Money matters

Money makes the world go around. The world go around. The world go around. It makes the world go  'round.
Well, unfortunately, it's true.

Money was the first thing that came into my mind when I finally said it out loud "I'm moving out this July". Not having a paid job (I'm doing unpaid internships), so not having a normal source of income and savings started to wreck my head. Where will I get three thousand euros to start? 

Of course, the easiest way to go is to ask your parents to be your "sponsors", but I'm not like that. I don't really think it's fair, because it's my move, a start of my new life and I want to do it all by myself. I know that my parents will sponsor me, but hopefully it will only be 1/3 of the sum I need (i.e. €1000). My weekly income is about 100-150 euros (I do one internship where I get paid 50 euros per day, but I only go there once or twice a week, sometimes even less than this).

The 100-150 euros per week I get is nothing, because I need to buy bus ticket weekly, pay my mobile phone expenses every month and go out for a dinner/coffee/etc with my friends once in a while (well, at least once a week, honestly). But I still manage to save up (so far I have nearly €1000 euros saved, and that's after 6 weeks of saving).

How?
1. As I wrote in my last blog - I'm selling things that I don't need anymore. MacBook and one of the college books are gone. That's 400 euros in my pocket.
2. I'm not depriving myself from social life. I'm not that kind of person who needs to go out every single night (well, at least not at this moment) but I still go to town once or twice a week for a dinner/coffee/wine with my friends. I'm still trying to save when I'm out - I might not order a starter or look for the deals available. Yes, once in a while I do splurge on good food. But it's pretty rare now.
3. Shopping. It's an important topic for a woman. I like shopping. Yes, I don't shop as much as I used to right now. I think twice about purchasing a new thing (piece of clothing, shoes, cosmetics, perfume etc etc). But if I want it, I will think about it (do I really want it?) and I will purchase it if I do. Like those sandals from Topshop. Dayum, girl, they're gorgeous. 
4. I'm not travelling now. Even if you get cheap flight tickets, you need to pay for a hotel, food etc and it adds up to a much bigger sum. I will catch up on travelling next year. But I decided that I want to go to a spa and get a hamam exfoliation and massage. So, I'm going to do this in a few months time.
5. I am keeping a simple account (omg, yes!) on my spending in my notebook.

Not depriving yourself of all the fun that's available but keeping in mind that you need to save money is what makes it easy for me to save.
I don't want to remember my last few months in Ireland in a bad light and I know myself pretty well. If I would go overboard with saving (stop doing what I like to do etc.), I will go overboard when I won't need to save anymore (i.e. back in Lithuania) or even sooner.

Keeping balance in things is the key here.