Frugal Living

As mentioned previously on this blog, I was no stranger to budgeting and frugality. I've spent much of the past several years working in media production, where budgeting is par for the course. Prior to working in the media industry I balanced my studies with part time administration work - so I've spent many hours reconciling my employers' spending and balancing their books. I'm good at it. I get paid to do it. And believe it or not, I actually enjoy it.

Combined with the fact that I HATE any form of waste, I like to live as sustainably and self-sufficiently as any urban, inner-city professional can and I try to be as healthy as possible - frugal living comes pretty naturally to me.  I'm also pathetically, hopelessly, BAD at shopping (no seriously, I am). A trip to the supermarket can take hours, as I scan the shelves for every available option before intently reading the list of ingredients and weighing up the health implications versus the potential savings of every item I put in my basket. As for clothes shopping... 99% of the time I get so overwhelmed and exhausted by the vast array of choices, I end up leaving having accomplished nothing more than circling an air-conditioned mall for a few hours and getting sore feet.

Regardless - being tight-fisted is one thing, but saving enough to fund a few years without income is a completely different matter. That required a whole new level of frugality. I explained in my previous post how we came to reach the figure that we did ($30,000). Now without going into too much detail, let's just say that's close to half my annual salary (as a freelancer, the exact figure goes up and down). So that meant living on half my annual salary (or less) for at least one year. The first step? Knowing how much I was currently spending.

How Much is Enough?

Once the decision was made to uproot ourselves and head off into the unknown, there was just the small matter of how we were going to fund such an adventure... Because as much as I'd wished otherwise, taking a hiatus from your career to drift aimlessly around the globe can be a costly exercise (at least initially).

Of course, I could always be true to the stereotype of the irresponsible, consumerist-driven Gen Y and simply put the lot on a credit card to be dealt with in some far off, distant future. But I'd deliberately avoided ever getting a credit card. Throughout my 20's I'd taken pride in never owning one, so I wasn't about to start now. Truth be told, I was far too much of a control freak to ever be comfortable with debt, no matter how minuscule. I'd spent much of the last few years at work forecasting and managing budgets, so I had developed a fascination with frugality and saving that bordered on the obsessive...

Combined with the fact that I worked in a notoriously precarious industry (of which I'd been burnt in the global recession of 2008, when I'd been made redundant and couldn't for the life of me secure further employment), saving "for a rainy day" may well have been tattooed on my forehead, it was so ingrained in my thinking.

Turning 30

I just turned 30. Well, 5 months ago actually - much like the decade that preceded it, time has flown and without realising it almost half a year has passed already.

I was quite excited about entering my 30's. Despite all the jokes ("So you're turning 29 again, right?") I wore this milestone like a badge of honour. I felt exactly where I was supposed to be at this age. I had a Bachelor's degree and Post-graduate under my belt, my career was on track with a steady flow of work coming my way... and I was in a loving relationship with a man I adored. Plus - I was free of debt (well, if you discount that annoying HECS debt) and even had some meagre savings stashed away. Suffice to say I was pretty chuffed - cocky even. "Bring on the next decade!" I thought.

Then it was the holiday season. My partner and I had only two weeks before we had to return to work, so we squeezed in a visit to our respective home cities. We spent the first few days in my home town catching up with some old mates - discussing new mortgages, new engagements, who was getting married, who was having (or had) children. As I hadn't been back to Sydney for over a year, a lot had gone on - seemingly overnight. It seemed that we had suddenly reached that age where everyone was making big decisions and big commitments. Sure, some friends and acquaintances had started early - Facebook had conveyed a steady stream of wedding photos and baby pics and engagement announcements over the last year or two. But they were the exception, not the norm. Now it seemed that I was the exception, with no mortgage or engagement ring or pregnancy to boast about.