Zlittle Frugal Living

Zlittle has a new hobby now, trying to make a little money from the volatile stock market. That’s something new for zlittle but she’s learning something new each day. A little a the time……a dime here, a dime there.

You don’t need to invest a lot. If you haven’t started yet, I think this is the time to start learning even if you don’t have any experience.

I’ll write some more with the detail.

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.