LIVIN' ON THE CHEAP A Guide to Intentional Potentially Life-saving Paupery

1. If it costs more than $10 and you'll have another chance to buy it (i.e. you're not splitting the city or country anytime soon), think it over before you buy it. If you really need it, you'll come back, and maybe by then you'll have found it cheaper someplace else.
2. If you're a college student and have a place to stay that's paid for (dorm room, friend's place, apartment), it IS possible to live on $10 a day and you CAN get a week's groceries for $30.
3. If you can steal something without anyone knowing (say... like if you copied a computer program), don't feel bad. You're poor and you need it. If society was a really just place, you wouldn't be so disempowered in the first place. Besides, keep stealing and eventually you'll get rich enough to buy the stuff you stole.
4. Read the fine print, but IN GENERAL, always accept FREE SAMPLES.
5. If you're a student (or even if you just have some kind of, say... outdated student ID), ask about student rates, discounts, etc.

FINANCES

1. When you go looking for a bank, shop around and find the one with 1) the lowest account fees and 2) the lowest ATM charges.
2. If you have a computer, buy a finance program like Quicken and keep track of your accounts. Not only will you keep your balances straight, but you'll have graphs and reports to show you exactly where you're money goes so you can refine your spending habits and LIVE EVEN CHEAPER.
3. Always pay credit card bills IN FULL and ON-TIME. The idea of credit is that you borrow money and you pay it back. If you don't, you'll get killed with FEES. At the very least PAY THE MINIMUM. That way you can MAINTAIN YOUR CREDIT RATING. Whatever you do, don't just stop paying. If any of this is a problem for you, PAY UP AND CANCEL!
4. Get penny rolls and actually bring yours pennies to the bank for cashing. I did this one time and got about $15. I'd been saving for four years or something like that...

EDUCATION

1. No matter who pays the bills (you, your parents, or Uncle Sam), look over all your bills very carefully. School bill computers make mistakes all the time. It's your job to catch them on it.
2. Get scholarships. I got over $17,000 in free academic scholarships. The key to this, of course, is being a good student, but even an average student -- with good recommendations, decent activities, and other qualities -- can get money, too, if they look for it and have confidence that they're deserving.
3. Go to a state school. People are so dumb. They think that just because they paid five times as much for their education as I did for mine, they're getting five times the education. Bullshit! My parents, three sisters, and brother all went to state schools and they're all doing fine. I've gone to UMass and UGA and they were both CHEAP and GOOD.

TRAVEL

1. Whenever possible, stay in youth hostels. It doesn't matter if you're on vacation or a business trip. Hostels are cheap, clean, and often fun places to be. You can get all kinds of travel information there, meet cool people from around the world, and often there are kitchens so you don't have to eat out all the time.
2. Greyhound may not be everybody's cup of tea, but if you purchase tickets three weeks in advance, you can go ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY FOR $59. Deal? I'll say! I took a trip from Boston to Atlanta in Jan. 1997 and although it wasn't pleasant, it was fantastic considering the fact that I was almost totally broke.
3. Greyhound also has this offer: buy any ROUNDTRIP ticket three weeks in advance and you get a COMPANION TICKET FREE.
4. Since I got my web design job and came into some money, I've been flying a whole bunch and have figured out that 1) travel sites like Travelocity can track down the cheap fares, 2) AirTran isn't the only cheap airline (Delta and Continental can also be cheap), but it does have deals, and 3) it so, so, so does pay to buy your tickets as far in advance as you can.
5. If you want or need to take a spur-of-the-moment trip, show up at the Atlanta AirTran counter 30 minutes before a flight and you can go anywhere they fly for $35!
6. Going to Europe, travel in the off-season. If you're not, then go to Council Travel and they'll find you the cheapest available flight.
7. If you're in a city with mass-transit, USE IT and GET THE PASS. Instead of handing out $2 or $3 (or more) A DAY for tokens, pay for a $10-12 weekly pass and you can RIDE ALL YOU WANT. My best experience with this kind of pass has been on Atlanta's MARTA, but the Boston T has good program as well.
8. A lot of museums have days when they offer free or voluntary (pay as much as you want) admission. Find out when these days are and plan your visit accordingly. (Also ask about student rates.)

EATING OUT

1. The cheapest and most-filling food: rice and bean burrito (large, authentic size, not Taco Bell brand).
2. Second cheapest and most-filling food: large bagel with cream cheese and jelly. Often the jelly comes free. If you're at a good place, you can get this bagel, plus a glass of steamed, flavored milk and a cookie for less than $3.
3. Any cafe that serves more than ten kinds of coffee (none of which can be pronounced) is going to have really expensive cookies and cake.
4. "Order" water. Once a day, a $2 soda or coffee is OK with a little meal (exceptions go for "serious," sit-down meals), but other than that, water will do you just fine.
5. Don't eat at any restaurant that either doesn't post a menu outside or is so snotty that the hostess stares are you when you ask to see one.

SHOPPING -- GENERAL

1. If it's mass-produced, chances are you can find it somewhere else -- probably cheaper. You DON'T have to buy it NOW!
2. Except on rare occasions, NEVER shop in department stores. If you do go, make sure it's during a SALE and that the things you want are INCLUDED in that sale. (Example: Caleb and I got a beautiful 12-piece Revere cookware set for about $100 because Macy's had it on sale -- that's about $250 off!)
3. Makeup costs too damn much. Don't wear it unless it's a special occasion or the kind you're using is CHEAP.
4. Most of those expensive haircare products are total rip-offs. Store brands and even cheap national brands like Suave (my bottle, on sale, was something like 79 cents!) are just as good. No matter what the ads in Glamour say, cleaning your hair isn't rocket science, so don't pay uranium prices when you can have it dirt cheap.
5. Buy store brands. They're CHEAP and they're usually JUST AS GOOD or BETTER than the name brand. Often they're even made at the same factory. Don't be a snot -- be smart!
6. Neiman Marcus is actually a museum dedicated to conspicuous consumption. And you wonder why their nickname is Needless Markup.

GROCERY SHOPPING

1. Cook from scratch; avoid "meals in a bag." Buying base ingredients and doing it yourself is cheaper and often the food you make is more to your liking. It may take a little more time, but it is way worth it.
2. Vegetables are cheap, filling, and often keep very well. (Examples: potatoes, carrots, cabbage.)
3. Pasta may be a cliche when it comes to cheap food, but it certainly does save you money. It doesn't have to be boring either; premium, "gourmet" pasta brands (e.g. basic and garlic fettucine that comes in a clear plastic bag) is cheap, too.
4. Clip those coupons! When you're livin' on the cheap, every buck counts. Some places even double your coupons or offer store coupons. It's especially nice that to know that pasta sauce is a very popular coupon in the Sunday circulars.
5. Rice a Roni and Lipton make some really cheap (and GOOD) entrees. Don't pass them by!
6. Compare shop! Need I say more?
7. Once again, store brands are a GREAT DEAL.

CLOTHES SHOPPING

1. If you own more than five pairs of shoes, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. (Unless you got bunch of those extra shoes for under $10 or free, of course.)
2. Never buy clothes at a store that doesn't put its prices on the goods.
3. Be very suspicious of any store that a) displays its clothes like they're paintings (i.e. store is empty except for five dresses hanging on the wall), or b) has "boutique" in the title.
4. Any piece of clothing you buy that costs OVER $50 (or even $20, in my world) must be INCREDIBLE, as in, "Oh, my God, that is AWESOME!" It should be something you either can't find easily, something you've wanted for AGES, something people will DROP DEAD when they see, or something you REALLY REALLY NEED (like, say, a wedding dress or a business suit you need to get a job).