For a very long time, I’ve worked only part time hours. That isn’t because I had to. I just wanted to. Fewer work hours meant more time to do other things, like writing novels or going to school. Simplifying my work life became an obsession.
I learned that I didn’t have to make as much money as everyone else wanted to make. There was a false sense of more equaled better. I didn’t find that to be the case. The more I had, the more I had to deal with and take care of. So living with less became something I really wanted to discover.
I squared myself to working only 4 hours a day, earning about $15 an hour, that’s $1,200 a month if I worked only weekdays. So how can a person living in Louisiana live off of about $1,000 a month?
Essentials
Rent $400
Utilities $140
Cable Internet $45
Food $200
Total $785
Remaining $215
The remaining money splits into entertainment and savings. On months I earn more money, it’s additional entertainment and savings.
Let me break this down.
Rent for $400
I took my time finding a prime apartment to rent. The one I found was downtown and within walking distance to the library, a must have for my own entertainment.
I was probably lucky to find one for $400, but the Cajun was living downtown as well, for about $425 a month. His was actually bigger and better than mine, and I could have easily afforded it.
Part of the big key for living off of $1000 a month is to find an inexpensive apartment very close to where you have access to work, food, and some fun via walking or riding a bike.
Utilities for $140
Of course, this was an estimate. My old apartment wasn’t a great example. I had to share my utility bill with four other apartments. The apartment was sectioned off from a big house. So it was one big bill given to the land lady, which in turn we split. So my old ability to be able to get the gas and electric and water down to around $100 a month or less wasn’t going to happen.
Normally, I can manage to get electricity way down, as well as water. I showered every other day. (I worked from home, I just didn’t get very dirty when I didn’t even leave the house.) I washed clothes every week and a half to two weeks, and I hand washed dishes. It’s never an exact estimate, because of the varying rates.
A lot of my savings came from not using as much electricity. I used a single lamp to read from or to work near the computer at night. I regularly left my lights off during the day. The most used device was the computer. Getting energy efficient light bulbs and monitors increases my ability to save money.
Cable Internet for $45
I used to have Cox Cable, which was about $45 a month for a middle tier of speed, about 15 Mbps. Now, we’ve got fiber at this house, which is $40 a month, at 30 Mbps.
This is our source for entertainment. We browse the internet and use the Wii to stream in Netflix. It saves us a ton of money from paying for rented movies and cable TV. Some people love cable, and as long as you actually watch it, that’s great, buy it. For us, we liked watching Lost and Tudors in order and when we want to, not when the programmers wanted us to.
Food for $200
I spent about $50 a week on food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. Plus at least $15 of that went to cat food and litter. It was more than enough to buy milk, cereal, bananas, chicken, veggies and other fixings. Days I ate out, it only came from savings.
Now I have $215 leftover. If you work from home, you may be spending $50 to $100 in health insurance, and maybe some more if you have debt. I don’t. I never had a credit card, so I don’t have the debt that comes with it. If I don’t have the cash to pay for it, I don’t buy it.
I also, right now, don’t have a car. I plan on buying a scooter soon. Even with a car, I could get one for $2000 from savings (that’s about 10 months of savings if I don’t spend too much on extras for a while) and buying used saves me money every month. Plus, when I purchase something in total like that, insurance rates are much lower. My old car used to be $40 a month in insurance and maybe $20 in gas a month. Working from home meant I didn’t have to buy gas that often.
Everyone’s situation will be different. There’s no way I could find $400 a month in rent in California. Mileage may vary for this, but I’ve lived in many states across the country. If you wanted to stop working so hard and live off of less money, this may be one way to do it. You live on less, you can have more time to do the important things. Like surfing.
What would you rather be doing? Working?
Photo by saine.
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This is a great post that I identify with. Free time is something that you really can’t put a price on. It’s doesn’t matter if someone is making big bucks if they don’t have time to do anything.
I like your blog. I recently lost my job and I’m not sure if I want to go back to Corporate America. Have been contemplating just living simplistically and working part-time or perhaps starting my own dog-walking business. Life is too short.
While I appreciate the sentiment, your budget seems kind of lacking, at least in my opinion. Where do you account for monthly necessities like tampons, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, medication, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc. While you can purchase inexpensive varieties, they still need to be purchased, even if you are working from home — do they come out of your entertainment budget? Do you want to the grocery store?
I assume if you or your pet gets sick, then the doctor/vet visit comes out of entertainment, too? You mentioned going to school, but you don’t have any student loans or tuition payment? I wish! My student loans are unfortunately $250 per month, which I suppose qualifies as debt. You’re very lucky to have a degree/attend school without accruing any debt! How did you manage the school books on $215 remaining?!
Your food budget is very impressive — $35/week! I’d love to see a break down of what you were actually consuming. Fruits and vegetables are very expensive here… or perhaps I just prefer to consume more variety than you managed! I love fresh fruits and vegetables and it’s one area I don’t compromise on.
I’m not criticizing! I was just interested in seeing a more detailed breakdown of how you lived on 1k a month (after taxes). How long have you been living on that budget? How do you prepare for future expenses (since the car will eat up a huge portion of your income) like clothing, appliances, dental, medical. I guess there’s just a lot of little things your budget is missing, and those little things definitely add up for me.
Thanks for the comment! Usually toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. all come from a food/grocery budget. Since I shop at Wal-mart, the $35 to $50 a week I spend in food also includes those things. It is hard to account for exactly how much, because it differs every week. The flexibility of having the leftover money allows for me to spend what I need at the store, if I need it. It doesn’t always all go into savings, but I like to squirrel away whatever I have leftover.
I’m also very conscious of not spending money on things I don’t need. I’ll freeze bread so it doesn’t go to waste. I don’t buy garbage bags! I keep the plastic bags given by the store, and there is more than enough for me to use. They make great bags for those little waste baskets. I may make more trips to the garbage bin every month, but walking a few feet to the garbage bin helps my waistline and by pocket book.
The school I go to, the tuition is paid for by the Pell Grant. I realize this isn’t the case for everyone involved. There are schools that are extremely expensive! I had enough left over for books, and I spent $100 on a calculator. For loans, I understand you have to pay what you pay. If debt or extra bills come up, hopefully a little thoughtful rearranging of paying for other things can help someone afford the payments. Things like skipping out on cable television and saving $50 a month on rent can help.
I’m writing another post here.
But I’ll try to get a breakdown of my grocery spending in another post a little later, and I’ll talk about savings and health care. Health care is a big issue, and a lot of people let it go (I have in the past!) because they are healthy and didn’t want to pay for the premiums.
Thanks again, you’ve mentioned some great things and I do want to share my own take on how I’ve done it.
WOW, this really simplifys your thinking. I think I’m actually going to really evaluate some things…
400 a month in rent wer do you live
Different places I’ve lived in had $300 to $400 a month in rent. If you can live slightly out of town, or in an apartment, it’s so much cheaper. In some places, rent includes water and maybe even cable TV and internet. It depends on the location.
I live in Louisiana right now, I’ve lived in South Carolina, and Indiana and both areas had places like this. 
this was helpful to read. i’m a recent grad and being employed even part-time is a huge accomplishment in my field with the economy right now. i was so stressed about living on a small salary, and my rent is only $250/month! with a little resourcefullness, i’m sure it is possible, and leaves more time for traveling and starting my own business. thanks!
I managed to save money on food by spending $5 on bulk food such as beans, flax seeds, etc. I spend $40 on meat, $20 on fruits and vegetables, $10 breads, $25 on diary and $25 on grains. It came to $125 a month but I usually spend less
This was just what I needed………..I only make $1000/month because, well, I make $8 @40/hours a week, that’s $1k after Uncle Sam takes his cut.
I was all sad because I am “broke” but after making out my budget similar to yours, I have $181 leftover. :0)
I am working on increasing my income but no from getting a job.
I am going to have to do some soul searching. I nee to rethink what I thought I wanted in life( MASSIVE WEALTH) although I do want to be well off financialy, I’d rather enjoy travel, teaching and eating.
My plan is to buy a business but I don’t want to do it for the sake of building massive wealth. I want the business to support my lifestlye of teaching and traveling and flying helicoptors.
It’s a damn shame It took me 37 years to wake up!
I had a similiar way of life, not by choice.
I had a medical condition and had to cut my work to 4 hours a day, 3 days a week.
I made about $900 a month as a nurse.
I managed to budget and go without many “needs”.
I ate a lot of Ramen noodle meals.
I am retired now and that is where the problem is.
I only get $780 a month with Social Security!
So if anyone “chooses” to live on less, be aware that it will hurt you in the long run.
I was also a stay at home mom for about 5 years which is another reason my SS check is so low.
I feel if you can work more, do it by all means so you have a more secure future.
Do you drive? I don’t see any auto insurance or gas expenses in you budget.
I don’t drive much because I work at home. My auto insurance is $44 a year because I’ve never been in an accident, and my car was bought used.
Not everyone can be that inexpensive, I know, and in other states, I was still just $40 a month or $30 a month.
This is the real benefit to buying used cars. One, they’re never overpriced like brand new cars on the lot. Another reason is the insurance is literally pennies if you’ve paid for the car in full.
Hi, I just want to teach you how to be even more efficient. Rather than only working 4 hours a day, how about “working” even less, often as less as 15 minutes a day working as a security guard but having to be at the job site doing what you do at home like reading and writing novels and watching DVD’s borrowed for free from the library? There are many low profile sites where one just sits in a brico house watching construction equipment where one can just study. I managed to do all my homework on company time, and unlike the past these days, you can hook up your computer to your iphone and do all your research online. You can even take many university courses online and finish your degree. By the way, I graduated university debt free, and even saved money. Security in the past used to be boring, and only someone who wants to pursue Buddhist meditation might have had desire to do construction security, but these days with internet access via the iphone, many students find it popular to do night security, why bother working in fast foods for less.
Alright article, but I see a lot of things missing…. I do plan on spending $1,000/month to live as well, working for $8/hour and 40 hours/week, although I’d like to work at least 60 hours/week, but I don’t think I’ll be needed that much…. I plan on buying the bear minimum, shopping sales, using coupons, cutting back, etc. Rent will be about $300/month with a roommate, including electricity, gas, and water bills. I also plan on having high-speed internet with wireless internet which will run my roommate and I about $70/month. We don’t plan on having any cable TV or anything. We also plan on spending $72/year for both of our Xbox Live memberships ($36/year each). We plan on drinking mostly water and cheap pops, eating mostly bread, Ramen noodles, pasta, chicken, fruit, vegetables, oatmeal, cereal, saltine crackers, and other cheap frozen and canned foods.
Anyways, although I appreciate whoever wrote this article, I find that a lot of things are left out, like insurances, gas, health care, etc. Also I think utility bills and such will cost more that only $140/month, as my roommate and I plan on spending about $170/month for our electric, gas, and water bill, not to mention sewage and garbage removal.
God bless.