A Bachelor

Living alone is one of the
best parts of being single. But here’s the thing. When you’re living by
yourself, it’s easy to spend all your money on whatever you want because
nobody’s looking over your shoulder while you do it. And while that may seem
like a good thing at first, it can have some serious consequences later on down
the road.

Here are some tips for how
to save and manage money as a bachelor:

Don’t
eat out too often

You can take
significant steps to save money and live a healthier lifestyle by cooking for
yourself at home. Eating out is expensive, and it’s also a luxury many people
aren’t able to afford. 

When you eat at home, you’re able to control the
ingredients in your food, as well as how they’re handled while they’re being
prepared. You won’t have to worry about the random buttery aftertaste in your
food or any other strange flavors that may be added by mistake when the chef
prepares your meal.

When you cook for yourself
at home, you can use fresh ingredients that are less likely to contain harmful
chemicals or preservatives that are often added to foods prepared by
restaurants. Cooking at home also allows you to control portion sizes so that
you don’t overeat and waste money while eating out with friends.

Make
a budget

• Make a budget and stick to it.
• Don’t buy things you don’t need.
• Don’t spend money on things you
  don’t need to.
• Don’t buy things unless you really
  need them.
• Don’t buy things that you don’t
  need, just because they’re on sale.

Get
a roommate

• Get a roommate. You will get half
  the rent off and can share bills, chores, and Netflix with him or her.
  Also if he or she is neat, you can be a slob without having your parents
  call you gross every other second when they come over.
• Mother. If you are very lucky,
  your mother will be helpful enough to allow you to live in one of her
  outbuildings for minimal rent. This is very rare though and there is only
  about a 1% chance that it works out well for anyone involved for any
  length of time longer than 6 months (according to my calculations). The
  last thing I want to mention is that even though this method almost never
  works, sometimes it does work and it’s pretty cool when it does work.

Pay
off your credit card debt

• Define the problem. How does one
  go about saving money? What will you be saving for? Will it be for a house
  or a car? College tuition? Retirement? You can’t begin to work towards
  your goals until you know what they are, so be sure to define them early
  on.
• Set your goals. There’s no point
  in having a savings account if you don’t have any idea of how much money
  should be in it, after all. Setting financial goals is not unlike setting
  fitness goals when starting at the gym: they need to be ambitious, but
  also realistic.

  A six-pack might look cool, but if you’re starting from
  scratch with zero abs, then that’s probably not an attainable goal within
  the next three months. However, being able to do 100 consecutive crunches
  by then is a totally feasible goal for someone who couldn’t even do one
  before.

  If you get down on yourself about not reaching some imaginary
  target that’s nearly impossible, then what’s even the point of trying? Be
  kind to yourself and celebrate small successes along the way!

Don’t
buy things you don’t need

Part of managing your
money as a bachelor is learning what to spend on and what not to spend on. Here
are some tips for when it’s okay to say no:

• A big house. Buying a big house
  just because you can afford it isn’t smart, especially if you don’t plan
  on having children. If you do want kids but aren’t ready yet, then wait a
  few years until the right time and buy a home that is the right size for
  your family.
• Expensive hobbies or habits. These
  can cost more than you might expect—especially if it’s something like golf
  or horseback riding.
• A fancy car. Unless you have your
  dream car picked out from when you were a kid, there’s no need to save up
  for an expensive car with all the bells and whistles imaginable. You can
  wait until after marriage or after having kids to buy that dream car, in
  which case it will be easier for you to afford it because of shared
  expenses!

You
can save money now for an easier transition to full adulthood later

You can save money
now for an easier transition to full adulthood later.

If you eventually get
married and have kids, this is the kind of stuff that’ll make having a family
much easier. If you don’t, you’ll still be better off when it comes to
retirement and savings.