These are some tips that I have picked up along the road to becoming thrifty!
1. Eat Ramen again. I know that you probably swore it off after college, but once in a while wouldn't hurt you. Keep a few packs in your pantry and reach for one of them next time a Big Mac tempts you.
2. If possible, walk to do your errands. This will really help to save on gas, plus it's exercise! If you live in a rural area, plan ahead for your errands and do them on the same day to conserve gas.
3. Look through your cosmetics and fragrances. Do you really need that blue glitter eyeliner that you wore for Halloween two years ago? You can actually sell your used cosmetics online, check out some of the cosmetic communities on Live Journal. I've made over $50 doing this. This might not apply to you men out there, but if it does, who am I to judge? 
4. Go through your closet and be honest with yourself. If you are working full time and dealing with the new stresses of real life, you probably don't have much use for that club wear. Luckily the younger generation does and it sells really well on Craigslist, just be sure to post pictures.
5. Use Christmas and your Birthday to help your wallet. Instead of asking for something I want, I ask for things I *need*, namely cash or gift cards. I tell my grandparents that I would most appreciate gift cards to restaurants. This way when I am fed up with PB&J and Ramen, I can treat myself for free. If you are careful, your cards can last you til the next big gift giving occasion.
6. Do your own manicures and pedicures. Mine never seem to quite look as good this way, but chances are no one will notice except you. Plus if you cut out your monthly pedicure, you will be keeping an extra $300 per year in your pocket.
7. Shop at the dollar store. I live by this one, and trust me, I am definitely a former store-snob. One day I walked in out of curiosity and I was so surprised- Tide laundry detergent, Herbal Essences Shampoo, and Windex... all for $1?!?! If you switch from a larger chain store to the Dollar Store for your household needs, you will be saving lots of cash to put towards those student loans!
8. Check out Plato's closet. It's much less of a hassle than Ebay and they are happy to take many of my "preppy cool" items from college and give me cash in return. I took in some American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch yesterday and walked out with $36.
9. Turn off the lights! When you are just out of college and were at mom's before that you probably just roll your eyes when your mom still tells you to turn off the light when you leave a room. Well take a look at your electric bill and you will know why she says that. I used to leave for work and not turn off my bedroom lamp because I felt like it was a hassle; well I quickly learned that forking out the cash for my laziness was even more of a hassle. Be conservative with energy and you will be surprised at your shaving.
10. Re-evaluate your medications. In our society we tend to medicate everything. Some of us truly need the medication that we take to function and others take medication as a convenience or a sort of "safety blanket." If you fall in the latter two categories, add up how much you pay per month in prescriptions and weight that against whether or not you truly need that happy pill for your bad days (and this is absolutely not intended to offend anyone who truly does need the medications to function).
11. Go Natural. It was a hassle and super expensive to keep up my roots when I was a bottle blonde. I went back to my natural color and spend $0 per month maintaining my color as opposed to $100+ every 6 weeks. Just think of it as a makeover!
That's all for now, but any comments or additional tips are always welcome!
-Angela
Money saving and making tips for the young single woman (and man)!
June 7th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
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June 8th, 2009 at 12:26 am 1244420785
June 8th, 2009 at 12:40 pm 1244464837
I've actually tried that before: Eating ramen daily. The result is that I end up feeling hungrier quicker. Of course, trying to subsist largely on a diet of ramen is probably the problem there.
I've made "enhanced" ramen before, you know, with egg, meat, and veggies, but as an cost-cutting exercise, it still became counter-productive.
There are some nice premium ramens out there now. They taste good, and I think have better nutritional value as well. That and I no longer subsist on them daily. They are more expensive, but only relative to ramens, and food-wise, are still quite affordable.
Anyways, welcome!
June 8th, 2009 at 05:15 pm 1244481311
Welcome! Some very good ideas.
Also to BA - she didn't say eat ramen all the time. She said keep a few on hand for those times you're at home and are tempted by the siren's song to make a fast food run. Ramen may not be as nutrious (although I think there is no maybe about it) but it is waaaaaay cheaper. And eating it once a week/month/year isn't going to kill otherwise healthy people.
June 9th, 2009 at 03:10 pm 1244560256
Now that's kind of a scary thought.
August 11th, 2010 at 10:44 am 1281523490