@Jacob on delivering the non-perishables, the only downside is the space they take up in your home. If you're having them delivered anyway then you can buy more as you need unless you're getting some bulk discount. That being said, even though I have very little space I've still found it worth it to stock up on non-perishables precisely like you suggest.

@Jacob as for your food budget I honestly wouldn't worry. I suggest getting a credit card and putting it all on that. Yeah I know that sounds scandalous but even if you spend triple that for this last year in college then being a tech worker in Washington you're going to have more than enough money to pay it all back within a few months even while paying rent and all that jazz. I know it sounds cavalier now but I've seen so many college students jump through stupid hoops to save money in college and then as soon as they get real paychecks they're like "wow, I don't know why I was killing myself during my 4 years of freedom in college when I could have just paid it back with my paycheck's leftovers in the first 3-9 months of a real job."

Yes debt is an issue for people but the only "real" debt from college is loans for tuition and board.

I’m strongly against debt. It feeds the jewish degradation of our society, it creates bad habits, and it robs initial savings from the beauty of compounding interest.

And do not buy ANYTHING with a time horizon of 1-year. You will have different experiences and opinions in 6 months, much less 1 year after living on your own for the first time. First, it ties up money in assets that don’t give a return. Second, they take up space. Third, you might not even like that same thing in 6 months or you’ll be sick of it.

Ya I probably won't go full prepper and buy and entire year supply

Thanks guys

(I might still buy a lot though)

Don’t go buying a bunch of tools like I did because I was used to dad having them. Tools are expensive and many of them I don’t use enough to justify. Simpler to pay a small premium to have someone else work on the more complicated tasks.

Don’t buy a lot. Wait 3 months before you go heavy on anything. You’ll learn so much and adjust your tastes so much in the first year of living on your own.

Go to an estate sale to get all your kitchenware. It will save you several hundred dollars.

@Tanner - SC Funny you mention that, I agree that "buying stuff just because you were used to having it around as a kid and felt every house needed one" I find is one of the biggest sources I've seen of stupid or regretted purchases. Especially as a college student you wind up hauling a ton of stuff that you will never even need anyway.

The way I buy tools is I get them when I need them. I work on a farm so it's a bit different for me since I do mechanical work all day on equipment that in some cases was built 30 years ago and reassembled by 3 different mechanics so I need a lot of tools, but most people honestly can get away with one of those cheap home sets.

I have also just bought tools as I needed them. You can get the vast majority done with a couple screwdrivers and a hammer. You also don’t really know what you don’t have until you need it, but such is the beauty of Walmart at 2am.

I’m not at the point in my life yet when I can afford one of those giant rolling metal tool caddies people have in their garages.

*Yet,* I can’t wait to become hank hill.

Oh, also you can buy a lot of kitchenware type stuff from the goodwill’s online store.

You can get those kitchenaid mixers for like. 1/5th the cost of retail.

Literally all I want to do is track my spending. I don't want to link my bank account and report my income and all that bullshit. Is there a good program to do this?

excel

Ya, I was thinking maybe just a spreadsheet

What's the best way to do this? A big long column? Separate columns for every month? Week? Is there a way to break it down by both week and month?

Probably, there's alot you can do with it, it just depends on how it makes sense to you

@Jacob I just use a spreadsheet, I can send my format to you if you want

I've never had the need to do this, I'm a bit 👃 'y with my money

I've always just saved and hardly spent

@Ben - OH Sure, that could help. Thanks.

I've always saved and barely spent, too, but now I'm living on my own, so it's a bit harder

understandable

Couldn't get any roommates?

Moreso that I didn't have to

And didn't want to

I get that

I'm not rich or anything, it's just that I live in a rural area, so rent is cheap enough that it's not really that big of an issue

I might get roommates once my lease ends, since I have a friend here now who is in a similar situation. But I would never become roommates with a stranger.

@Jacob Dave Ramsey, the home budgeting master, has an app to track spending that does not require linking a bank account.
<https://www.daveramsey.com/everydollar/>

"If you don't have an emergency fund built up, you should only be seeing the inside of a restaurant if you're *working* in it." - Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is cool because he puts the most obvious, common sense financial literacy into the simplest of terms

@Tanner - SC thanks for sharing that, I had no idea he had an app.

Has anyone taken the insurance exam? Any idea of what to expect?

IIRC I think @ophiuchus has