Live Uncomfortably

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The more people I tell my plans to, the more people question how I can afford to do it. How can I quit my job, take 6 months to a year off, and still survive? I’ll tell you how - a magical and uncomfortable thing known as saving.

I was able to save over half of my low, entry-level, salary every month. And, I was living in LA, which is one of the most expensive places in America. Some of my techniques for saving cash put me in uncomfortable situations (not using the AC, taking the bus to work, etc.) but for the most part I was able to live quite comfortably and have an amazing time in LA with my friends.

Here are what my expenses from January ‘08 looked like (rounded up to the nearest $):

• Rent: $485
• Utilities (gas/electric/water): $70
• Cable: $15
• Bus/Gas/Transportation: $53
• Food/Vitamins/Supplements: $265
• Eating Out: $41
• House Items/Toiletries: $11
• Entertainment/Beer/Gifts: $230
• Education/Business: $70
  Total: $1,235

Note: I do not have a cellphone bill because I’m still on my parent’s plan.

Here’s how I saved as much as I possibly could in some of the above categories:

• Saving on Rent & Utilities:
  The more people you live with, the cheaper the rent and utilities are going to be. Our bill was split between 5 guys. Consider sharing a room instead of keeping the single. There’s no shame in having a roommate these days, especially with the ridiculous costs of housing. Privacy was hardly ever an issue for me and my roomie. Whenever my girlfriend and I ‘needed the room’, I just asked and it was ours for a bit. I don’t, however, recommend sharing a room with a complete stranger. You could get a psycho asshole. Screen potential roommates carefully.
• Saving on Food
  I eat 5-6 times a day and a lot of healthy food at each meal. I also buy an expensive protein supplement from Biotest. Yet, I still spend less money on my grocery bills than most people I know. These strategies work for me:

1. Don’t be an idiot - Bag your lunch to work or school or wherever! People hear this all the time but hardly anybody does it. My co-workers would go out and spend $7-$8 for their lunch-time meal. I spend just over that for a whole days worth of food.
2. Have a plan - Make a meal plan for the whole week and buy all your food at once. My roommates would often end up at Ralph’s every other day because they didn’t want to buy a weeks worth of food at a time. What they failed to see is that they were actually spending more because when they didn’t have food in the house, they’d end up a fast food joint spending about 1/7 of my weekly bill for one, awful, greasy meal.
3. Know where the deals are - For healthy, cheap food I go to Trader Joe’s. It kicks the competition’s ass for a lot of products. A dozen cage free eggs is about $2.50!
4. Eat out sparingly - Eating out is great. It’s fun and delicious. But it’s also expensive. I usually end up ordering a drink or two so it gets out of control very easily. Instead of going out, I tried cooking nicer meals for my girlfriend at the house. I’m not a good cook (yet) but I tried and I think she appreciated the effort.

• Save on the Commute
  Try public transportation - it’s probably not as bad as you think. I rode the bus in LA for 8 months with no real incidents to speak of, except getting made fun of for wearing a tie.
  I had no car so I saved on all types of expenses - oil, insurance, and the other hidden costs. When I needed to borrow a car, I did, and I tried to repay my roommates for my share of the gas. But, because I didn’t have my own car, I felt the need to drive places less. Obviously, if I didn’t live with friends, it might have been a problem, but that’s where good roommate decision making comes in to play.
• Entertainment
  Everyone’s idea of entertainment differs so you might have to get creative. Rent movies and split the $5 rental fee with a friend, or go to discount theaters. They often have movies that are just out of theaters. Avoid the hype and necessity to see a movie right when it’s released.
  There are times when you need to cut loose. Because I was spending so frugally on other things, I decided to splurge and spend a lot of cash on my friend’s birthday in January. The extra cash for sushi and drinks was well worth the fun.

The overall message I’m trying to convey is: don’t spend your money on stupid shit! As long as you follow that rule you’ll be fine. If it does you no good in the future, don’t buy it. Everything is an investment.

Yes, I may have forgone some immediate pleasures and comforts, but now I’m in a position that a lot of people never will be. I can take a year off to pursue my dreams. If I fail this time around, it wont take very long for me to save enough to try again.