Last year, when I was a freshman in college, my parents separated. My mom moved out of our spacious bungalow in the Northwest side of Chicago into a spunky 2 bedroom brownstone in a cheaper area. As a result, my younger sister and I became stragglers, traveling from house to house. So much gas money and so little sufficient funds.
Raising my sister and me in an expensive city like Chicago was no easy feat. Learning to pay for two living accommodations was an even bigger strife. Not saying that finances were tight before the separation, but with so many changes in our living situation, making ends meet in 2016 was especially challenging. Rather than brood over these newfound difficulties, however, my family has found newfangled ways to still live fairly comfortably.
Watching my parents struggle with two jobs just to make ends meet, I’ve been a quiet observer over the past year, watching intently where money came and went, where to save, what to splurge on, etc. As a young adult who is starting to pay for her own expenses, I’ve discovered some “tricks of the trade” for how to survive as a little fish in a big pond that I’d like to share. Whether you dream of starting off with a career in the big city or even learning to save money on campus, here are some methods to spend like a pauper yet still feel like a queen!
1. Test Your Taste Buds!
When I was a kid, my dad (being the cheapskate he is) loved to shop at Aldi, a local discount market. I remember hating the place, being scared of the generic brands of food and the hockey-pucks they tried to serve off as hamburgers. Well, I guess a lot of shoppers felt the same way, because since then Aldi has stepped up its game. Make a quick search on Google to find your local discount market and check it out! Once an Aldi-phobic, I now shop there on a regular basis and am never disappointed with the snacks, frozen foods, and canned goods they offer. A wonderful example is my love for Atkins protein bars. A box of these suckers typically costs $7 at your local grocery store. However, at Aldi I can get Atkins-inspired protein bars that come in an array of flavors for $2 a box! The $5 difference is insane! Some of my other favorite healthy finds there include quinoa, whole sprouted bread, trail mix, and pre-cooked popcorn.
Save on:
- Snack foods
- Chocolate
- Eggs
- frozen foods
- General pantry foods/ingredients
Splurge:
- meats
- peanut butter: don’t ask why, but generic peanut butter always tastes different
- Fresh produce
2. A Dolla That’ll Make You Holla!
Like discount markets, dollar stores are highly underrated. Granted, I do not expect you to buy all your clothing and groceries from the Dollar Tree (especially avoid the cleaning supplies). However, there are so many general supplies and necessities that you use on a daily basis, yet don’t realize how much extra money you are spending on such items. Be sure to visit your nearest Dollar Tree and skim through the aisles where you will find items that are regularly lost and replaceable.
Save on:
- Office supplies, particularly pens and pencils that we misplace on the daily
- Socks
- Hair ties: Ladies, this one is a life saver. Packs of ponytail holders and barrettes at the drugstore are about $4 each. Why not get a pack for a dollar? Plus they’re super good quality. I bought some from the Dollar Tree last semester and I’m still using them! One’s currently in my hair as I write this.
- Most candies
- Salt
- Bars of soap
- Generic items such as boxes, plates and mugs to craft on
Splurge on:
- Cleaning supplies: my dad drove me crazy because he always bought dish detergent, soap and cleaning sprays from dollar stores and it never did the job! Just suck it up and by some Dawn or Gain. You won’t regret having clean dishes.
- Beauty supplies: I once bought a nail kit because I was desperate to cut my nails. The nail clipper broke immediately after I tried to cut one of my fingernails.
- Generic soda
- Home decor
3. Pop Some Tags
I am a self profound fanatic of the Salvation Army. When it comes to food, I’m a little bit more extravagant because I try to eat healthily, but when it comes to buying clothes, I’m very hesitant with spending my money. However, whenever I walk out of a thrift store, I always feel like a bada** with my ginormous bag of clothing all under $50. In an era where vintage finds and grunge fashion are all the rage, why settle for a lame reproduction from a department store and go find the real deal for less? I’ve found such cool retro items while thrifting, and when people compliment these items, they don’t even know that it’s secondhand and I found it in the back of a smelly warehouse.
Save on:
- Leggings
- Oversized sweaters/sweatshirt
- Some cool vintage t shirts: Some t shirts you find can easily cut and personalize to fit your fashionable preferences.
- Flannels: Fashion stores try to sell itchy flannels for $30 while the Salvation Army is literally flooding with men’s flannels that are soft and come in every color and pattern imaginable.
- Sweatpants
- Athletic jackets
- Check out the coat section! You can get some pretty cool finds if you’re lucky. I found cool vintage trench coats and a retro Levi’s oversized denim jacket at numerous thrift stores.
- Sunglasses. We always lose them.
Splurge on:
- Undergarments (because ew)
- Formal/business attire
- Shoes (also ew)
- Unique items that you know you’ll wear regularly but you know you won’t find anywhere else. But if you feel like you can live without it and leave the store without feeling any regrets, then don’t buy it.
- A quality purse/bag/wallet that will go with any outfit and last forever (for me, it’s my vintage coach shoulder purse).
4. Technological Tactics
Luckily, we live in an era where wifi and live stream are the norm, so most restaurants, stores, and gyms have free wifi. This should be a given, but I’ll say it anyway: take advantage to free wifi as often as possible, and it will greatly diminish your phone bill. If you are living on campus, you are in a sanctuary for free wifi, and you can most likely still connect while walking in between classes. If you have a go-to playlist on your Spotify account, make sure to “download” that playlist so that you can listen to it on the road without using up your data.
If you still are a regular TV watcher who pays for cable, I know that the business of broadcast television is dwindling with the inventions of YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. However, if you are still nostalgic for your cable TV and On Demand, I highly recommend looking into Sling TV, which includes most of the popular TV channels for $25 a month, along with an HD antenna for access to local channels.
All in all, needing to save money is not an admittance of defeat. Rather, it's fact of life and a signal that you are indeed growing up. Rather than thinking about shopping at secondhand stores with a stereotypical scorn, l challenge you to explore the idea with a sense of adventure and an open mind!
