Poor Grad Students Guide to Frugality

Here are a few things that Kyle and I have done to make it through grad school on on meager salary.

1. Live in a tiny 600 sq ft $400 apt close to campus.
2. Bike to work and school every day year round. (saves at least $120 a month in gas)
3. Plan out meals and get groceries weekly
4. Every once in a while don't get groceries so you can clean out your cupboards.
5. Entertain yourself with bunny ears on your TV, Red Box, and Netflix. Forget about going out to the movies for a while. (unless of course its the midnight showing of Harry Potter)
6. Find free furniture. But try to be minimal because not much fits in your apartment.
         a. When you move its going to be a lot cheaper not to have things to move.
7. Don't go out to eat. Just don't.
8. Google creative cheap recipes so you don't get sick of spaghetti and tuna and noodles.
9. If you didn't sweat or spill, the clothes aren't dirty. Save some money by keeping the laundry load light.
10. Find babysitting jobs, they are awesome for an extra couple of bucks.
11. Turn off any appliances if they aren't being used, and unplug them.
12. Charge anything you can when you aren't at home to save on electricity costs.
13. Adjust your water heater to a tolerable level.
14. Give gifts of time/work. (aka photo shoots and designing) instead of spending money you don't have on Christmas, Birthday, and going away gifts.
15. For trips visit friends. Never stay in a hotel. If you can't find a friend to stay with, contact a friend who has a friend or relative living there. Its always great to meet new people!
16. Never buy on credit. Save up for everything. (That way you don't have another payment to add onto everything else.)
17. Budget your money so you can save and you don't spend money on unnecessaries like gum and magazines.
18. Borrow books from friends/ share books with classmates.
19. Don't go on walks at night, this isn't frugal really, just safe. As you chose an apartment in a neighborhood where walking at night isn't recommended. (you went with the cheapest you could find, so thats what you get)
20. Document this time of your life! It may not be super exciting now, but you will want to remember it for when friends and your kids go through the same thing.

Christmas Plans

Alright... So ... Well first I will give you a picture of our travel plans:

OK, so we are doing a lot of driving. We are leaving at 5pm on the 22nd and driving 9-10 hours to Ron and Janelle's (aunt and uncle's) house in Kansas. Then we will leave the next morning for KC to pick up Heidi and Elliott. We will drive with them plus Kyle, me and Coach (yes coach is going!) the 5 hour trip to Iowa. We will be there from the evening of the 23rd through some time on the 27th. Then we will drive the 4.5 hours to Minneapolis and stay with Dustin and Sarah (cousins). Kyle will be visiting the University of Minnesota that day to meet the Head Strength coach. Then on the 29th we are driving 8 hours to Sutton Nebraska. We will be there until the morning of the 2nd. Then the last leg is about 10-12 hours.

YAY!

Pray for safe travels and good weather! Love you all!

-Jenni

Hospitalized for Exhaustion

I wonder how all of those movie stars get hospitalized for exhaustion. I need an in on their secrets because that sounds awesome right about now. This is me at my day job:

I don't know if you can tell exactly what is going on... so I shall explain.

I started the path to a new website for Jenni O Photography in September. I hired an awesome web designer (Frankie O'Rourke) and he has had to put up with my indecisiveness and designing a website around me, an artist, as opposed to a contractor or something. So my website had to be awesome. (and it is, just you wait!) I had to write the content, make my favorite pictures as sharp as possible, and help Frankie understand who I am.

I also got injured in October at work. When people ask what happened to my hand because of my ginormous velcrowey brace I usually tell them that I box. As in fight people. But I don't. What actually happened is I punched holes in cardboard with a hand hole puncher for two days straight and I damaged some nerves in my thumb and forefinger.

This thing is a pain. It snagged my favorite purple tights and it catches on everything. I have to wear it 24/7 and take some crazy anti-inflamatory pills. It sucks. BUT I can still take pictures. So thats good.

I have had a lot of photo shoots this fall which is great! But I can't wait till someday (not now) when my only job is my photography. I work all day at my day job and work all evening and weekends on pictures, my website, and designing. So this is partially why I am exhausted to the point of nausea.

The other reason is Kyle finished with classes two weeks ago and his internship is no longer at 530 am, so he no longer gets up at 430 am. This means that he goes to bed late, which means that I go to bed late. (he was the only reason that I was going to bed at 10pm before) So I am ready to pass out at my desk at work and I don't even want to eat food I am so tired.

Now Kyle has had a great semester. I would ask him to write a little bit about his recent days and he would say:

I intern at the ATC for the Olympic Strength and Conditioning Staff over 40 hours a week. I teach a class two days a week. I take classes and do homework and help with research. I play with Coach and spend time with Jenni.

His life is much more interesting than that. (Not that that isn't interesting already) For instance, he has been invited to be on the Texas Elite team for the Rugby International 7's Tournament at Vegas in February. Yeah my husband is a BAMF. The team is named "Lone Star United". I'm pretty proud of him.

Well this post has gotten pretty long :S Sorry. I will cut myself off here and write more very soon. Keep checking my website www.jenniophotography.com! Its launch is coming soon!

Love
-Jenni