Frugality, frugality for me is a necessity

Frugality, frugality for me is a necessity!

I hope you heard that to the melody of "Spectacular, Spectacular" from Moulin Rouge, or as it is less well-known, the overture to "Orpheus in the Underworld" by Jacques Offenbach. You're welcome for the earworm.

So you might be asking yourself, "What on earth does this have to do with composition??? I thought this was a composition blog??" Well, sure. But it's also what life is like as a freelance composer, and this is soooo what I'm going through right now.

It will come as no surprise to you that I am tight for cash as a freelance composer. Naturally, I am always looking for ways to save some money. This isn’t new to my life as a freelance artist, per se – I always like savings! - but it certainly is more pressing now. Over the last few months I've been making some more efforts towards increased frugality, and since I think everyone likes savings, I thought I would share some of my "sage wisdom." So without further ado, here is my advice on frugality. 

First, take some time to decide which things you do not want to cheap out on – that’s right. My first piece of advice is to not save. There are some things that are just not worth it to hand-make or DIY. But this differs for everyone, so you also need to define why you do not want to sacrifice these items.
For me it is my deodorant and my face moisturizer. Why, you ask? The biggest whys are skin sensitivities and synthetic scent allergy. The bonus whys are that I buy these both locally (Better Good and Green Tree Beauty), and the deodorant is refillable! For me, supporting local business and attempting to lessen my garbage footprint are important. I, unfortunately, can’t do this with everything (because these products are expensive compared to their drugstore counterpoints), but for me they are worth having.

Now for the frugality! 
Wait – one more piece of advice – beware the vortex of Pinterest. There are a LOT of really great ideas out there, and it is really easy to want to take them all on at once. Don’t. Try one new project at a time, and slowly add more savings to your arsenal. It’s much more manageable this way.
But then – get creative and have fun! 
Frugality!!

1. Homemade yogurt
I lovveeee yogurt. Happily, my partner and I were gifted an Instant Pot and it just so turns out there is a yogurt function on it. I’ve made two batches thus far and they are good! It’s nice and tangy and fresh and it lasts a long time. My 1L milk batch lasted about three weeks, and my 2L batch is 4 weeks and counting. But to be fair, it’s not as good as my first batch. I think I’ll try a 1L batch again next time – it just didn’t thicken quite right in such a large quantity.

2. Foaming Hand Soap
So we love Uncle Mike’s hand soap. He’s a local guy who makes awesome products, and the Better Good offers a refill service. But it’s quite pricey. For us anyway. As I spiraled into the negaverse of Pintrest, I discovered a foaming hand soap recipe – castille soap and water. {This is the pin I got it from.} Wow… that’s it? I’ve seen castille soap at one of our local shops for cheaper than our soap. And because it’s super concentrated you can make lootttttsss of products from it. So I went ahead and tried it. My partner and I love it! It’s smells great (like nothing!) and cleans well too. And each pump refill costs me (drum roll please) 86¢. ​

3. Dry Shampoo
I already am able to save tons on shampoo because I only wash my hair once a week. Having dreads for a few years helped me to train my hair. Love it. But come day 5 my hair looks a little gross but I’m too stubborn to increase my washes (I’m very proud of my trained hair). I’ve been intrigued by the concept of dry shampoos but always intimidated by the price tag. It turns out lots of people make their own dry shampoo out of – wait for it …. arrowroot powder! I have arrowroot powder in my cupboard! So I knew it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try (don’t have to spend money on a product I may not like). Happily it works. I’m a big fan. 
Check out this person’s blog on trying different recipes – I found it really helpful.

This next one may cause a diminished seventh chord to ring in your brains (i.e. loads of dissonance)

4. Hair Cuts
Let me take you down a rabbit hole about my journey to this one. Since taking out my dreads, I have enjoyed having short hair anda shaved side of my head.But short hair needs lots of regular trims, and shaving needs to be topped up a lot. So all this started with getting my partner to shave my sides. Note: This photo was taken while I was assistant music directing Sweeney Todd... not at all unnerving

​Lots of people do this; it’s not too outlandish. But then the top was starting to get really long and annoying. I really wanted to cut it short, but I knew the minute I did that I’d need regular trims and that is just not something I can afford. Then came the inspiration:

One day while working at the library, my coworker came in having just had her fiancé cut her hair. She was pretty stoked. She says to us, “You know they say the difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut is a few weeks.” 

It took me a few months to rally up the courage to do it. I watched youtube videos, looked at tons of pictures, and then finally decided to give it a try. If it was terrible I would bite the bullet and book in at the salon. And really, who was going to see me? I work from home anyways! So I did it. It was awesome! And empowering! I just trimmed it this weekend. So now my hair cut costs me $0 and fills me with lots of great feels.

Actually, to that end – I find that all these DIY home products fill me with great senses of accomplishments. There’s something really fulfilling in creating these products yourself instead of just buying them.

So there you have it!. Yes, I’ve only listed a few; but it’s only been a few months. And as I mentioned early, it’s important to only take on one project at a time. What are your frugal tips and tricks??

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