Step 1: get rid of iPhone

I adore my iPhone. I love the way it sounds when I type very important emails about happy hours and shoe sales. I crave the cheerful, glowing "go to yoga class" reminders it gives me every day, even though I never go. I'll forever be grateful to Google Maps for iPhone. If I stood on a street corner in Adams Morgan with a giant map, I'd look confused, lost and lame. When I stand on a street corner in Adams Morgan with my iPhone, though, I look cool and important. I love sitting in a café with my latte, Macbook, artsy novel and my iPhone, of course, which completes the yuppie outing.

But my credit card bills are out of control and the iPhone needs to go.

I signed up with a new phone company today that will cover the cost of my early termination fee from AT&T. I'm switching from my lovely, delicious, sleek iPhone to a hideous, white slider phone an awkward 8th grader would use and cover with stickers. Thrilling. The good news is that I won't be confused anymore about which phone is mine when I'm out with friends because my gross phone will stand out in the sea of iPhones on our table. Phew.

If I have problems with the new phone, I'll be sure to call my grandmother for help because my friends won't have any idea how to work my neanderthal device.

Oh, did I mention the new phone has an alarm clock?

Looks like it's time to be frugal chic, folks

I only wear designer jeans. I go to the chicest gym in the city. I eat trendy, overpriced ethnic food. I am obsessed with cashmere. I eat out whenever and wherever I can. I buy expensive drinks, live in a hip neighborhood, buy organic fruit and go to the movies without thinking twice.

But I'm broke. Not only do I have the taste of someone richer than me, I have the spending habits of someone richer than me - and it's a problem.

I'm a recent college graduate working in an entry-level pr job in DC with an annoying amount of loan debt. I long to be metro chic, but it looks like it's time to be frugal chic. I am determined to cut back and tackle hip, cultured urban life on a budget.



That's why I started this blog.



I'll write about where I'm going, what I'm doing and how (God willing) I'm doing it on a budget. I'll talk about the things that are hardest for me to give up or change, and tips and finds for all of the struggling frugalistas out there.



Let the journey begin.