My Current Position

Ok, so I figured at this point I should outline the current state of my finances. Prior to starting this amazing adventure of frugal living I thought that saving money on my salary was impossible. I would overspend on silly things, like pharmacy items or lunch at work, or beers after work, and then I would come up short at the end of the month and have to rely on my credit card. I racked up about $2,000 worth of credit card debt before I pulled my head out of my ass and woke the hell up. I began paying off my debt, and now I'm pretty much at a fresh start. I am $0 in debt, I don't owe anything to anyone, which is a great feeling. Also, I have saved $1, 759.37 since I started living frugally last month. Here's the breakdown of my new budget, and how I'm adjusting.

Twice a month I get a direct deposit of $1300. This usually happens on the 15th and on the last day of the month. My goal is to save 50% of my income, which means I'm only living on half of my take home pay. My rent is $648.75 a month (I have three roommates, this rent number may actually go down because were are discussing working out a different division of rent since Fella and I share a room), utilities are usually around $60 or so. I'd just like to point out that I live in Brooklyn, in a super hip, safe area (no, not Williamsburg), so for naysayers who like to gripe that New York is unaffordable, I say poo poo. I paid more in rent in both Boston and Austin, you can find a deal if you look for it. I know several friends who pay even less than I do.

Anyway, each pay period I split up my paycheck like this:

PAYCHECK:  $1,300

SAVINGS:  $650 (I am currently just putting this in a savings account, I will eventually use the built up savings to max out my Roth IRA)

RENT & UTILITIES (1st half): $350

EVERYTHING ELSE FOR TWO WEEKS: $300

That leaves $300 for two weeks. This $300 includes food, metro card, entertainment/going out, pharmacy expenses, clothes, basically EVERYTHING else. I do not parcel out this $300, I basically just budget it as it is in my wallet based on what I know I will need to purchase. I do this because I find itemized budgets tiresome and difficult to stick with, and also because I'm constantly modifying what I do to save more here and there. I don't want to feel like each change I make affects this whole grid of numbers, I also enjoy the flexibility, and honestly, it's not that hard to manage $300, because it's such a small amount. However, I do have some tricks up my sleeve about stretching $300 as far as you can, and they all start at the grocery store.

I have read many frugal living websites, and early retirement websites that talk about cutting your grocery bill to $400 a month and other nonsense like that. I love food, I've done cookbook testing for various authors, and I'm regularly paid and published for writing about food. You do not need to spend that much money on food, and you will eat better than most people, all you have to do is learn to plan your trips (saving money at the store is 98% planning), and become a fearless cook.

Stay tuned for all of my grocery store magic, as well as how to plan a successful shopping trip.