Saving 80% of your income.
Giving up your housing.
Skipping the whole sleep thing.
Lillian Karabaic, left, and Aaron Parecki had a property that needed extensive work done to it. They needed to wreck and rebuild the home, so they decided to build the home as a triplex. Photo courtesy of Lillian Karabaic
These are all extreme budgeting moves that could help youreach financial goals.
But you need the right set of circumstances for any of them to make sense for you.
We rounded up five people who did extreme budgeting moves like these.
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They planned to rehabilitate and expand the home so they could live in it and have renters.
However, restoring the more-than-100-year-old home made the venture financially unfeasible.
Instead, they needed to wreck and rebuild.
Karabaic has lived in many different housing situations over the course of her life including in a low-income co-op.
The couple wanted to create something that felt more like that for their own community in Portland, Oregon.
Because they had to do new construction anyway, they decided to build the home as a triplex.
They log the journey on The House Files1.
We didnt want to build a custom single-family home because it seemed like a huge expense without any payoff.
Plus, [it would be] fairly wasteful during a housing crisis, Karabaic said.
Many obstacles popped up along the way.
They had to wait for a zoning law to pass that would allow them to begin construction.
This is all on top of the inevitable unexpected expenses that come with construction projects.
Fortunately, Parecki, who works in the tech sector, has a high income.
One hundred percent of it goes into savings to float the project through the unexpected.
It also covers mortgage expenses during any potential periods of vacancy in the future.
The rest of her salary goes toward savings.
The move is saving them $2,000 per month on rent.
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She decided to give up housing altogether and adopt van life to travel across the country.
Eventually, she took her sojourns to Europe for a while.
Heard earned a full-time income by renting out her car at the time.
She cites that vehicle as the main reason she can travel as much as she has.
Giving up your housing comes with significant tradeoffs.
She reminded me that Im the first in our family to travel internationally this extensively.
My grandparents are getting to live vicariously through me.
During my grandparents time, Black people werent allowed to travel this extensively.
To them, I made history and changed the family tree.
That moment in my hotel room, it all sank in.
Knowing that motivates me to manage my money well so that I can continue to travel.
She decided to drop the habit for a year.
The habit stuck and turned into one of her extreme budgeting moves.
Over seven years later, Rozmyn has not spent a penny on new clothing items for herself.
I wanted to get to a much smaller wardrobe in a more sustainable and financially feasible manner.
So, I decided to wear out my current clothes before I bought any more.
Today, she keeps the ban going by participating in Buy Nothing groups and going to clothing swaps.
She also lets all her friends and family know shed be happy to take their hand-me-downs.
On occasion, when something needs mending, she takes it to her mother-in-law or grandmother.
In the future, shed like to learn these sewing skills herself.
She said her husband doesnt spend much on clothing for himself, either.
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Sheletta Brundidges children are autistic, and autistic children from middle-income households often dont get the resources they need.
With young children at home, she couldnt do so until everyone else was asleep in bed.
One night of the week, shed search for grants.
The next night shed vet the results to ensure they werent scams or inactive programs.
Another night shed write the essays, then shed launch the paperwork to the post office during the day.
Shes secured over $200,000 ingrant money for her autistic childrento cover those things insurance wouldnt.
Paquin thought shed like to pursue the same path.
One of those extreme budgeting moves was difficult but worth it.
The most drastic change was I pretty much stopped going out, Paquin said.
A lot made fun of me for never wanting to spend $50 a night in a club.
In addition to frugal living, she applied for travel grants winning a number of them along the way.
The rental income was what ended up paying for her travels.
Paquins adventures could be out of a film.
After that, she worked in places like Spain, the UK and Morocco.
In the UK, she bought a property and shared it with roommates.
Their rent covered her mortgage.
The reduced expenses and multiple streams of income meant she had enough money for a two-year global motorcycle tour.
By around age 35, Paquins extreme budgeting moves allowed her to ease up on work.
I do not work right now, she said.
Living frugally was instrumental during the accumulation phase.
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Pittsburgh-based writer Brynne Conroy is the founder of Femme Frugality and the author of The Feminist Financial Handbook.
She is a regular contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
