Making the Transition- Part 3

As I transitioned out of my old design job and into my new clerking job with the library it was necessary to make some changes in my families spending habits. This is some of the things we did right away.

• cut out my commuter coffee


• packed lunch for myself and my daughters


• limited our family restaurant trips to once a week


• eliminated all dry cleaning (even my husband is ironing now)


• eliminated magazine subscriptions or renewals


• eliminated book purchases (love books like others love chocolate)


• gradually switched our lighting from standard to CFL bulbs


• switched from paper towels/napkins to cloth

Things we already practiced even before my job transition:

• we had a small patio garden with veggies and flowers


• we had installed a clothesline to cut down on dryer usage


• thrift shopped regularly

Fortunately, growing up on a farm, I was already a little inclined to thrift anyway. Designers are obviously creative and I have always enjoyed fixing things up, finding new uses for old things, etc. I already shopped yard sales, thrift stores, and clearance sales regularly. With my new low, low income I just made sure I pretty much only shopped thrift.

This transition took place over an almost 6 month period and my family didn't go in shock and neither did I. As time passed we have refined and trimmed here and there. In future post I plan on sharing with you some tips and photos of how we make it all work.