I’ve always been a very frugal person — faithfully clipping coupons, shopping thrift stores and Craigslist, cooking from scratch, and more — all in an effort to save more on the things we need and want to buy.
However, SAVING money on the items we buy is really only half the battle in living a frugal debt-free life… today, I’m sharing the other huge factor in frugal living as it relates to our family’s ability to live well below our means.
Back in November, I shared my new Calendar + Planner approach to the New Year.
I honestly wasn’t exactly sure how well this Calendar + Planner system would (or wouldn’t) work for me, my family, my routine, etc. but I knew I wanted to give it a shot! Now, 3 months after using this system on a daily (sometimes hourly!) basis, I have a short list of pros and cons to share!
Although I rarely do massive amounts of deep cleaning, I do find that around this time every year, I get fed up with ALL paper clutter (photos, files, piles, books, magazines, emails, etc.)
I am always especially ruthless with email clutter — and today, I’m sharing one quick-tip that has greatly reduced the time I spend checking emails!
Many of my pervious in-home organizing clients told me that the most helpful part of working with a professional was having a different perspective to help them “see” simple storage solutions that were literally right in front of them… but yet not “visible” for whatever reason.
I understood what they were saying (and I know it’s true) but I honestly never experienced it in my own life until a recent situation when Nora out-organized me!!
During my eat-from-the-pantry challenge last year, I used up various qualities of stale cookies, crackers, pretzels, cereals, bars, and brownies no one apparently wanted to eat anymore.
Miraculously, after mixing these stale crumbs with cream cheese and dipping them in chocolate, they were everyone’s new favorite treat! I’m sharing the simple “recipe” in today’s post!
I suppose I’m glad our brains tend to push memories of hard times to the side, but I DO hope I never fully forget how difficult different seasons of life were in an effort to better empathize with others.
If you’re struggling in a rough season of life, I hope today’s post is somewhat encouraging for you!
We wouldn’t have very full lives if we ONLY allowed ourselves to buy exactly what we needed to survive and nothing more. It’s fun to splurge a little every now and then and it can be a special treat to do or buy something we might not normally do or buy.
But I do think we (myself included) could all save a lot of money if we simply stopped to ask “Do I NEED this?” versus “Can I AFFORD this?”
My year-long bread-baking journey has had a rocky start so far — resulting in lots of stale, hard, dense, bread. However, I will not waste those ingredients (or my time). Instead, I make lots of yummy whole grain french toast casseroles!
If you’re looking for a great way to use up stale bread, buns, or rolls, try this recipe!!
It’s March!! — which means a big birthday for one of my favorite “big” boys! We’re celebrating Simon’s 5th birthday tomorrow (with donuts, of course!) Can you believe it?! His always-sharing, always-giving personality is one of my favorite things about him. That… and his eyes when he smiles!
I’m sharing a few more of my favorite things in today’s post!
A few years ago, I was contacted by a TV network who apparently wanted to feature our family in an upcoming TV show… believe it or not, I told them “no thanks”.
Today I’m sharing why I said “no”… as well as why I feel it’s so important to know what we DON’T want for our lives, our families, our schedules, etc.
Even before having children of my own, I was adamant that I could have BOTH a large(ish) family AND a clean home without spending hours every day picking up after people.
So far, I’ve been able to keep our house neat and organized enough for my standards with minimal effort, while letting my children display, collect, save, cherish, and sometimes “hoard” their most favorite trinkets and treasures!
Since I write from the perspective of “this is what works for me…” I usually don’t share anything online until I know it’s successful. I quickly summarize the process, neatly outline the various steps, show a handful of pictures, answer questions in the comments, and then move on to the next day’s post.
In this process, one thing that doesn’t always get spotlighted is the fact that most of the projects, ideas, recipes, tips, tools, skills, goals, etc. I write about are YEARS in the making! I’m sharing more on this today…
Consider how you might feel with less stuff to store, less stuff to organize, less stuff to clean around, less stuff to buy, and less stuff to think/worry about. Then consider how much of your stuff you truly NEED.
Today I’m sharing a different perspective on all our STUFF… I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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