Yes, single, but no, I'm not attending a university. Out of college and been working for several years now and have been paying all my own bills since even before college, so perhaps Capt Caveman who thinks I don't know the true cost of things maybe should start budgeting better or cut back on some expense if he thinks the monthly budget I'm living with now (excluding housing cost) is not realistic. Hell, I'm living a more luxurious lifestyle now than I ever did growing up or while in college and frankly I'm surprised that people are thinking it's not a realistic budget considering the budget given in my previous post is what I'm living off of every month now +/- approximately $50 and excluding rent (and I guess health insurance, but the money I'm budgeting to live off of every month is after health insurance has already been paid for since it's automatically taken out of my check).
I think the reason my car insurance is so much cheaper than what everyone else is quoting for theirs is I've got liability only. My car is so old that it doesn't make sense to get anything but liability only. Then again, I don't drive it that often anyway. This past weekend was the first time in close to six months I had to refill on gas since I usually take the bus or walk everywhere I need to go. Monthly bus pass is $35/month--a much better deal than having to spend $25+/week on gas for a car.
Regarding access charge for tv--no I don't pay for any cable tv access as I don't own a tv any more. Also, last I checked, one doesn't suddenly drop dead without cable tv; if it was me and I previously had cable prior to being unemployed, cable would be the first expense cut until I became employed again. Anyone who complains about not having money while still having cable gets no sympathy from me.
Cell phone?--Should not be a monthly charge if unemployed. I'm employed now and only have an emergency prepaid cell phone I top off with $10 every year to keep the number active, but otherwise it has no monthly charge. Prior to google voice allowing outgoing calls I had a landline and a phone card with minutes on it left over from college several years ago. I've since gotten rid of the landline, but you can get the bare minimum and it'll only cost $25/month max.
As far as clothes, car maintenance, and repairs for electrical stuff, all that is budgeted outside my monthly budget and are taken cared of by emergency funds that gets built up. Right now, if I lost my job and had zero income coming in, I could just live off my emergency funds for the next 5-6 years minimum if needed without any change in life style except for health insurance, which I'd no longer have an employer to pay part of for, but I can probably go without since I only have me to worry about. Also, who the heck budgets clothes as a monthly expense anyway? You buy new clothes every month? Hell, I've got clothes from high school I'm still wearing and only occasionally have to sew up any holes that show up. They're good enough to wear when not at work.
Toilet paper, glasses, toothpaste, etc.: These too are budgeted as occasional purchases outside my regular monthly budget and some of it can be bought in bulk to cut costs down, so no need to budget monthly for these things.
Dates--If you're unemployed, I'd think trying to save money for food and shelter till you get a job is more important than getting laid, but that's just me.
Utilities--Really you guys are spending over $120 per month just on heating alone (as single people)? Internet for me is $64/month but I can easily get a cheaper and slower plan for around $30/month if I wanted to save a bit. Heating, gas, and water for me in the six years I've lived in my apartment rarely went over $100 for the month combined and that was only last year when we got hit with heavy snow. This past month all three combined was under $60.
Heck, if need be I could do what I did during my early college days when I didn't have any money and just wear layers of clothes all the time and sleep with several blankets or just have a space heater in my tiny bedroom with all cracks insulated with old clothes to cut heating costs down even more. Most months I'm barely breaking $70/month on heating, water, and gas combined; some months I'm well below that.
Can't say anything about a monthly budget with respect to folks who have a wife and kids as I've never had to budget for such things, but if you're single and didn't have to pay for housing because you stopped paying your mortgage, $1350/month is doable even after paying taxes on the unemployment benefits. Put housing/rent cost back into the equation though, I'm short by about $500/month unless I moved or got a roommate since I'm paying $1300/month now in rent.
How many unemployed people do you know that can afford to actually sit on those checks and NOT pump that money right back into the economy?
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