So this is a pretty awkward question, but I do hope you'll answer it. I know that you are a teacher at a non-profit and you've made a few references to you salary of "two dollars." But you are always dressed so well! And you travel all the time and it sounds like you live in a really nice neighborhood! How do you do it? You don't have a trust fund do you? ;D
You're right! That is an awkward question! But, in an effort to hook up some other ladies who are trying to squeeze liquid gold from the proverbial stone, I'll share with you my secrets of financial skulduggery.
Clothes
Guys, it is not an exaggeration that 75% of my wardrobe is thrifted. And a lot of it is swankity swank brands pilfered from deep in the racks of my local Goodwill. Not only does thrifting save me heaps of money, I feel endlessly clever and lucky when I score an Anne Klein cocktail dress for $20. Anybody can walk into Anthropologie and put together a cute outfit for $500. It takes an artiste to create an ensemble out of the $2 bin. Here are my trusted thrifting tips.
Food
Honestly, I don't eat out much, partially because being a vegetarian often limits me to soup/salad or pasta. And I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $12 for a plate of noodles I could have made at home for 75 cents. When I do go out, I usually frequent lil hole-in-the-wall ethnic places because they are a) delicious b) cheap. Mango in St. Paul even lets you bring in your own wine without a corkage fee!
But grocery shopping is my shoe shopping - I'm all a'salivating over the caramelized onion chutney and the imported cheeses and the out of season fruit. And you know what? I buy every last thing that takes my fancy. Because I'm pretty sure I perform better when fueled by buffalo mozzarella and fresh pineapple.
If I don't want to spend too much money, I frequent my local Asian grocery store (red peppers for $2 A POUND!) and the Hmong farmer's market. So cheap!
Transport
I have the lamest car you could ever imagine. Seriously. Does it get any less awesome than a 1994 Ford Tempo? But it's (mostly) rust free, only has 60,000 miles on it and isn't going to get stolen when I go to work in the ghetto. And I bought it with a personal check. No big monthly payments for me!
Home
I do, in fact, live in a nice, slightly swanky neighborhood. I'm a total design and home whore, so living in a boxy, seventies-style apartment in the suburbs was simply not an option. I squeezed my way into this pricey real estate market by sheer luck and by taking an apartment in need of a really good cleaning and a new paint job. I've gussied it up (photos to come!) using these tricks.
Entertainment
You're right! That is an awkward question! But, in an effort to hook up some other ladies who are trying to squeeze liquid gold from the proverbial stone, I'll share with you my secrets of financial skulduggery.
Clothes
Guys, it is not an exaggeration that 75% of my wardrobe is thrifted. And a lot of it is swankity swank brands pilfered from deep in the racks of my local Goodwill. Not only does thrifting save me heaps of money, I feel endlessly clever and lucky when I score an Anne Klein cocktail dress for $20. Anybody can walk into Anthropologie and put together a cute outfit for $500. It takes an artiste to create an ensemble out of the $2 bin. Here are my trusted thrifting tips.
Food
Honestly, I don't eat out much, partially because being a vegetarian often limits me to soup/salad or pasta. And I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $12 for a plate of noodles I could have made at home for 75 cents. When I do go out, I usually frequent lil hole-in-the-wall ethnic places because they are a) delicious b) cheap. Mango in St. Paul even lets you bring in your own wine without a corkage fee!
But grocery shopping is my shoe shopping - I'm all a'salivating over the caramelized onion chutney and the imported cheeses and the out of season fruit. And you know what? I buy every last thing that takes my fancy. Because I'm pretty sure I perform better when fueled by buffalo mozzarella and fresh pineapple.
If I don't want to spend too much money, I frequent my local Asian grocery store (red peppers for $2 A POUND!) and the Hmong farmer's market. So cheap!
Transport
I have the lamest car you could ever imagine. Seriously. Does it get any less awesome than a 1994 Ford Tempo? But it's (mostly) rust free, only has 60,000 miles on it and isn't going to get stolen when I go to work in the ghetto. And I bought it with a personal check. No big monthly payments for me!
Home
I do, in fact, live in a nice, slightly swanky neighborhood. I'm a total design and home whore, so living in a boxy, seventies-style apartment in the suburbs was simply not an option. I squeezed my way into this pricey real estate market by sheer luck and by taking an apartment in need of a really good cleaning and a new paint job. I've gussied it up (photos to come!) using these tricks.
Entertainment
I am huge fan of the thriftyhipster and generally trawling the internetz for free or cheap fun. Honestly, you can usually find me doing ridiculous things to entertain myself (see "visit Scientology church" 30 new things goal) but I'm not opposed to dropping change on an event I really want to see.
Travel
Travel
Of course, travel can be expensive. But it doesn't have to be! I religiously follow my own advice for traveling on the cheap. And honestly? I just make travel a priority. I'm always planning and saving for my next trip (Next time? Mt. Everest base camp and the Trans-Siberian!) Some girls save up for Jimmy Choos, I save up for Jakarta.
Money Tricks
Money Tricks
I only really have two bits of financial wizardry, but I'm happy to share them.
I created a basic budget for myself, just using an excell spreadsheet and cataloging my monthly income and bills. From there I figured out how much money I should be putting away each month for retirement, future travel, etc and then a gave myself a weekly allotment of fun money. I go to the ATM once a week, withdraw that amount in cash and once that money is gone, I'm stuck eating at home and watching library dvds till Sunday comes round again. I realize that putting yourself on an allowance seems pretty dire and deeply unsexy, but it has actually made shopping more fun and made me appreciate my purchases a lot more.
The other trick I employ is the money vs. time mind game. I think about how much time I'd have to spend at work to equal the cost of the thing I'm about to buy. It's crazy to think that I could take two days off for the cost of a purse! And given the option, wouldn't you rather have two days to do what you want rather than a different thing to carry your phone around in?
So how to do you guys fake the good life?
I created a basic budget for myself, just using an excell spreadsheet and cataloging my monthly income and bills. From there I figured out how much money I should be putting away each month for retirement, future travel, etc and then a gave myself a weekly allotment of fun money. I go to the ATM once a week, withdraw that amount in cash and once that money is gone, I'm stuck eating at home and watching library dvds till Sunday comes round again. I realize that putting yourself on an allowance seems pretty dire and deeply unsexy, but it has actually made shopping more fun and made me appreciate my purchases a lot more.
The other trick I employ is the money vs. time mind game. I think about how much time I'd have to spend at work to equal the cost of the thing I'm about to buy. It's crazy to think that I could take two days off for the cost of a purse! And given the option, wouldn't you rather have two days to do what you want rather than a different thing to carry your phone around in?
So how to do you guys fake the good life?
18 comments:
Dude. great tips. I totally do the money vs. time thing, too. And I can attest to the unawesomeness of a 1994 Ford Tempo--I drove one until I totaled it during college. Also, the hubs and I have bought 2 cars with cash in the five years we've been married. SOOOO worth it to drive decent used cars and not have any car payments!
p.s. you are not faking the good life.
Darcie: ahahahahaha! This is why you are my BFF.
These tips are excellent. I give myself a monthly allowance, too, although I don't withdraw it all in cash (that doesn't allow for online purchases!)
eBay is also a great place to find excellent items at a discounted price. I highly recommend saving your favorite searches because eBay will email you every day to tell you that new things have been listed. Exercise self-restraint when it comes to eBay, though! As with thrifting, one really should remember not to buy something just because it's cheap, if you don't really REALLY like it.
excellent advice! i follow most of this already, but you make it sound easy and even fun!
I seriously need to take a page out of your book, S. SO impressed by these wise and wiley rules for living well cheaply.
oh my gosh, please write a book. lol. i work at a library and also make two dollars ;) and already use some of your tips but just LOVE having more.
I don't think I've ever commented before, so HI!
I make okay-ish money, but due to HUGE medical bills and student loan payments, I see very, very little of my paycheck each month.
I don't buy ANY clothes at full price, ever. Tons of my clothes are thrifted- and often I'll take them in or alter them to make them fit my style, if it's a quality piece of clothing that doesn't quite fit right. Other than that my clothes come from eBay, Target, sometimes Forever 21, and Nordstrom Rack. Shoes are one of the only things that I will "splurge" on, and it's still only if they're on sale.
I don't drive at all- instead I bought a bike for $300, and was able to talk my employer into buying anyone in the office who doesn't drive a monthly bus pass.
I'm vegetarian (mostly vegan) which means very little eating out. I cut back dramatically on drinking as well, which saves an insane amount of money.
I also give myself a monthly cash budget- and I actually managed to make $150 spread over two weeks a little while back, because I gave myself no other choice.
I usually try to pay all of my bills right away for that month, and then from there I work with what I have. It changes depending on various things, but I'm at a point now where I can actually save money every month, which is pretty huge.
Whoaaaaa, longest answer ever.
Renai!
Welcome to the party! Those are really fantastic ideas ... I'm working on becoming a better and more devoted biker myself. :)
Miss Sarah Von: Greetings from Istanbul! I very much enjoyed your postcard from your travels...but have you changed address from the one you sent prior? How can I send you a postcard from abroad???? Email the new address hmacleod@uoguelph.ca :)
-Delilah
ps I love the save money tips...your singing my tune!
PPS buying second hand is even a moral choice for moi rather than buying full price, give new life to old things
You are my hero :)
Great ideas I really need to follow
Fantastic post. I've already got these tricks down pat from the days when I was living on a sickness benefit. I've had enough money for the last few years while I've been employed, but from today (woo!) I'm self employed so it's back to the budgets and thrifting. The great thing is that now that I'm at home all the time I'll have to write the budget and go thrifting. :D
Also, buy less, buy better. Who needs 10 average things when you can have 1 or 2 wonderful ones, and money left over?
Fantastic ideas. My wife and I do many of these things and it's worked out very well for us.
Ahhhh you are incredible! I LOVE that you consider travel a priority and my tip for being a thriftster.. ermmm living at my parents? Ughh not actually by choice but good for saving.
Wow. Great tips. I'm definitely going to use them. Thanks a lot for posting them. Shopping thrifted is so much more rewarding...I love finding something ridiculously cheap, thats over priced somewhere else.
Oh yes, another thing. Buy a good knife. For the price of a few meals out you can get something that will make cooking a dream. Or at least a lot nicer.
Good tips! As I adjust to freelance life I'm printing them out and sticking them on my noticeboard :)
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