Zlittle Frugal Living

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………

How many times do you think you should do a pedicure manicure at a nail salon? What would you rather do, save your money by doing it yourself at home or spend your money by having other people do it for you. Share your opinion with me….

Last Saturday, I went to a nail salon to have my nails and toes done. It was the first time in my entire life that I actually paid someone to clean my nails–WHAT?? Where are you coming from? Even a GEICO cave woman does that. I know you won’t believe me. Well, it’s not that I am so cheap, but most of the time I don’t like to spend money especially when I know that I can do it myself.

But this time, my friend forced me to go. She told me that there is a big difference in DIY to DBOP (do it by other people). She insisted that it’s worth any penny. Well, because of my deep curiosity and to test her statement, I decided to go. I paid $30 to have my nails and toes done.

The owner was really nice. He even gave me a small therapeutic massage just to try it out. My only concern was the chair. It was too tall/big for me. Supposedly the chair’s function is to massage your back, shoulder and neck. I was too short for the chair. Instead of massaging my back, it massaged my back head and that made me dizzy.

My first manicure/pedicure experience was OKAY. It’s good though, but a frugal person like me always thought there’s no reason to waste money when you know you can do it yourself better. Besides that, $30 only last for 2/3 weeks. Then your nail and toes get dull and your nail polish get chips again. If you go trice/ twice a months you’ll spend $90. That’s a lot of money.

I think when we go to a nail salon to do a pedicure manicure, we pay more for relaxation and glamor. Instead of doing it yourself, you just need to lean back on your massage chair, read a magazine and let someone else do it all for you. Who doesn’t want to be pampered like that?

Some people are too lazy or don’t have time to do it themselves and would rather have someone else do it for them at a nail salon. There’s nothing wrong with that. But for me, I always think instead of spending my money for nails and toes, I’d rather spend my money for other things that are more important than that.

The reason I want to go to a nail salon this time is also because I want to see the process step by step. I want to learn so that I can do it myself, perhaps even better. I watched each step of the manicure/pedicure process carefully. My eyes ran around to read all the labels of the products they used. I asked them questions about some of the special products/tools that I’d never seen before.

My conclusion is… doing a pedicure/manicure is EASY. You can do it yourself at home in just 30 minutes. The pedicure manicure kit and essential products are available at many retail stores. Doing it yourself is a lot cheaper. For $50 you can get the entire pedicure/manicure kit and essential products which you can use for up to 5 or more times. That means you’ll save: $30 x 5= $150.

I personally think it’s good to do a manicure/pedicure at a professional salon at least once a year (especially after a dry winter). The reason is because there are certain products/tools the professional salon has that we simply don’t have at home such as melting wax, electric wraps, etc. After that, you don’t need to go to a nail salon once every 2 weeks. That’s a total waste of money. You can maintain by doing it yourself at home once every 2 or 3 weeks, or as many as you want. You can even do it everyday before having a shower if you want.

Here’s what I did. I bought all the pedicure manicure kits–the exact same ones that a nail salon has. I also bought, foot bath, foot cream, lotions, foot scrub etc… and wualllllllllllaaaa… I can have a beautiful nails and toes the whole year long without breaking my wallet.

For more details on how to do a home pedicure and manicure, check out these pedicure and manicure step by step

Previous Story

In the early stages of my diet, I convinced myself that I wanted to do it the correct way. As a frugal freak, I thought about how to loose weight without spending a lot of money, or going to the gym, or hiring a personal training, BUT achieve the same goal.

From my experience, I found out that the only way to loose weight comes from within you. Mind set, willingness and attitude become the biggest part of the successful story of my loosing weight goal. That’s why before starting your weight loss program, ask yourself whether you want to do this journey to the end or just half way?

My recipe for loosing wight was “Don’t torture yourself” . Change your life style and just be who you are.

I started my loosing weight program by throwing away all the foods that tempted me, not to the trash can but to my tummy (heheh….. . I actually ate them all for the last time, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to eat all the junk food again soon. After eating all those foods, I then said to myself “Done!” Goodbye seal and welcome a mermaid.

I cleaned out all the unhealthy foods from the refrigerator. That also helped me become better organized. I cleaned out all the clutter in the refrigerator. I found expired foods, sauces, salad dressing, spices and unnecessary things in my refrigerator that I never paid attention to. I started reading all the labels on food packages carefully before I bought them. Not just the label but the ingredients are the most important part. The food has to be low in fat, calories, sodium, and with no preservatives or sugar.
Purged of unhealthy foods, my refrigerator was now full of food that is good for the body. I bought a few kind of fruits that are high in fiber. Red apples, pairs, banana, grapes, blueberries, kiwi, and my favorite vegetable, sweet potatoes. I bought broccoli, kale, snow peas, tofu, Tempe, fish, natural grown chicken (without hormones), brown rice instead of white rice. For seasoning, I love low sodium soy sauce and sea salt.

This is my diet plan:

I always have something to eat in the morning for breakfast. I started off with rice crispies (even though, they are not a good source of fiber, but I would do my diet gradually). From rice crispies, later I changed to the healthier cereals like: Kashi, oatmeal, toasted 100% wheat bread with cheese, scrambled eggs. I just substituted them as I like each day. Or if I was tired of those foods, I ate baked sweet potatoes.

I ate a lot for my breakfast and drank a lot of water everyday. It’s easier for me, because where I come from, water is our main drink. For my snacks I had blue corn chips, Baked Lays, and dark chocolate. If I was really tempted to eat junk food, I ate chips no more then 5 chips, or 1-2 small dark chocolate. It’s just enough to fill my craving and I STOPPED. I knew my tummy wouldn’t like that and would beg for more. The easiest way to confront that was put my mind back onto my People magazines and all those skinny people.

Before my lunch and dinner, I made fruits smoothie (it’s a combination of fruits. You can mix any fruits you like it + soya milk (organic one. I like vanilla flavor) + ice cubes). I drank fruit smoothie before I ate and that filled me up. It helped me eat much less than I used to. I snacked a lot though (healthy snacks of course). I ate every 3 hours but just fruits or sometimes oat meal raisin cookies or chocolate cake that I made. I got this chocolate puding cake recipe which is low in calorie but tasty. Yummy! I bought low fat ice cream and ate no more then 3 spoonfuls if I wanted them so bad (but I refused to eat it everyday).

I loved steamed broccoli and fish. I made up my own recipe using fish, tofu and tempe. I tried to be creative so I could eat as delicious as possible food and healthy at the same time. My principal was: I don’t want to torture myself. A diet has to be happy.

Losing weight won’t be a success without doing exercise. I started doing my exercise 5 times a week. Tired? YES!!… But, practice makes perfect. Exercise was really hard for me at first because my body fat was screaming whole at me “Don’t torture me please!!” I didn’t push myself to much. If I could go a mile today, I took it. The next day I would try 1.5 miles. After while I got used to it. First I started doing basic exercises then after while I could do the advanced ones. Don’t be discouraged!! keep going …it’s all about the progress.

Want to know what I have for my exercise? …….. continue reading my Losing Weight Diary Part III

There’s a point in my life at which I started becoming a lazy person. The only thing I did was lay on the couch like a walrus, watching my favorite TV show until I fell asleep. Then I would get up and open the refrigerator to find something to eat. I ate a big bowl of ice cream every night. I ate cheesecake and fries regularly. I could eat 3 - 6 corns on the cobb. Like a baby, I took my nap 3 times a day–morning, afternoon and evening. My favorite hobby was eating and sleeping.

With my small build ( 5′1 and size 2) I’ve gained 25 pounds in 3 months. I remember that I always made a joke to my husband every time I showed him my belly fat. The first and second time he laughed with me. The third time and onwards, I noticed his laughter lessening. Until one point when he couldn’t stand it anymore, I guessed. He tried to be honest with me and told that I was fat. Fat wasn’t a joke you want to laugh at. I was so sad for a while but my passion for food was bigger than my sadness. As long as I was happy, who cares, I thought.

Sometimes, there’s nothing good on TV and I ended up watching the Style Network or some celebrity show. It led me to read other celebrity magazines. I became obsessed to see how stylish the celebrities were and how perfect their bodies seemed. I remember I had that precious moment when my husband flattered me all the time. Saying how cute my body was. But I hadn’t heard him say it for quite sometime.

I gain more and more pounds each day. My body was far from cute. My skin was rough like orange skin. Cellulose everywhere, I became an unattractive person. All of my clothes were too small now and I had to buy another clothes in a larger size. Every time I saw myself in the mirror, I was so sad because I looked ugly. It seems my body was asymmetrical. It was just big here and there.

After almost a year of being lazy, one day, as usual while laying on the couch watching my favorite celebrity show, I came to realize that I had to do something to change my life. I jumped from my couch and said out loud “No more lazy. I have to loose weight”.

I used to have a friend who always bragged about her marriage. She’s actually a pretty lady but she didn’t care about her appearance.
Every time we asked her to do something about her looks, put make up on or change her style, she always said “why bother, I’m already married. You guys who are still single need it the most.”

We then teased her. We told her that there so many beautiful girls out there and she had to be careful to keep her husband happy or else don’t blame him for being attracted to another girl one day. And she replied, “my husband loves me so much and he won’t ever do that to me.”

I totally disagreed with her. For me, a good relationship is about taking care of the relationship itself. A relationship is like a garden that you need to maintain and water. The joke that I used to point out to my other friend keep bothering me. I don’t want to be like her. I want to make myself and my husband happy. I want to be a healthy person with a good spirit and enthusiasm in life.

Here comes the hard part of my journey of loosing weight. Continue reading “Loosing Weight Diary Part I”