Zlittle Frugal Living

Have you ever noticed wherever you go now, you see a lot of nice cars on the road. Just mention it; Lexus BMW, Mercedes, Infinity, Jaguar, Ferrari and etc. It seems people in the US are getting prosperous and prosperous each day.

If its about cars, I can careless. I have a different perspective about cars. A car is not a good investment because of its depreciating value. I don’t want to invest my money in cars. I don’t really care about the image like most of our society does.

For more than 3 years, I am still driving my old “year 99 black Chevrolet Cavalier”. I remember 3 years ago, when my husband got a new job ( a sophisticated job, i would say) he desperately needed a new car.
other people in his office were driving “better/good car”. I told him that his car was fine, the engine was still
really good, the AC and heater were still powerful. There’s nothing wrong with that car except a little old dull appearance from driving it for a few years and of course less maintenance. My husband spilled coffee in his car almost everyday ( sorry husband I exaggerate it a little bit). Continue reading

For 3 weeks we are having trouble getting gas here in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Most of the gas stations nearby were empty. If you are lucky, you can find one or 2 gas stations open. But you have to wait in line for about 15-30 minutes. We’ve been lucky to a find gas station with a short line and only wait for 10-15 minutes. I heard from some people that they had been waiting for about an hour or so.

Take a look at this new ad we saw as we drove by Chin Chin Restaurant with our nearly empty gas tank. Isn’t this a smart idea? Continue reading

Oh my gosh!, It’s been a year since my last post. I’ve been really busy working and don’t realize that I have abandoned my site for quite sometimes. I miss my Zlittle site soooo much.

I’m going to write again soon with more frugal tips and stories. Please bare with me okay!!

Suzana-

I’m a big fan of make up especially, lipsticks. It seems like I every time I go to the mall or regular retail stores, I feel like I am committing a crime if I don’t stop at a cosmetic counter/area. The temptation is overwhelming. Do you have the same problem as me? Nowadays, there are so many cute cosmetics with a different looks, colors and styles. All of them claim they are the best, they can make you look younger, and on and on. I love color a lot and I love to play with colors.

Even though I have tons of lipsticks, it seems that it’s never enough. I want to have a complete color collection that matches all of my outfits. Or maybe it’s just my addictions. Several times en I bought a new color which I thought was a new cool color for me, I got home and found out I already had one of a similar color. Then I ended up having so many lipsticks in similar color or slightly different. That’s really bad bad bad bad ( like my 2 years old niece said) ….and a waste of money too–quite the opposite of my frugal nature ( I know that!!..I try to forgive myself for this

As you all know that we can’t keep cosmetics for too long. Let say for 10 years. There’s a limit on how long we can keep cosmetics for our safety reasons. The best sign on when to throw your make up away is when the color changes or an odor develops. Get rid off them. Most of cosmetic use preservatives to fight bacteria. The reason of color changes or odor develops is because the preservatives may no longer be able to fight bacteria.

Here’s a few simple guideline for how long you can keep your make up in

• Mascara: 3 months ( for this one is a MUST)
• Liquid eyeliner: 3-6 months (for this one is a MUST)
• Oil Free Foundation: 1 year
• Nail Color: 1 year
• Concealer: 1-1.5 year
• Lip gloss: 1.5-2 years
• Powder: 2 years
• Blush and Bronzer: 2 years
• Eye shadow: 2 years
• Eyeliner: 2 years
• Lipstick: 2 years
• Lip liner: 2 years

BUT…….In my opinion, basically, there’s no hard and fast rule on when to throw cosmetics out. I believe we can keep make up indefinitely as long as it looks and smells all right and the consistency doesn’t change. But there are some products that really sensitive and the rule it’s not working.

This season is about natural fresh looking color. Emphasize the assets that you already have Nude or natural lip color for lipstick is in now. I used to get really tempted to buy lipstick which is in season. But now since I have so many lipsticks I want to be more frugal and find creative ideas to use what I already have to create a new color to suit me.

So I came up with this idea…. If you have a lot of lipsticks in bold colors that are too bold to wear everyday, here’s the trick: buy a nude lipstick. First apply lip balm or moisturizer on your lips, then if you like to use lip liner, frame your lips thinly ( I don’t like to use this because if you are are not careful you can make your outer lips darker) then with a lipstick brush, fill the lips with bold lipstick color first. Make it even. Then apply the nude color on top of it, and you are done. Believe me you can have tons of new colors that you create by yourself. And you don’t need to buy a new lipstick that’s matchy matchy with your outfit. Simple but frugal.

Do you have some new tricks with your cosmetics? Anything related to cosmetic stuff. Please share yours. I’d like to hear them.

Every time I look at my feet, I just don’t like them. Honestly, I want to learn to like them, but it’s really difficult to fall in love with my tiny size 5 feet. If they were just small in size that would okay. That’s cute, but bunions have ruined my feet’s appearance for many years. If I can describe it, my feet almost look like raw ginger with a bump here and there because of silly bunions. Bunions make feet look so unflattering. Especially if you want to wear sexy open toe high heels/ sandals.

A little bit about bunions. They are an enlargement of bone or tissue around the joint at the base of the big toe. If you have a bunion, you will notice a bump on your big toe joint. The big toe may turn in toward the second toe, and the tissues surrounding the joint may be swollen and tender.

One afternoon, I went to take my husband to a doctor. I was reading a few magazines in the doctor’s waiting room. I stumbled upon an advertisement about yoga toes. Actually, I have been tempted to do foot surgery to have my bunion removed a few years ago. I have already had a daydreaming about how cute my small feet look like after surgery. The result of the foot surgery will be perfect and faster. But I heard that “the after” surgery recovery indeed is really painful. You can’t walk freely for a few weeks. Besides that, it’s quite expensive. I confess I don’t actually know how much bunion surgery costs. Even though we have fairly good insurance, I doubt the insurance will pay for bunion removal.

I looked for some yoga toes reviews on the Internet. Based on the reviews, 90% of yoga toes users said they are really satisfied with yoga toes.
I love doing yoga, I know in yoga “practice makes perfect”. At the very first time I did yoga, I couldn’t even bow and kiss my knee. Because of regular practising, now my body is really flexible. I can bend it like a cobra snake dancer If I want
The principal of yoga toe is similar to doing yoga for your body. You actually teach the foot muscle and bones/joints.

Based on the positive reviews about yoga toes, I decided to gave it a try. My husband was so skeptical about yoga toes that can fix bunions. He said ” impossible.” I know the result is not as instant as when you do a surgery. But at least it is a lot cheaper than a surgery. Besides that, it’s less less less painful. If yoga toes don’t work then surgery will be my last option.

Last month, I ordered my yoga toes online at www.yogapro.com. I tried to find it on eBay but decided not to buy on eBay even though the price was a bit cheaper. The reason I bought it at Yoga pro (even though the price a little bit higher) is because they give 90 days money back guarantee. I thought I’d try it for 3 months. If nothing happen I’d send it back to them and get my money back.

I bought a package called Mani/Pedi kit for $60 with free shipping. Together with this package, I got Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme (.30 oz) , - Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme (.25 oz) , - Hand Salve (.30 oz), - Coconut Foot Creme (.56 oz), - Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream (.50 fl oz) , - Beeswax and Banana Hand Creme (.30 oz) , - Honey Lip Balm (.15 oz), - Cozy Cotton Socks in this package. Not bad huh? Yoga toes itself comes in several different colors. I picked pink.

I got my yoga toes 7 days after I ordered them online. I couldn’t wait to try them on. The first time it was really uncomfortable wearing them. I wore them just for an hour everyday. Gradually, from an hour I could wear them for 5 hours. Now I can wear them a whole day while I work at my desk. I even can walk when wearing them, well, walking like a cave woman of course. They are not easy to walk with because yoga toes aren’t designed for walking I guess. I’ve just been silly and lazy to remove them from my feet; that’s why I walk around the house with my yoga toes. My husband always laughs at me. He said it’s not sexy at all.

After a month, I saw a slight change in my feet. I was eager to speed up the process, then 2 weeks ago I started wearing them at night. I sleep in with yoga toes on my feet. My husband was shocked when one night in the dark he rubbed my fingers. They are rough and big. He asked me “why you have all toes in your hand, honey?”, wua aaaha ha…. gotcha!! “that’s my yoga toe”, I said.

Here’s how I wear them to sleep. I put on my yoga toe then cover it with loose socks so that yoga toes won’t move. I have seen a lot of improvement since I tried this trick. Based on my experience, yoga toes really work. The result is not instant, of course. It just needs a little bit practice, patience and discipline. Again that’s the yoga principle, isn’t it?

Also, I think yoga toes are really good for your legs. I used to have bruises all over my legs every time I walk, now since I wear yoga toes regularly, I noticed my bruises were gone. I think they fixed my poor leg circulation. Now wherever I go, my yoga toes faithfully go with me. My legs and feet are smiling all the time because of yoga toes. Thanks yoga toes. Even though my toes still look like ginger, but I hope one day, from the ginger shape they will turn to be a cute carrot shape.

If you have experience with yoga toes, please share with us! We like to hear that………