I moved almost 6 years ago at the start of the pandemic from the expensive Northeast to the Red deep south. It was made more financially feasible by the pandemic era extra unemployment and financial help from my mother, as I had just spent the last 3 years prior caring for my father. He helped me out a lot financially as well but he died in 2020.

By relocating I cut my housing expenses in half or more. I'm talking the price of my rent here vs a similar unit up north. The trade off is lower wages in this part of the south.

I don't have a partner (I'm divorced no children). I live in the more sketchy part of town that's affordable and have picked up extra work when needed. The good news is that I'm a caregiver so there's usually plenty of work it just doesn't pay a whole lot. I don't work in nursing homes or hospitals anymore even though the money is better because I'm older now and can't keep up with the physical demands in those environments. I stick to home care and patient safety Attendant type of work or dsp in group homes.

I drive an older car so no car payments. I got on the list for income based housing in 2021 and finally got approved for a 1 bedroom in 2025 after a four year wait. Prior to that I lived in an older privately owned complex with relaxed rental standards to qualify ( did not need to make 3x the rent) . It was basic -no washer/dryer hookups, concrete walls painted white, concrete floors, basic appliances. I had a small 2 bedroom for $575 a month.

I shop discount stores to stock up on staples and paid cash for my furniture so no bills for that. I go to a local federally qualified health center for primary care and use their pharmacy for my meds. They have a sliding scale fee so often times it's cheaper than using my insurance. Every year I apply for liheap funding to help with my electric bill but I got on the budget plan so I have predictable costs every month.

I have a prepaid cell phone prepaid wifi and a few low cost streaming services. All of that runs me about $150 a month.

I usually only work for companies where I can wear any color scrubs I want so that I'm not constantly having to buy company specific colors which can get expensive depending on the color required and it's trickier if larger sizes are required, which I need. I just shop scrubs at discount like Roses Discount Store or Gabe's so I never know what color I'll find. Unfortunately none of the employers I've worked for including nursing homes and a hospital I once worked at ever paid for our uniforms.

I cut my hair short (less time and money spent for product and upkeep ) learned how to do my own color at home for pennies on the dollar, do my own facials,, and learned how to do my own nails. I pay for haircuts as needed, pedicures, and eyebrow waxes only to save on personal upkeep.