In my way to true frugality

[Radiance]

Well,

I think I can celebrate some frugal sucess:

Housing expenses
I am renting a studio apartment, rent and water : $675
Electricity has come down to :$25 (I plan to work from home, so this is expected to go up, but still I think reducing my housing expenses has been a great move)

Friends with Thrift StoresWhile I determine the big names are not worth it (GoodWill, Salvation Army) the smaller thrift stores on my neighborhood have really good deals on quality stuff. Household Items and clothing mainly. I also like Target and Walmart

Entertainment.
I have no cable, no netflix, I watch/listen to free content on the internet and that is more than enough for me. I do wish sometimes I had sprout for my son, but its ok.
I do pay $25 for internet on the ipad and I have DVD's which I buy on Ebay. We do a lot of playground time, free city events (we bring snacks), the beach. Indoors we do non-purchase visits to toystores, pet stores and the library.

Food
I buy fruits, veggies, tofu, grains and nuts... pretty much that is it. The ocassional fruit juice, cheese sticks and cinamon bread are the only pre-packaged items I buy. We use multivitamins

Working towards working from home
This will minimize transportation costs Gas, tolls, insurance, maintenance, after care. Even food, as I ocassionally eat out because I am too tired to cook from work. I tried to do websites, but it is a pain to get paid for my work.

Room for improvement. (This is where I currently do not so good. if you have suggestions, please share on a non-judgemental, compassionate way.)

TrackingI used to be very good at this, but that is no longer the case, money comes, money goes and I dont know how that happens. I know I do well on the items above, but I am not saving/tithing enough and sometimes I barely make it to payday. I also feel days just go by, and one week follows the other and I find I have not trackes expenses, some of my days are a blurry memory ( I do have some health issues contributing to this, but I wont use it as excuse, just explaining before you guys chew me off)

Beauty
ok, I confess, I dont know, yet, how to survive without good anti-aging creams, home hair treatments, nails done at the salon every 2 weeks... My plan is: To learn how to do my own nails, I have tried and it has been a disaster! As per creams, I have tried a couple home made recipes but oh boy, no good! They say it takes sometime to get it right.

...

[snafu]

Why not give yourself a giant size 'atta gal' compliment for all you've done, how aware you are that there is always room for improvement and seeking suggestions for change.
You've made tons of improvement and are on the road for more by working from home. I hope it's ok to caution that working from home easily can tip you into too many hours of thought if not action. You will need another activity to give opportunities to meet and chat face-to-face with contemporaries.

[Radiance]

Hi snafu,

You are right that working from home it will be tought to disconnect and socialize.
I will keep it in mind.

Financially I also assume the electric bill will go up a bit, but I am sure the trade off is still worth it.

Not sure when will this happen, this is a dream of mine that is still scaping me for some reason, but I think reducing expenses will make it easier and more likely....

[snafu]

Working primarily from home significantly changes wardrobe needs/choices and while it's important to dress 1st thing right to the shoes, it's beneficial to re-organize your closet giving business/office wear secondary space.

A favorite work-at-home 'tool' is a v/large, [3 mo] tacked to the wall, vinyl dry erase calendar. It gives deadlines, goals, successes, value you've given to your employer, daily desk/billable hours, and is the basis for your daily, disciplined 'to do' list. A different colored marker for the bottom of each square delineates PERSONAL from professional.

If you're working from home you have less opportunity for spending. One trick to impose discipline is to spend only from lists. If you forgot your list don't buy anything! If you don't have it on your list, it's an impulse purchase whose main purpose is to derail your plan. It's just a couple of bucks here and a couple of bucks there but you already know it adds up and thwarts your plan.

[AccountantSalary]

See if you can haggle with you iPad Internet provider and get that monthly fee down even more. I've done that with my Internet provider whenever they throw a price increase (about once a year), and have managed to keep my same rate for years.

Congrats on all the frugality

[FrugalTexan75]

Radiance,

If you already have internet in your home, why are you also paying for it on the iPad? Or is that your only internet service?

[cptacek]

Do you have a friend that also likes their nails done? You could have a nail party every couple of weeks, do each other's nails, and then watch a movie.