[ How-to ] Live on Minimum Wage

It occurred to me the other day that my boyfriend and I are living basically on minimum wage, well below the poverty level... and while we are making lots of sacrifices, it really hasn't been too bad (and worth it because we are doing what we love.)

Here are a few of our tips on how we are saving money, and living below the poverty level in style :)

- we are doing without internet and tv
instead, i've become a pro at finding all the free wi-fi places on my route home from work, and we make weekly trips to our library.  we've also borrowed a lot of seasons on dvd... currently watching LOST (love having no commercials :)
this was initially just a temporary sacrifice, just until we had a better idea of our living costs, but now after doing it for a month i think its going to be something we stick to.  being disconnected (once you get over the shock) is actually quite refreshing... and i forgot what reading for fun was like.

- eating in and packing lunch.

this is a pretty obvious one, but i am still so surprised how much money we by packing our lunches, and saving going out to eat just for special occasions.  are biggest weakness is chipotle, which we used to eat at least once a week... now its more like once a month.

- planning our trips into town
we live about 20 minutes from town, so as much as we can, we plan to run errands together, just once a week.  we try to be as conscious as possible of our grocery list, and planning when we will need to run to the bank.

-COUPONS

while i haven't quite reached my life's goal of becoming an extreme couponer, i am making an effort to take advantage of coupons, store loyalty programs, and the bulk warehouse retail stores.

- keeping track of our purchases
we are writing down every little thing that we spend money to keep us accountable and aware of the money we are spending.  (i.e. i realized that by buying an iced coffee and small fry every time i go to mcdonalds on my break to use the internet, that i could have just spent $80/month on internet at our house)

- pick up every odd job we can

this is probably one of the biggest sacrifices, just by taking up our free time and weekends.  but we have made a conscious effort to pick up every extra hour at work we can, and any odd job out there.  since we are still near our college, a lot of our professors have needed help moving, house sitting, babysitting, etc. so we have made it very clear that we are near and eager to help which has sent a lot of extra work our way.

- getting creative with accessories
since i can't go shopping as much as i would love, i have looked to the handmade community to find a cute little, (and inexpensive) accessory (like Much Love, Illy's hair bow that i'm anxiously awaiting its arrival!) to add excitement to my wardrobe and create a new outfit around it.  i'm a huge fan of blazers and belts to switch up a look, and THRIFT STORES!


i'm not going to lie and say that these changes havent been an adjustment and wake-up call, but so far its been an exciting (and romantic) adventure for a young couple just out of college.  there are still a TON of things we have to learn, and i'm sure a lot of other ways we could be saving money...

what are your go-to money saving tips?? i am eager to learn more ways to save!