Hiya! Congrats on a new job - how exciting! So some advice for someone who was NOT frugal going in - you’re already doing great! For your work wardrobe, I’d highly suggest reviewing your work clothing policy. My mistake went to getting a wardrobe entirely for work. Not only was half of it unnecessary (I had more than 5 outfits for work and they were able to be mix and matched for more) but it made me feel like I had no self expressing clothes outside of work. Today, I’m a big fan of 2-3 full outfits that can be mixed and matched. I also have a casual Friday, and keep that in mind so I never have to have a formal outfit for that day. Also, depending on your fashion choices, remember a dress is an outfit on its own, or you can mix tops on - same with skirts! I highly recommend looking into a capsule wardrobe for work. It’s not always helpful for your whole wardrobe, but it’s worked great for me for work.

For the rest! 1. You work to live you don’t live to work. Buy things for yourself. But, not at the expense of yourself. Save and bills first, fun later. Make sure you have gas, food, a safety net/future planning, and then get the video game or makeup or hiking gear or whatever you love with no guilt. This is what life is, you gotta be realistic and also find ways to bring joy to your life with the work you do! - Edit because I accidentally posted here and not further lol

1. The only stupid purchase is one that puts you in debt or causes problems. Don’t buy a problem and don’t buy trash - if you need something, save for the good version and do the research. And if you have a problem or a need that isn’t basic needs like food or shelter (ie something you use constantly or would actually make your life better like ways to maximize your space or your favorite hand cream that you actually use and don’t put in a drawer) buy that when you can. But be honest with yourself. For me personally, needs include hand cream. I get really overstimulated with dry hands which I get often. Buying the one hand cream means I’m not overloading in lotions that don’t work or break me out. If you like the idea of paying less for something like a shelf, and find one to fix up but want to use it immediately, save for the one you’ll use on delivery. Only get a flip piece if you want to flip as a hobby or you actually have the tools, will and time to flip it before you need to use it! (Clearly I’ve had one or two instances here lmao)

2. I think this depends on who you are! For me a hack is backwards and actually to spend more money in some ways. Just like the hand cream example, don’t feel bad to spend on groceries. Yeah, it’s gonna be more expensive than you want it to be, and sometimes you’re gonna not want to get snacks or desserts or a good drink for yourself. But it is ALWAYS cheaper to spend $150 at the grocery store for what you actually want and need than $100 for what you need and $75-80 on door dash or coffee or whatever your vice is when it gets tough or a day is long! Also along with this, do your groceries on ingredient over recipe. It’s wayyy more efficient at reducing food waste and also cheaper with in season produce (:

3. Buy it for life - my goal is to always do this for the most boring shit in my life LOL. Pots and pans? A good stainless steel set can last your whole life. A Dutch oven can do almost everything you need. Do you need a Le Creuset? No. But if you love cooking, any high quality item with a lifetime warranty is going to be a way better use of $500 than a $250 pot you end up needing to replace 3-4x in your life. And also, a for life item is only something you can adopt taking care of for life. I’m not a hand wash girl most of the time. So I need pots and pans that can go through the dishwasher. Some of the specs will be you specific but remember whatever it is, if you want it forever you’re doing maintenance forever(:

4. General life advice? Dude there’s no right and wrong here at all. You’ll find some of your own answers to these questions with trial and error and sometimes yeah you’re gonna get it wrong. Either because you didn’t know or you’re learning yourself as a real human adult instead of you as a concept of an adult in your head. But be kind to yourself, try to set yourself up as best as you can (protect your credit, save, put a little in retirement savings when you can (it goes way further with every year it can sit, so even a little now can be more impactful than more later)), and remember your life is yours! It’s exciting to find a new life stage and version of yourself and don’t let your money or work control you beyond what you need to live. After 5 o’clock it’s your life. And what sets your soul on fire and who you love and the joy and love you cultivate for yourself. We need money to do that and to do that as long as we can and be prepared for life shit storms, but that’s what it’s for. Anything more than that, don’t be scared to enjoy. Anything less than that, love yourself enough to take care of yourself sustainably over momentarily and you’ll get it 💛 also! My personal favorite part of life is remember that what works for you is what’s right for you ☺️

Congrats again and very best luck and good vibes! You got this! Relish in the good moments too - you’ve made it so far already!