Austin Frugalista

Alright folks. I am back to this blog. The topic of this post is what probably has me back to the blog. I have bundles of energy and motivation thanks to my new commitment to exercise! Walking every morning wasn’t cutting it and I couldn’t afford a gym membership – I love running but my knees are killing me. SO I started looking into Yoga.

Black Swan Yoga is a donation based studio. You pay what you can afford and I swear when I when I make it big, I will pay them back for all the free yoga classes.

I haven’t gone to Black Swan this week, however. I am going to Sunstone Yoga by my house. I bought the 10 classes for 10 days at $10. Partly to assuage my guilt for not donating to the other…but mostly because our bathroom is being re-done and Sunstone has nice showers, towels and soap. Saving money left and right, this one.

Today is frugal day numero uno. I thought I would start it by saving money on breakfast by sleeping right on through it. Man that was easy! The job starts Thursday and I am getting over the flu so I am savoring these last few semi-lazy days.

When I woke up, I spent a few minutes surfing the free stuff on Craigslist. The most appealing ad was for a free shampoo and blow dry at a salon in Cedar Park. If the salon wasn’t about 20 minutes away I would be there in a heartbeat. If I were on Prozac this free ad would save me money on uppers for a day. There is nothing quite like having sexy, shiny hair for a day or two. Yes, two days is the limit, you are kidding yourself if you’re one of those folks that try to keep the salon hair going for more than 48 hours. Nice try though! I don’t blame ya.

I planned a “pack your own pic nic” lunch date with Kate today but it is kind of rainy so we are meeting at Panera. I will have to try this money saving idea another time, especially with the weather getting nicer. To save money on this one I ate leftover Caesar salad and cheese grits from the fridge before I went and then bought a pastry to be polite so that Kate wouldn’t be eating alone.

I had dinner with the Powell family this evening and I’m going to keep kicking the flu in the butt by going to bed early.

Money spent today: $1.99

The lexies at the New Oxford American Dictionary define frugalista on their short list for 2008 Word of the Year as, “a person who lives a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc.” I heard the term in a Target commercial that came on while I was watching Community on Hulu, my alternative to purchasing cable, a satellite dish, heck even a television for that matter. I don’t know if I can be nearly as chic as the models on the advertisement, but I am going to try.

My mission: to live comfortably on $1,000 a month. I will be working for AmeriCorps at Imagine Art teaching graphic design to artists with disabilities and that is my living stipend. I will also be doing freelance graphic design and hostessing downtown once a week. Wish me luck and feel free to e-mail me with your ideas about how to save money, particularly in Austin, TX.