Have £245 until the 27th Feb, does this sound ok?

It’s difficult to say without knowing your travel costs, but that’s more than I spend on groceries for an entire month and I’m not particularly careful with what I buy. It’s only 2.5 weeks. As someone else has said, it wouldn’t even occur to me to be worried with that amount.

That's more than enough, it's exactly what I have but I'm frugal and will have money left at the end of the month.

I would always prioritise seeing friends. If you say there’s no flexibility on the type of place you eat, I won’t comment that you should do this or that.
Could you pick up any babysitting work in the evening? Or sell some items you no longer need?

If you win court case and landlord doesn’t pay up then bailiffs will step in.

Dont meet friends, hunker down and eat your way out if the kitchen cupboard tin by tin packet by packet.

walk to work if nice weather, gets some exervise(think about a bike?). Still £80/ mth. Cycle to work scheme?

Saving suggestion is to set up a standing order for payment into high interest savings account for say £20 per month or more straight out of your wage as it hits your bank account.

As it’s already taken out you won’t miss it.

I think I'd cancel and spend they money buying food, stock up on tinned and frozen food plus cat food etc. do some batch cooking and freeze some meals, then next time if you've got a good stock in you could go without worrying. There's a group on Facebook feed yourself for £1/day some good tips and recipes as well.

In that case invite them to your area. Xx

In that case absolutely doable. Just cheap bus and food, which as a single person you can buy a good amount for the next couple of weeks. Have been on far less than this, so you could also meet your friends and buy the cheaper items? Xx

I have £19 to last me till then. I think you're good.

Just go and spend less on meals for the next month. Make a meal plan and then bulk buy ingredients to last you. Buy the Aldi or Lidl’s super 6 to keep costs down and get creative with herbs and spices as rubs for meat. Cost of living is going to remain high for some time and your mental health with suffer if you keep sacrificing time with friends and time to actually live!

If you didn’t explain last time, I definitely would this time. Blame your unexpected boiler repair. They will understand and realise you are not a ‘flakey’ friend.

Cancel the meal out. Don’t bank on getting the money from your landlord as he’s already shown he’s a dodgy character. If you do get the money back, bung it in your emergency bills savings account.

Sounds like you need to start looking for new friends who share your interests and have a similar budget for entertaining.

It’s really no fun always being the skint pal if your friends are only interested in frittering money away on expensive meals out and there’s millions of people out there and many of them would love to be friends with you. Also, do you really want to hang out with people who are snobby about restaurant venues? I can’t stand MacDonalds but I’d willingly meet friends there if that’s what they preferred to do on a tight budget.

I’ve moved house a few times so always had to start from scratch with friendships and the easiest way is to join some hobby groups and go from there.

Do you need to pay the vet fees out of the £245> What kind of transport will you use? Is the cat ok on a bus or do you need to take a taxi?

Using a chicken for 2 of us we have a roast on the first day, then a curry and then do chicken pie and some veg and there will be enough for chicken sandwiches for a lunch. Also a box of eggs is useful, fried eggs and chips, an omelette and salad, boiled for a breakfast and egg for another lunch sandwich. Many years ago I had 2 wealthy friends and their point of view was they used to pay for me as they liked meeting up and going for a meal. I would take money with me but it was lovely that they knew other people were not wealthy. They eventually moved away due to getting new jobs.

If you cancelled last time, couldn't you invite them to yours for coffee? Just say that you're feeling the pinch after Christmas.
Friendships are a two-way street and you can't avoid them forever because of finances x

I am failing to see how that isnt enough for 1 adult and a cat to be honest.

How many days do you know you will be travelling and is the £2 each way ?. Add this up and take it off the total

What do you normally eat? If it was me I would buy the following

3 x 500g packs of beef mince, potatoes, carrots, onions and celery 4 tins tomatoes couple tins kidney beans, 1kg pasta, rice, chilli powder etc Split the total into 3 and make a chilli, a cottage pie and a bolognese sauce each of these should do you three meals so freeze 2 portions of each so that's you got 9 nights worth of dinner with generous portions.

Pack of sausages and make a sausage casserole will do you 2 meals using some of the carrots, onion, Celery and potatoes from above.

Tray of chicken thigh and jar of curry sauce and do a curry, a chicken casserole and a traybake. Maybe get some peppers either frozen or fresh for the traybake and the curry to bulk it out. Serve with rice potato or pasta.

Get some cheese, milk, butter and flour and make macaroni cheese,

That's your evening meals pretty much accounted for.

Make a large pot of soup each week. Get some lentils or brothmix carrots, onion, potato whatever you have really. Take this to work for lunch.

Breakfasts can be eggs in various forms, but a couple of dozen and you can yes them for omlette etc for lunches or dinners as well. Buy porridge and weetabix, bread and milk.

That should leave you plenty for some fruit like apples, pears, tangerines bananas.

There will be enough left for plenty of cat food.

That wouldn't come to anywhere near your £245.

Congratulations on buying your flat. X

On a broader note, although you've had some expenses that have depleted your savings, it does come over as if you're sailing close to the wind with your finances, generally.

You've a lot on your CC that you're struggling to pay off.

Do you need some help with budgeting generally?

If you're constantly watching every penny and running short like you are now, it suggests you're not managing very well and your outgoings aren't matched by your income.

Is this a wake-up call to try to have more of a nest egg?

I know this is a tiny point, but I've never bought kitchen cleaner. All those sprays can be replaced by hot water and a bottle of washing up liquid. Or diluted bleach if necessary. Also, you can't possibly be using a whole bottle of shampoo in 2-3 weeks. I wait for half price offers and grab a Garnier one for £3 which lasts me months.
Likewise, 9 loo rolls are £5, supermarket brand.

I appreciate you're waiting for a deposit back from a LL but even so, you need to try to have more substantial savings.

Would your friends really not turn up for your housewarming?
Mine come out rain or shine at the merest sniff of an occasion. They should want to spend time with you, and it shouldn't be conditional on how much money you're able/willing to spend.
If any of my friends said they were a bit tight for money and couldn't go out to dinner, I'd suggest I cooked at mine instead, or a trip to a park and a coffee/cake.
These people really don't sound worth you scraping up the money for a meal by living like some posters suggest (inc the magic Mumsnet chicken )

The money is plenty. I do think you need to urgently prioritise saving though. When you're a homeowner there are always emergencies you have to cover, sometimes several at once so you won't always be able to put it on a credit card. Also having money gives you choices about vet care which insurance might not cover.

£14 a day is doable. Make your own lunches, make soups that will keep you full

Cut out the socialising until your next payday, and you’ll be absolutely fine.

I'm sorry It's tough to meet every cost on your own( I live alone too)
Your friends aren't true friends ic they don't take your circumstances into account when they book a high end restaurant.
There is a middle ground. It says it all if they think Wetherspoons beneath them
It's the company that counts not the venue.( can you tell this pisses me off?')
You are doing so well owning your own place and of course the repair costs are expensive. ( new boiler last year here too)
Don't walk to work in this weather when it's not too expensive on public transport.
You will manage on your weekly budget especially as bills are covered
I'm sure you will get the costs if you're solicitor agrees but save it when it comes after paying credit card off
Prioritise you and Cat and buy the decent food
I hope the posts help. I sympathise

Haha, of course! I get paid on the last day of the month which is usually 31st and hadn’t really thought about the fact February is a shorter month than usual. Well that’s good news for me!