I live my life on a shoestring budget. Friends are always whining "you're SO lucky! you get to travel so much blablabla". Well, the truth is people, I make less than $30,000 a year. Hell, I make less than $27,000. With student loans, rent and city livin', it requires craftiness and skill to live the way I do. So I've created this blog to share my secrets, and to teach my party animal friends that one less night of pounding PBRs a week can equal a fabulous trip to Europe.

Some simple rules/strategies I've learned to live by:

• Make your lunch/brew your own coffee at work! Seriously, this saves anywhere from $10-$50 a week. Treat yourself to lunch and a latte twice a week.
• Create a junk email account and sign up for every travel deal site out there. I found 6 nights AND air in Barcelona for a total of $650 on travelzoo.com! I'm patient with internet deal searching, but these sites compile deals for you. I never would've found that one on my own.
• Subscribe to magazines! Not only will you save tons, but weeklies like New York Magazine provide tons of listings of free stuff to do, and mags like Readymade have tons of easy DIY projects to spruce up your home and life.
• Buy a flask! You must have no shame to live The Zizzler lifestyle.... and I am not afraid to bring a flask of homebrew to any event. OK, not homebrew. I'd never drink ANYTHING made in MY bathtub.
• Learn to fake sew. I am a horrible constructionist. Everything I make is messy. However, the clothes I wear aren't exactly going to be sold or anything. So some crappy hand sewing or tucked in edges that only my eyes can see is fine by me. I shop at H&M and Target and customize everything to suit my style. But I NEVER shop at Wal-mart, the most evil of all empires!
• Buy food at Farmer's Markets and Trader Joe's. I buy a weeks worth of veggies for $9-$12, and everything else at Trader Joe's. I love Whole Foods , but I refuse to pay $4 for an avocado.
• Put $20 (or more) a week into your savings account. You really won't miss $20. Seriously. You'd piss it away anyway. You'll thank me later.

Those are my starter tips.....enjoy and live well.