As many of you know, Dave and I are gearing up for a really messy kitchen renovation this summer.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of “behind the scenes” work these past few weeks… the bulk of which was designing the floor plan. It’s still not 100% set in stone, but as you’ll see by the images below, we’re adding a TON of cabinet space and creating a much more open and user-friendly place to cook, eat, and just hangout.
I LOVE saving money on everything from groceries and gas to our vehicles and house — partially because it’s a game for me, but also because we pay for everything we purchase in full (besides our house) so in order to do home renovations, go on vacation, or buy a new vehicle, we need to save.
Today I’m sharing a few of the things we’re saving up for… and how we’re doing it!
Dave and I have always kept our small kitchen appliances hidden — even the ones we use regularly. We’ve never had a kitchen with lots of counter space, I really like the look of a clutter-free kitchen, and our cabinets definitely were not overly full; so we just decided to keep our small appliances concealed behind closed doors.
As we prepare for our upcoming kitchen renovation, I’m trying to think of different ways to conceal our small appliances while still allowing easy access, so I’d love to know where you keep your small appliances.
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ve been sharing my “must-have” items for infants — and today, I’m rounding out this week-long series with a few more money saving tips… and a FREE printable!
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about baby clothes!
I’m sure we’re all guilty of looking through home and garden magazines and wishing our homes, kitchens, closets, pantries, garages, etc. looked as amazing as the spaces in those magazine photos. Right? I know I am!
And while I’m simply ecstatic with the outcomes of our home renovations, I can’t help but compare them to those perfectly decorated spaces inside my favorite magazines. I do it without even realizing it. If you’ve struggled with this too, here are a few things to remember…
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about our favorite food, medicine, and toiletry items!
After yesterday’s fun giveaway, I have to catch you up on the last 2 days of our Spring Break!
We’ve been hard at work around our house and in our yard… and had such a great week catching up with family and friends.
I’m a little sad that our week-long “staycation” is coming to an end… but I think I’ll be ready to get back into a routine next week. Plus, I’m really ready to start making my to-do lists again!
I know it’s not officially spring yet, but the beginning of March always makes me “think spring”! And without fail, every spring, I have an EXTRA urge to purge!
I’ve already done a few extra organizing/cleaning projects to lighten our home this past week, and am excited about upcoming projects on my list! If you’re not feeling the urge to purge just yet… or if you just need a little motivation to get started, here are a few posts that might do the trick
I’ve been trying REALLY hard to take lots of photos these days. However, I often get annoyed with myself for taking so many pictures… but then keeping them “locked up” in my camera, my phone, or on our portable hard drive.
So I’ve been making an effort to print more pictures lately, and since photos are relatively inexpensive {compare to pricey art pieces} I thought I would share a few different ideas for decorating your home with photos.
I’ve been known to have a VERY well-stocked pantry. I guess that comes from my mom — because growing up, we always had 4 or 5 more of everything down on the pantry shelves in the basement.
And although Dave and I don’t really have a true “pantry” in our kitchen, we have several shelving units in our basement that house all our extra canned goods, baking supplies, cereal, chips, snacks, beverages, and loads of other non-perishable food supplies.
Waiting is NOT my favorite activity… and patience is still a virtue I’m working on! So these last 2 weeks have not been particularly easy for me… and yes, I’m STILL waiting {not so patiently though} for this baby to arrive!
So I feel like I can justify the list of the little projects I gave myself last week… to help me stay busy until this baby comes! I’ve been having a great time “getting stuff done” while I wait… and wait… and wait!
Several months ago, when I first broke the news that we were pregnant, I talked about Having a Baby on a Budget.
Since then, I have stayed true to my frugal nature and with the help of Craigslist, my mom’s garage-sale addiction, lots of borrowing, and generous gifts from family and friends — I’m super excited that we’ve spent LESS than $300 on our baby so far!
Want to see how I did it?
For the first 5+ years of our marriage, Dave and I got by on a measly $20 – $25 per week grocery budget — and it honestly wasn’t that difficult to do! However, the past 2 months have been somewhat of a rude awakening to me as our grocery bills have jumped to $40, $50 or even $60 per week!
Read why we’ve seen such a large increase in our grocery bill — and please feel free to offer your money-saving grocery tips!
Things are going well for the Dekkers as we adjust to living with our international students, finish house projects, and prepare for our new baby’s arrives. However, as I looked back through my recent posts, I realized it had been several weeks since I gave any type of baby Dekker update — so we are definitely way over due {no pun intended!!}
Oh, and there’s a bunch of fun pictures from our maternity photo shoot at the end of the post 🙂
I make some type of roast on a semi-regular basis — It’s just such an easy meal to make. You only get one pan dirty, you don’t need to chop, mix, stir, or measure anything, and you don’t need to constantly check on it. Just stick it in the oven or a slow cooker and come back a few hours later to a delicious, home-cooked meal.
If you’ve even been nervous to make a roast, let me share my super simple recipe with you!
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