The unseasonably warm weather has us looking forward to spring and our garden! When we purchased our home last March, we weremore excited about our yardthan we were the house. We have one acre with a fenced in backyard and ample room for gardening.
We spent quite a bit of time planning a garden last spring. We bought supplies for four raised beds and built one. That’s as far as we got. A few weeks later we found outI was pregnantand soon after morning sickness followed and the garden was abandoned.
This year is going to be different. We’re already making plans and looking forward to gardening as a family and fresh vegetables!
Here’s our garden space:
The garden as of yesterday. Nothing much to look at, there’s one raised bed and that’s it.
The one bed that was built last year. We’re going to be getting the weeds and last years dead plants out and adding more soil!
We purchased this barrel via Craigslist for $10. John David has plans for it, I’m not quite sure exactly what he’s going to do with it {he has the mechanical mind!} The plan it to put this out in the garden space, although we’re not sure where exactly it will go.
As we work in the garden, I’ll keep you updated on the progress!
Are you looking forward to spring time and gardening? Do you do raised beds, a traditional garden or use some other method?
Welcome to Frugal and Simple, Money Saving Mom readers!!
I’m Rachel, a wife stay-at-home mom to two boys, Paxton who’s 21 months and Weston who is 3 weeks old! I blog about various aspects of living a simple and debt free life!
Living a ‘green’ life is often portrayed as being more expensive than mainstream living. The reality is that being ‘green’ often is quite frugal and can save you a lot of money!
Here are some small steps towards living green that can save money:
Recycle :: The more you recycle, the fewer trash bags you use! We only use 3 or 4 bags a month and buy trash bags once a year or less! Of course, if you live in an area where you’re charged by bag of trash or pay for weekly trash service, the more you recycle means the less trash you produce and the less you have to pay to get rid of it!
Compost :: Once again, this helps save a little on trash bags for us! We compost our food scraps which produces rich compost for gardening. Another benefit, our trash rarely smells so we only take a trip to the dump every month or two!
Cloth Napkins :: Never buy paper napkins again! We’ve been using cloth napkins throughout our entire marriage. We were given a few, bought a pretty set of 6 at a yardsale for $.50 and I’ve made several! We’ve spent less than $3 -4 on napkins. They just go in the wash with our clothes and they’re so small they don’t make a huge impact on laundry.
Replace Paper Towels :: We haven’t purchased paper towels in 3 or 4 years. Instead we use kitchen towels and dish cloths for typical kitchen uses and use rags made from my husband’s old white t-shirts for messes and tasks like disinfecting countertops, cleaning the bathroom, wiping up spills from the floor and so on. We store the used rags in a small trash can in a closet and wash about once a month.
Programmable Thermostat :: You can set the temperature to automatically lower at night as well as when you’re out of the home, saving electricity {and money} without putting much effort into it!
Conserve Electricity :: Turn off lights when you leave a room, turn off electronics that are not being used, unplug kitchen appliances when they’re not in use and unplug electronics when you go out of town or if you rarely use them.
Shop at Thrift Stores :: Not only do you typically spend less when you shop at a thrift store but you are also ‘recycling’ and giving an item a new use!
Combine Errands :: With a little planning and organization, combine all of your errands so you don’t have to run to town multiple times in a week. Also, if you’re tempted to spend when you are running errands, only going once should cut down on temptations and save you money!
What green steps are you taking? Are these steps saving you money?
During the summer of 2008, I found Crystal Paine’s blog, Money Saving Mom. We were already living frugally since we had just gotten out of college but, like most college graduates, expected our standard of living to increase upon graduation. Thanks in part to Money Saving Mom, we were inspired to continue living on basically the same budget we had in college and start saving money for a house downpayment! Over the years that I’ve been a Money Saving Mom reader, I’ve been inspired by Crystal {she and her husband paid cash for their first home!}
I was excited to hear the news that she was writing a book and even more excited when the book came in the mail for me to review! I immediately started reading The Money Saving Mom’s Budgetand finished it within a day.
This book is full of all kinds of practical information for getting your life in order. It begins with a chapter about goal setting which I found to be very inspiring. We already set financial goals for each year but haven’t really put much thought into long term goals. She poses the question, “where do I want to be financially five years from now?” This question prompted thinking more long term in regards to our finances.
The second chapter is devoted to clearing out clutter and streamlining your life. Practical strategies for getting rid of physical clutter as well as commitment clutter are mentioned. She poses questions to ask about your clutter such as “do I use this item regularly?” and “is this item taking up space I don’t have?”
As the title implies, budgeting is covered. The book outlines baby steps to take towards budgeting. She suggests during the first month establish a grocery budget, the second month use bare-bones budget which covers basic necessities and by the third month you’ve worked your way up to a full-fledged budget. Taking these baby steps is a great way to not get overwhelmed with budgeting and give up!
One chapter is titled “Twenty-Five Ways to Lower Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons.” This chapter is full of money saving grocery tips such as have a meatless night once a week, stick with simple meals that use inexpensive ingredients and don’t throw out your leftovers. Just applying one or two of these suggestions could cut quite a bit from your grocery budget.
The final chapter is “Embrace Today” and Crystal writes about contentment, which I believe is a key to living a frugal life! You have the power to choose contentment, “a cheerful attitude can go a long way in less than ideal situations; you can either complain about the thorns or you can savor the roses that bloom in their midst.” Ways to cultivate contentment are listed, including create a gratitude list, choose to stop comparing yourself to other people and choose to be a giver.
There are helpful worksheets in the back covering financial goals, priorities lists, time budgets and budget sheets.
This really is a book that anyone can benefit from. If you’re just starting out on a journey to get your finances in order, this book is full of valuable information that will help you! And even if you’ve been living a frugal and debt free life, there are things you can learn from saving on your grocery bill, being inspired to set lofty goals and focusing on contentment.
During the Month of November, Econobum Single Packs are Buy 1, Get 1! The Single Packs are only $9.95!!
This is an awesome deal on an inexpensive cloth diapering system. Each pack comes with a cover and a pre-fold, so you’re getting 2 covers and 2 pre-folds for less than $10!!!
We have 2 Econobum covers and 5 pre-folds {you can purchase an additional 3-pack of pre-folds for $6!} and we use them all the time!
The 2 covers we have were purchased during the last Buy 1, Get 1 deal back in February and they’re holding up great, showing little to no wear after 9 months! {I gave the first Econobum I bought before Paxton was born to my sister and it’s still in great condition!}
As for the pre-folds, I really love the Econobum pre-folds. They’re thick, absorbant and get softer with each use.
If you’re looking into cloth diapering but don’t want to make a huge investment, the Econobum system would be a great, inexpensive start!
