I am working on being able to update my blog from my Blackberry. This should make it a lot easier for me to post more frequently, although probably with more spelling and grammar errors as well. We'll see, until then my posting schedule is going to remain pretty random.

On Lifehacker today, there was a great post about How to Live Cheap. It is geared toward people who are ready to make a major life change with their finances. Most of the advice is right on target, limiting the social budget, eating frozen food, etc, although judging from the comments many Lifehackers were taken aback by some suggestions. One person essentially said that if you can't go out regularly then you are so poor that you may as well just join the military.

This reminds me of a post I saw several years ago on another blog, I can't remember which one. The blogger gave the standard advice that your monthly housing payments (whether rent or mortgage payments) should cost no more than one third of your monthly income and was bombarded by comments from 20-somethings, all saying that this was an impossible rule to follow since apartments in this price range were too grungy to be worth living in. This was before the current economic crisis - those people are probably all living with their parents now. Always a bad situation for people whose self-worth is dependent upon their lifestyle.

Back on Lifehacker, the main concern was that they would lose friends by switching to more affordable social events. This is completely true - it is sad to think about but if you have been living beyond your means to keep up with your friends, then it is quite possible that changing your budget will cause you to lose those friends.

My advice: join free clubs and attend community events based around your interests. The people there will share your interests AND your financial situation. New friends! This doesn't mean you have to ditch the old ones though - you can stay in touch online, and periodically throw a party at your house, where you can invite everyone but keep it in your price range.

Friends really can be a cash-drain. You have to be honest with them, and tell them you are trying to save money. If they still insist that hanging out with you isn't worth it unless there are also expensive drinks and entertainment, what does that tell you? Also watch out for the chatty ones - switch to a smaller cell phone package and screen your calls, especially for the friends who call for no reason and want to chat about nothing.

All of this is still true for someone you are thinking of dating. There is no point getting sucked into a relationship that requires excessive spending to maintain. If your girlfriend/boyfriend requires blow-out birthday parties, frequent weekends away, gifts for a different reason every two weeks, etc, it is not a good match for you.