Chances are, that now you’re living on your own you only have YOUR income to rely on for paying the bills. This, for some, will be a daunting prospect (depending on your circumstances). Even though you’ll be feeling emotionally drained and very fragile, it’s important to try to get to grips with creating some sort of budget as soon as humanly possible, even though it’s the last thing you feel like doing. Hiding under the duvet with a bottle of Southern Comfort and multi-pack of Quavers may seem like an excellent idea, but it won’t actually balance the books and may well give you the headache from hell the next morning.
Whether you prefer using the old fashioned pen & paper method, or like to create spreadsheets (or even simple text documents) on your computer, the sooner you make a list of ALL your outgoings and income the better. Chances are, the bills total might just be ever so slightly bigger than the wages one.
If so, double-check the bills list, going through it looking for anything that’s not absolutely essential (gym membership you haven’t used in 6 months, newspaper delivery when you’ve been slinging the paper in the recycle bin without reading it etc) and cancel them immediately. I was astonished to find out just how much I’d wasted over just one year on a daily newspaper that I could read online for free! When I found out just how many free channels I could get with my existing Sky box I cancelled the £20 a month contract. That’s an instant saving of £240 a year! To be honest I wish I’d done it years ago.
Life Begins at Fifty One and a Half 
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