Hello Aaron;

First off, great job! My independence is okay, but it could be a lot better.

Money and credit cards.

I've not used a credit card and wouldn't recommend it. Why? Because it's very easy to get into debt and you don't want that.

I use a debit card and am happy doing so.

As for paper money, a five is the smallest,, then ten is a bit longer and wider, a twenty is thin and long and a fifty is the biggest I've seen.

I've used my debit card mostly so I could be wrong in the sizes of notes. I'd recommend asking a sighted person what note is what, then you can feel them and memorize each note. It's not as hard as it sounds once you get used to it.

Although, personally, I'd recommend a debit card. All you have to do is remember your pin and you can pay for nearly anything using it.

As for putting bank details down, I've done it and think that it's the best for me, however; it may not be the best for you. That's for you to decide.

As for fun things to do, There's this site and app, the site is called, www.meetup.com and it's where you can find groups to, well, meet up. You do need a picture to sign yourself up,but once that's done you can pick your groups that you'd like to join and hopefully have some fun.

That will help with your independence, since you'd have to buy either a rail card, or a freedom pass and will have to use taxis, (I recommend Uber.) and socialize. This meetup site has meetups in the UK and US, I'm not sure about other countries but one thing I am sure of, is that the meetups will be fun.

Another thing you could try, is going to the gym.

I, myself don't like doing that, not because I can't but because I prefer socializing.

I hope this helps.

hi.
I use a debit card as well and I'm very happy with it. you have to remember only a four digit number which you can use to pay almost everything you want.
here in Romania I have a special tool that helps me identify money, though I don't use it that much now because I've found an other better way. basically it's a peace of plastic folded into two equal parts, you put the bank note in between the two peaces of plastic and slide it until you reach the edge where they meet, you close it and fold the bank note around the peace of plastic and it will come exactly to it's value, on the plastic are written various numbers, for each bank note respectively. you might want to ask for such a thing, it might prove usefull.
an other effective way to know which bank note is which is to allways keep them in a order. I usually keep the higher valued money on top because they are bigger, and allways keep an evidence of how much money you have on you.
I hope this post was helpful.

Hi.
I agree with the poster about credit card.
I have a debit I use for shopping but just incase I am a totaly adictaholic I won't overcharge myself.
If you see the show can't pay we'll take it away, being strapped for cash in the worse case can be really baaaaaad!
In fact one of the debt collecters in the show said he himself that he had be in debt for a bit and described it as a hellish place.
I have limited my shopping to paypal use mainly because its the easiest.
I have a local store mightyape which handles a lot of things like cds, and dvds.
book depository which handles books and another fishpond which is reasonably fast.
You can probably find shops like these in your countries, book depository is everywhere, fishpond and mightyape are nz only sadly but check em out and see.
These shops have large warehouses in major citties and I am just lucky to live close to one, so sometimes delivery can be same day delivery.
Anyway with cash I usually just use 20s and 10s as 20s are all I need to handle and they are in a clip in my wallet, 10s and 5s are smaller than those.
Right, you should be able to get this from your blind organisation for nothintg or low cost there are coin organisers though most coins do have access features.
You can also pick up something called a note guage which looks like a step ladder with each step being a note size.
the left side of the gage has large print embossed numbers the other braille numbers.
There is ofcause this thing if you are in the us.
http://www.afb.org/prodProfile.asp?ProdID=1845
I have never used it.
atguys has barcode scanners and such.
Your android/ ios/ whatever device probably has some sort of id program or many, there are probably as many apps as there are devices and more becides.
So its just a matter of choosing the right app and fiddling with it.
I have not used the note gage  much but new ones will be coming out because cash is changing and while the note gage is half the size of a braille slate its probably usefull if you need things.
I have found it hard to put cash in my wallet fast unless I am sitting down in a vehicle or on a bench so I usually get my friends to do this for me while outt with them.
When I am out normally my eftpos magnetic card is my prime source to pay for things.
My chip card works well enough to.
When with my family every few weeks I empty out my account till there is 200 or so bucks in there enough to stop the automatic autodraft going off.
I also get out some cash for use which I store at home.
Over that, family wize Usually I transfer cash to the pool account we all share for bills and such and its account I primarily use when doing things, my parents pay for things and I top it up.
I realise this won't be for ever though as I am still at home and hardly go out that much.
Most of my work is net bassed.
So carry round what you will use.
Usually its dollars and 2 dollar coins a lot of them, they are good for small things to vending machines.
If you need to take lower a 50 cent is usually good to but not less than that.
As for notes since I know I won't be able to identify or use much over 20 I use those 50 dollar notes and higher can be split but they can get a lot of smaller notes.
Sometimes if I know I will be getting something like 5 dollars in a note I ask for it in coins so my wallet is not full of little notes I may loose.
And while I don't use it much now, 1 and 2 dollar coins saved my ass being a student.
You can buy a lot of soft drink, chips, cookies and small to large serial  bars for 1-2 dollars at least you could but prices have gone up.

Seconding Turtlepower; often times I've run into sites that don't accept Paypal and need a bit more than the PIN. (Also, purchasing apps.)

(I've been subscribed to Meetup.com for like 3 years and apparently there is no one within 50 miles of me doing anything interesting that they feel like mentioning there. Also I have no idea how I'd get there even if there was something that seemed worthwhile. College debt and food and utilities leave me with no money other than cash and Paypal by the end of the month, and were I good at growing any of those, I wouldn't have written the previous sentence. ... but things are less spread out in the UK so maybe Meetup isn't such a waste there?)

Hi Aaron.

First, as regards money.  The easiest thing is to organize yourself. Unfortunately the  cash test  devices that Nin and Sean were talking about aren't available in the Uk (thank the Rnib), (my lady described using them when she lived in Germany for Euroes). however,  as Brad said, the notes are different sizes, fives the smallest, tens larger, twenties larger still.
If you  get your own cash from the bank or cash back at a supermarket, you can make certain to get denominations that you know. Personally I only ever use tens if I can help it, even if I'm getting out a hundred pounds or so, that way I only have fives and tens to deal with, though I do  know what a twenty looks like for the occasions that I can't get tens.

As to cards, I use a credit card on the internet precisely because! if someone hacked my computer they couldn't charge too much from my account. I do have the credit carde number written down. For my debit card I usually sign when I'm out shopping rather than use the pin sinse if you make a mistake with the pin machine (which can have different screens and configurations), you can be in trouble. Apparently speaking pin machines and cashpoints that take headphones do exist, but I've not seen any yet and they're not universal enough to rely on, so I prefer personally to just sign (my print signature is illegible, but also unforgeable).

I have my bank details on stickers attached to my desk which I can read with my pen friend labeller, which is useful for phoning the bank and getting updates and also secure.

As to living skills type of stuff. Most things I found I needed to know were things I had to do when i moved in at university, sinse though meals were provided, many other things like laundry needed doing myself. Actually these days I prefer taking care of myself and living  independently, indeed currently I'm living with my lady which would be near impossible if I didn't know a little about cooking etc.

When living with your parents it's a little difficult to practice things, but it's important to know for when you move out.  For a start I'd recommend getting a liquid level indicator (from the rnib), and making hot drinks. Even if you don't drink tea or coffee that much, it's a useful thing to know as you can get used to things like pouring hot liquids. USing a microwave to heat food up is also worth knowing (when I lived in colidge and they weren't serving meals during my masters, I basically had to live on what I could microwave).

The george forman is also a handy thing, I'm also a fan of the slow cooker as well albeit I didn't start using one of those to make chilly and stew etc until later.
A lot of independence type stuff happens automatically when you start living on your own sinse you physically have! to organize your kitchin, wash up etc  just for comfort,  and while you can practice a few of the useful skills at home such as cleaning and washing up, there's no substitute for just having your own space and having to do it.
If your not actually going to university, I'd  suggest perhaps looking into either  being on your own for several weekends at your parents where you will have! to feed yourself and clean up, or perhaps going away to a holliday flat for a couple of days, perhaps having a friend round.

Btw,  At the moment there is myself and the uture mrs. Dark living together with two guide dogs in my flat, something which definitely wouldn't! have been possible without learning how to take care of my own space, so there are distinct advantages to this.

Any questions, let me know.

As far as credit cards go, I have my info written down and stored in a few places, though not on physical paper. There are password managers and things of that sort that can keep this information encrypted. One thing I just thought of you could do is write down the number of your card, but then memorise the CVC and expiration date and don't put it in the file. This way even if someone hacks into your computer, they won't be able to use your card.

Money recognition apps do exist. On Android you have the free blind droid wallet, plus both taptapsee and goggles can also recognize most currency.

As for hot water dispencers, I have seen then in public places, usually waiting rooms in hospitals, but never at someone's house. I don't know how much such a device would cost, or how much power it uses - there's hardware inside always running to keep the water cool/heated

We've got some sort of hot water filter/dispensor thing, I forgot the name of it though.
I also learned an awesome tip for doing butter on a Sandwich for those who might struggle a bit with getting the butter onto a knife.
Use a spoon and knife combo and scoop the butter onto the spoon, then drop it onto the bread and then put the spoon down, get the knife and start spreadding. This tip has literally done wonders for me and without it I don't think I'd be able to currently do a sandwich.

The Wells Fargo bank here in the US has braille debit cards. All the info on my card is brailled. Before I had one of these, I wrote my info down and committed it to memory. Yes, when buying online, you need the whole card number, expiration date, and the security code.

As for cash, all our bills in the US are the same size. I never could get into the habit of folding them. I rarely use cash at all, and when I do, I rely on the iPhone Money Reader app from Looktell. That won't help you much though, Aaron.

Here at least, when you run your card at the store, you can hit the credit button instead of debit. You don't have to enter in your pin this way. Handy, as most of our card machines are touch screen. I'm using my regular old bank debit card here. You just have the option of running it either way. I have no idea what running it as credit really means.

I'm not understanding the butter on your bread for sandwiches. the only time we do that is for grilled cheese to fry the bread. I can butter bread just fine, but I'm lazy. I usually just hack off a small sliver of butter from the stick and toss it in the pan. Once at the start, and then I'll put another sliver on the top of the sandwich before I flip it.

I think a slow cooker is a great place to start with making your own food.

Braille on the cards would be good.
@Cinnamon, butter for sandwiches, ie, when you make a none toasted ham or jam or whatever sandwich and put butter on first to hold the filling on, ---- well butter, margarine or whatever.

That's what the butter is for, though admitedly it's fairly optional unless your having very traditional sandwiches or something like buttered toast.

I don't tend to bother myself, but then again I quite like bbq sauce or mustard or something else on there in addition to my meat or whatever,so butter is superfluous, and my lady has an active butter dislike.

At Dark, I have to admit that the idea of putting butter on sandwiches makes me shudder, too. I really can't imagine what purpose it serves, other than to provide a truly revolting textural experience. Then again, I can't just take a piece of bread and spread butter on it, and eat it the way most folks do, because I hate that slimy, gross, saturated feel that the bread has. It's different if it's toast or garlic bread, then I can tolerate a very light spreading of butter, because it's kind of obligatory at that point.

Although I'm English and it seems to be the done thing in this country, I too can't stand butter on my sandwitches, as I don't like the taste or the texture. The only time I'll use it is in toasties  but in sandwitches or on pieces of toast I'll use some other spread, or none at all depending on the filling.
I agree with Cinnamon about mentioning topics that you want tips about Aaron. If you let us know, I'm sure many of us will have some useful tips.