Annie Jean Brewer - The Shoestring Girl: How I Live on Practically Nothing and You Can Too

THE SHOESTRING GIRL:

How I Live on PracticallyNothing - And You Can Too!

By

Annie Jean Brewer

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Annie Jean Brewer on SMASHWORDS

THE SHOESTRING GIRL:

How I Live on Practically Nothing -And You Can Too!

Copyright 2011 by Annie Jean Brewer

Discover Other Titles by Annie Jean Brewer at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/annienygma

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The Shoestring Girl

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When I left my husband a decade ago I had nojob and no money; all I had were my kids, our pets and an oldmobile home that I had purchased in preparation.

I did not enter into the challenge withoutbeing ready. I knew my income would be sparse so I planned ahead.These were my rules:

* Make recurring expenses as low as theycould go.
* Keep them that way.

By using this method I would know the bare minimumneeded to survive with my kids and I could (hopefully) be a littlepicky and choose a job that offered mother's hours so I would nothave to depend upon child care for all but the youngest.

It worked.

When my income increased I followed theadvice of some friends and took out loans and credit cards to"improve my situation" with new appliances and furniture. What amistake! As a result of those purchases there were a few times whenI had to scrape money together just to buy groceries.

I don't want to EVER do that again.

I have discovered several advantages tokeeping those recurring expenses low:

* It frees up the bulk of your moneyfor enjoying life.

* You don't have to work as hard toget your bills paid.

* You can better survive economicdownturns.

* You can afford to chase your dreamsor take risks.

* You can afford to take longvacations by saving up and not working for a time.

* You don't have to search for aroommate or shack up with someone to have help paying yourbills--you are able to pay all of your bills on a singleincome.

I have been living this lifestyle for so manyyears now that it is second nature. I have become the one that mywealthier friends ask for loans when their income takes a dip. Itmakes me wonder who is the real wealthy one: the one with all ofthe money, or the one who knows how to keep it?

Some say that this lifestyle involvessacrifice yet neither I nor my family feels this way. We do what wewant, when we want and have money to spare.

Our van is paid for, we rent a nice olderhome in town and we have money in the bank with more on the way.Our computers are newer (Katie's is 2 years old and mine is a fewmonths old) and we can afford to upgrade on a regular cycle.

We have everything we need but only a portionof the expense of an average household. Here are my recurringbills:

Until recently I had a part-time job atWal-Mart. We have enough money coming in from my book royalties soI quit to focus on the things that are really important in my life.This accomplishment would have been impossible if it were not forshoestring living.

We did have prepaid cell phones but stoppedputting money on them when I started planning to leave the job atWal Mart. Cell phones are luxuries for all but the perpetuallymobile (like truck drivers) so instead we use Google Voice combinedwith our MagicJack for voice calls and texting.

We do not receive welfare or food stamps yetwe eat well and are healthy. Nor do we receive any cash paymentsfrom the government. We live entirely on my income as a writer andlife is really good.

If we wanted to, we could live on even lessthan we do right now. Here's how:

* Go to the library for internet access.Save $30/month.

* Eliminate the van and walk everywhere.Save $41/month on car insurance plus maintenance, gasoline, taxesand license fees. Realistic savings would be over $1,000 ayear.

* Use Google Voice exclusively for phoneservice instead of MagicJack. Save $1.67/month.

* Purchase a mobile home on a rented lot andpay cash. Save $100-$150 a month depending upon the lot rent.

If I did these things I would then only pay$230 a month for an additional savings of $202.67. If I wanted tolive even cheaper I could purchase a small RV or live in my van andeliminate the rental and utility fees so even my low billsare not the lowest that they could be!

However, there is a line we must walk whenbeing frugal. The goal is to stay on the comfortable side of thatline so that our lives do not feel like a sacrifice. Rather likewalking on a tightrope, we balance to avoid a fall. I call thisline the shoestring.

Anyone can do what I do to save money. All ittakes is desire, patience and a willingness to look at things in adifferent way.

Are you ready to live on a shoestring?

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Within these pages you will find the tips andtricks that I have used personally over the years to pare myexpenses to the bone. Some of these things I still do today whileothers did not hold my interest; still others I've kept in reservefor the day that I need the knowledge.

This book is written so that you can read itin its entirety to get an overview and then bookmark the stuff youwant to try yourself. I have no intentions of reinventing the wheelso if there is a resource available that can help you better I willlead you there with a link or a reference. That way if you want toknow more you can find it but if not you can just skip over. I havedone this deliberately to save you time while you learn aboutsaving money.

If you don't like an idea, that's okay. Justmove to the next one. The frugality police are not going to knockon your door just because you use paper products or enjoy eatingout!

Above all have fun while you experiment. Ifyou try something and don't enjoy it then put it back on the shelfand try something else. The object of the game is to keep tryingand experimenting--to keep thinking out of the box that you aretrapped in.

If any of these ideas make you think then Ihave done my job. If you know of any ideas that will make this bookbetter, email me your suggestions at annie (at) annienygma.com.This work is designed to help people and as a result will grow andchange over time.

When you are finished with this book pleaseleave an honest review at the website where you purchased it. Thiswill help others determine if this book will be helpful.

Thank you for your support!

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Disclaimer

As with any book we have to have a sectionwith the legal stuff. I am not your mother and there isn't anywarranty implied or implicated in any form in any of these pages. Iam not responsible for any loss, dismemberment or jail time youincur because you tried the stuff in this book. Use your brain andcheck your local laws. I use this stuff but you may not want totake the risk.

Ideally, living on a shoestring should be atemporary situation for most of the folks who try it. Once yourexpenses are as low as they can go you will have the free time topursue other forms of income.