Please critique/help me with my budget!

[dancingfish]

I'm living alone for the first time in my life. How does this budget look to you?

Rent: $625
Gas/Electric: $50
Internet: $30
Cellphone: $20
Food: $200
Entertainment: $50
Household expenses: $20
Personal supplies: $20
Office Supplies: $10
Medicine: $25
Laundry: $5
Cat: $20
Renter’s insurance: $10
TOTAL: $1070

ENTERTAINMENT: Movies, bars, coffee shops, plays, etc.
HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES: Anything that keeps the house running. Primarily light bulbs, cleaning supplies, dish detergent, baking soda, napkins, etc.
PERSONAL SUPPLIES: Make-up, Kotex, deodorant, cream, etc
OFFICE SUPPLES: Paper, printer ink, etc

Steps I’ve taken to conserve money:
*Purchased a bidet- no toilet paper
*Replaced shampoo, conditioner, soap, and toothpaste with baking soda
*Plan to make my own detergent –saves 20/cent a load
*Purchased a drying rack—plan on one load a week, all dried naturally
*I don't have a car and have a free metro/bus pass & a bike

[phantom]

I think you're going to need a few months to see how realistic some of your numbers are. Household expenses, personal supplies, and office supplies all sound a bit high to me. I think in practice you'll see those numbers come in lower. They just seem large when you're stocking up to live on your own for the first time.

It looks like a reasonable starting point though. You don't mention your income and whether or not you're saving money. So, it's hard to judge whether you might need to cut back more or can afford to let up a little.

I'm curious how long it will take for your bidet to pay for itself and start saving you money. Toilet paper is pretty inexpensive. It sounds like water must be included in your rent, so I guess the cost of water for it does not have to be factored in. But, I would think it will still take a while to save enough on toilet paper to pay for it.

[bjl584]

I'm living alone for the first time in my life. How does this budget look to you?

Rent: $625
Gas/Electric: $50
Internet: $30
Cellphone: $20
Food: $200
Entertainment: $50
Household expenses: $20
Personal supplies: $20
Office Supplies: $10
Medicine: $25
Laundry: $5
Cat: $20
Renter’s insurance: $10
TOTAL: $1070

ENTERTAINMENT: Movies, bars, coffee shops, plays, etc.
HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES: Anything that keeps the house running. Primarily light bulbs, cleaning supplies, dish detergent, baking soda, napkins, etc.
PERSONAL SUPPLIES: Make-up, Kotex, deodorant, cream, etc
OFFICE SUPPLES: Paper, printer ink, etc

Steps I’ve taken to conserve money:
*Purchased a bidet- no toilet paper
*Replaced shampoo, conditioner, soap, and toothpaste with baking soda
*Plan to make my own detergent –saves 20/cent a load
*Purchased a drying rack—plan on one load a week, all dried naturally
*I don't have a car and have a free metro/bus pass & a bike

What is your income?