Oh, dear.
At the end of this month, I'm leaving the company I've worked for since December of 2003 to go back to school.
I'll be working part-time and focusing on school, which means I am going to be POOR.
Really poor.
Haven't-had-so-little-money-since-I-was-a-freshman kind of poor.
I think I'm going to be bad at it.
Considering the upcoming belt-tightening, I am going to incorporate the following changes starting now:
- Way less money for eating out = more cooking at home (maybe a revival of the Thursday Night Supper Club?)
- Fewer new clothes... (and more learning how to sew so I can attempt to tailor my own clothes) (oh, scary. I can barely sew a straight line.)
- No more buying jewelry (at least not at my current rate...)
- Checking books out at the liiiiiibrary, or camping out at Borders and B&N to read new books (raise your hand if you've camped out and read an entire book at the store. No shame.)
- Packing lunch every day to eat between work/school.
So, those are the big things that will have to change in my budget.
I would be lying if I said I knew what I was going to do. But I'm happier than I've been in a long time, despite the uncertainty.
Any tips on how to be poor? I know almost everyone has been there at one point or another. What is your biggest money-saving tip?