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My $26.45 Weekly Minimalist Meal Plan (Week 3)

Hello, hello everyone! Happy Meal Plan Monday! This week’s menu will be a continuation of this month’s Minimalist Meal Plan Monday’s.

Here’s a recap for those new to minimalist meal planning. There are the five categories I took into consideration when setting up this month’s minimalist meal plan:

Consistency: The goal of minimalist meal planning is to consistently prepare and present my family with home cooked, healthy meals each day this month.

Cost: Posted meal plans are based on seasonal sales cycles with attention paid to both frugality and minimalist efficiency. This weeks menu reflects our budget of $160.00 monthly for a family of three.

Power Consumption: I wanted to plan meals that do not require vast amounts of energy zapping stove-top and range preparation. A little food for thought: did you know that it costs an average of 18-24 cents an hour to run a gas range, 24-30 cents an hour for an electric range, 16-20 cents an hour for a microwave oven, a mere 3-5 cents an hour to run a toaster oven or convection top. With this in mind, I will be gearing this month’s meal planning to encompass dishes that utilize minimalist power consumption standards. Meals this month will utilize my toaster oven and convection stove top for all my baking and needs.

Streamlining: I was a little apprehensive about whether or not my family will be turned off of the idea of food simplicity. I quickly realized that my family love whatever I cook them, and with this in mind extreme food plan simplicity will give me an extra hour each day to devote to spending time with my family and not in my kitchen. In order to streamline my meal plans, to have a true minimalist food strategy I am going to assign each day of the week with a single meal.

Travel: I wanted meals that could be planned monthly in advanced and shopped for locally (I live in a small town with limited mass shopping or chain retailer options) either weekly or monthly, depending on need. As I shop in reverse, buying groceries on rock bottom pricing and then shop from my pantry, this keeps weekly food costs low. And in terms of monthly shopping as a minimalist, this week was the first week this month I purchased additional groceries which can be seen below:

Vanilla Bean Flavored Espresso, $1.00 (Submitted for $0.25 iBotta credit)
Hillandale 8-Count Eggs, $0.50
Hills Black Beans, $1.00
2 Mucinex 6-packs (each pack sells at Walmart for $4.98 each, a savings of $7.98)
Tie Farms Frozen Broccolli, $1.00 (Submitted for $0.25 iBotta credit)
2 Pict Sweet Steamables, $0.50 each
Total: $6.00 after rebates

1 bags of Celery, $0.49 each bag
BOGO Borden Shreds, $1.99 for both bags
White bread loaf, $0.49
Vowell’s Kosher Salt Canister, $0.39
10 pounds bag of red potatoes, $1.50
Oreo Singles, $0.69 each (Submitted for $1.00 off two from Checkout51)
18-count eggs, $1.50
2 Vowell’s brand gluten-free pasta, $0.69 per bag
Total: $6.43 after rebates

Value brand strawberry yogurt 4-pack, $1.00
2 bags of Carrots, $0.69 per bag
Sweet potatoes, $1.58 per bag (submitted for 20% back with Saving Star App)
2 Dr. Thunder 2-liters, $0.88 each
Value brand wipes, $0.88
Value brand Unsweetened Almond Milk half gallon, $2.68
Value brand toilet paper 4-packs, $0.58 each
Smithfield marinated pork roast, $5.01 (submitted for $2.00 iBotta rebate)
2 Suave body washes, $1.29 each (submitted for $1.00 iBotta rebate)
Organic Blue Agave, $3.98 (submitted for $1.00 iBotta rebate)
Ajax, $0.88 (submitted for $0.20 iBotta rebate)
Zote bar, $0.98 (submitted for $0.50 iBotta rebate)
Antacids, $0.88 (submitted for $0.50 MobiSave rebate)
Total: $17.08 after rebates

To create your own minimalist meal plan, think about which dinners are your family’s favorites that don’t take too much effort to prepare.
Consider which do you prefer to cook?
Think comfort meals. Think simple and keep it basic.
When creating your meal calendar this week assign one meal to each day of the week, taking into account school, work, and activity schedules. Leave your least busy days for meals that take the most amount of time to prepare.
Leave one day open each week for creativity in the kitchen, for ethnic, slow-cooked, heavy on the ingredient, new to you from Pinterest meals for weekends or Tuesday and Thursdays when poser usage rates nationally tend to be 20-30% lower on average. Focus on energy, your own and your household power usage as well!
Themes can be your best friend in minimalist cooking plans. Think Meatless Monday’s, Meatball Monday’s, Taco Tuesdays, Tofu Tuesday’s, Stirfry Wednesday’s, and Slow-Cooker Sunday’s!
Adjusting two meals a week to meatless options can help lower your grocery budgets by a quarter each month. This month we will be trying to expand Meatless Monday’s to also be Meatless Thursday’s as well.
This month breakfast, snacks, and lunches will be standardized. We will be having sandwiches for lunch, cereal and smoothies for breakfast. And yes you could do without snacks and increase lunch and breakfast portions, but I find smaller meals several times a day work better for my health, and so that’s how we will be rolling.

So what does this leave me with? My new monthly minimalist meal plan will consist of default meals streamlined around items already on-hand that require less than a half hour to prepare, and cost under $5.00 per meal to create.

Monday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Three bean vegetarian chili, steamed corn, and corn bread.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken, carrot, broccoli quinoa bake, with Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Thursday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Bakes Zucchini, Greek yogurt, and quinoa gyros, with Crystal light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Meatball hoagies, side salad with Greek Yogurt dressing, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Saturday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snacks: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Chicken mole, served with steamed rice, corn, and Crystal Light.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal with almond milk and strawberries.
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sliders, with Crystal light lemonade.
Snack: Grapes and String Cheese.
Dinner: Crockpot cheddar, chicken, and broccoli rice, with green beans and Crystal Light lemonade.
Dessert: Greek yogurt, granola, and blueberries.

Cost of food shopped from pantry and freezer: $26.45

So that’s all, everyone! I’m hoping that this streamlined plan will leave me feeling anything but restricted. With my family eating well and meal planning becoming more automated, I’m thinking of bringing back Family Game Nights! Incorporating minimalism into my weekly meal planning will help me be a few steps closer to realizing my minimalist dream. That said, if this streamlined plan doesn’t work for my family this month I can always change my plan again!

I’m ready to take back an extra hour from my day, each and every day this month. I’m ready to devote more time on creative endeavors, taking advantage of work opportunities, spending time with my family, and not slaving over a hot stove.

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans,

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Why we’re switching to a Minimalist Meal Plan

Happy Meal Plan Monday! This week’s menu is well, different. Knowing that Meal Plan Monday was looming just around the corner, I spent a great deal of time this past weekend thinking about how I can reflect my personal journey into minimalism into my weekly meal plan posts.

So, here are the four categories I took into consideration when setting up this month’s minimalist meal plan:

Consistency: First, it’s time for a little confession. While I’ve posted weekly meal plans for the past year, and each and every plan required a myriad of conscientiousness, creativity, and care, not every plan has been as streamlined as they perhaps could have been. I want to plan, prepare, and present my family with consistent meals each day this month.

Cost: Generally, posted meal plans are based on seasonal sales cycles with attention paid to frugality rather than simple, minimalist efficiency. And yes, in recent months there have been weeks where I’d inadvertently abandoned my meal planning while I took a blogging break over this past holiday season, and due to personal crisis eating out and last-minute meals started to become second nature in my home. And you know you’re in trouble when frozen pizza become your new normal. So to say my meal planning skills have been all over the place would be the understatement of the year. While I want meal plans that focus on maintaining my monthly family food budget of $160.00 for a family of three, creating food that is healthy is just as important too. This weeks menu reflects this budget.

Power Consumption: Still another meal planning dilemma, unregulated meal prep energy consumption. I wanted to plan meals that do not require vast amounts of energy zapping stove-top and range preparation. A little food for thought: did you know that it costs an average of 18-24 cents an hour to run a gas range, 24-30 cents an hour for an electric range, 16-20 cents an hour for a microwave oven, a mere 3-5 cents an hour to run a toaster oven or convection top. With this in mind, I will be gearing this month’s meal planning to encompass dishes that utilize minimalist power consumption standards. Meals this month will utilize my toaster oven and convection stove top for all my baking and needs.

To create your own minimalist meal plan, think about which dinners are your family’s favorites that don’t take too much effort to prepare.
Consider which do you prefer to cook?
Think comfort meals. Think simple and keep it basic.
When creating your meal calendar this week assign one meal to each day of the week, taking into account school, work, and activity schedules. Leave your least busy days for meals that take the most amount of time to prepare.
Leave one day open each week for creativity in the kitchen, for ethnic, slow-cooked, heavy on the ingredient, new to you from Pinterest meals for weekends or Tuesday and Thursdays when poser usage rates nationally tend to be 20-30% lower on average. Focus on energy, your own and your household power usage as well!
Themes can be your best friend in minimalist cooking plans. Think Meatless Monday’s, Meatball Monday’s, Taco Tuesdays, Tofu Tuesday’s, Stirfry Wednesday’s, and Slow-Cooker Sunday’s!
Adjusting two meals a week to meatless options can help lower your grocery budgets by a quarter each month. This month we will be trying to expand Meatless Monday’s to also be Meatless Thursday’s as well.
This month breakfast, snacks, and lunches will be standardized. We will be having sandwiches for lunch, cereal and smoothies for breakfast. And yes you could do without snacks and increase lunch and breakfast portions, but I find smaller meals several times a day work better for my health, and so that’s how we will be rolling.

This weeks meal plan cost: $26.45

I’m hoping that this streamlined plan will leave me feeling anything but restricted. With my family eating well and meal planning becoming more automated, I’m thinking of bringing back Family Game Nights! Incorporating minimalism into my weekly meal planning will help me be a few steps closer to realizing my minimalist dream. That said, if this streamlined plan doesn’t work for my family this month I can always change my plan again!

So, that’s what we will be having this week. I’d love to hear what’s on your menu as well!

Here’s to Monday meal plans,

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Why I became a Minimalist

I’ve tossed about a lot of topics to blog about this month and just kept coming back to one topic, minimalism.

I often blog about home management and ways to maintain a more natural lifestyle. But what I haven’t discussed is why. And the reason I haven’t is that of fear of people’s opinions on my lifestyle. You see, I’m a minimalist. And the word minimalism has such a negative connotation to many Americans. Many believe being a minimalist means you are sacrificing things, simply giving away mementos of a hard-earned nature. That being a minimalist means you are not taking advantage of all that is available in the modern world today.

While that may be the perception of some, that may not always be the case. For when one takes the time to truly learn about what minimalism really is, they may find out it can not only help improve one’s life but help you save money and live a more natural lifestyle. Minimalism can lead to happier lives!

My personal journey into minimalism began a few years ago in the midst of personal crisis. My family was $78,000 in debt, I had just suffered my first miscarriage, my grandmother had recently passed away, and in the midst of it all, I was spending upwards of four hours a day cleaning my home. I suffered from panic attacks. I worked at a lackluster job. When home, I spent more time cleaning crumbs from counters than creating memories with my family. I yelled a lot. I shopped too much. I collected clutter. My home was a wreck. I lived in piles of unfolded laundry. I cooked processed foods. I was addicted to soda. I was overweight. My Shih-Tzu was overweight. I was unhappy. My life was a cluttered, chaotic mess.

When I looked around my home, from room to room, I started realizing just how severely clutter had become embedded into my life — my schedule, my mind, my body, my family, my pets, and even my home.

An example: I formerly owned four crock pots. I never cooked wholesome meals at home using those crock pots. I owned them because I thought I needed to possess these items to have a proper kitchen. Crock pots purchased on sale from my favorite money-saving sites, for any occasion that might pop up. I felt I was prepared, a proper newlywed and domestic goddess divine. The reality was the crock pots and the clutter that be owned me. And this clutter made me feel less than happy with my circumstances, less than happy with myself as a person.

I had built a home and a life with my husband, and through grace and gratitude wasn’t lacking resources. Quite the opposite, actually. I had all the building blocks of a great life. A handful of degrees, a home, cars, a closet bulging at the seems lots and lots of beautiful Pinterest-inspired things. Still, I felt a lack of focus I couldn’t quite explain. A general dissatisfaction that didn’t make sense, an inner noise that despite all I owned left a heaviness in my soul.

So, as usual, my husband came up with a great idea after months of nag-fests one after the next. He said, “If you’re not happy with the clutter, get rid of it.” Simple, right? My husband even brought home Marie Kondo’s famed, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (I’ll be devoting more time to the Kon-Mari method later this month). So, with the Kon-Marist doctrine in-hand, I started to get rid of stuff.

We moved larger ticket items to one room. Listed and sold them. Used the proceeds to pay down debt. We sorted through clothing. Sent a ton of items off to Thredup. I still didn’t seem settled. We then sorted through books, papers, toys, gardening tools, anything that even resembled processed food, every inch of our 2,400 square foot home. We listed over a hundred items on local Facebook groups, Craigslist, and Wallapop. We also made more than a dozen trips to charities all over the county. Still, I didn’t seem more put together.

I wasn’t settled until the day I walked into my near-empty living room and noticed that for the first time, the light that filters in from my shuttered windows. Now in an untamed space actually of my bare uninterrupted room, danced magically across our beautiful, dark floors. In that moment it hit me, that ah-ha moment I smiled. It clicked for me. When I live with less, I lived with more.

By decluttering my home, I uncluttered my life. No longer was I plagued with the embarrassed of having friends and family over. I no longer resorted to boxed macaroni and cheese for dinners. We now have cleared tables and simple dishes. We ate wholesome foods. I planted, blanched, sautéed, and canned what we ate myself. Minimalism helped me created more time in my life to be both a developed, modern woman who could work from home and a gal who could still ding at that pesky glass ceiling from time to time too. I know where everything is in my home and my office, and I can run them both like a boss.

Here are a few other reasons I decided to take the minimalist plunge:

1. Finances – Having begun living on a tighter budget out of necessity, minimalism gave me a way to counter rising unemployment, stagnant wages, and falling stock prices by rethinking my families overall purchasing power. We choose to make the distinctions between essential and non-essential purchases. We buy better items, less often, and are now completely guilt-free in doing so.

2. Environmental Mindedness – Part of why my family chooses to live a minimalist life is out of sheer concern for the environment. We believe that less consumption equals caused the preservation of earth’s natural resources. We choose to say no to plastic products. We use mason jars are storage containers, to store cleaners, and to hold whole food purchases in-store like peanut butter, juice, and the like. Minimalism allows us to make a direct, active difference in our home, our community and our planet. We prefer to not idly sit on the sidelines, but be conscious of our surroundings and planet.

3. Personal Debt – After years and years of living beyond our means, we were in trouble. $78,000 worth of student loans, assumed medical debt, and excessive credit card payments kind of debt. Truth be told, I don’t think it is hard to refinance a student loan so I probably should have tried that a long time ago. Minimalism, and in part by the trend-setting debt-free solutions of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace program, we were able to get out from under the soul-crushing debt of yesteryear in just under five years. Minimalism teaches you that when you choose to buy less and save more, you regain the confidence in your personal finances.

4. Social Awareness – Injustice, poverty, unequal educational opportunities, malnutrition, and apathy have always plagued mankind. But through minimalism our family finances have become freed enough to help make a small difference on a global scale by investing in individual self-started the world over through Kiva.org. Kiva allows individuals to donate small sums of money, which are turned into microloans to start small businesses in third world countries. Do you know what one hundred dollars can do to the loves of women and children in need? Plenty. And when you spend less time worrying about the self, you can devote time to help feed the hungry, provide clean drinking water to others, promote educational opportunities for others, and speaking up for the voiceless whenever it is needed.

5. Beauty – Minimalism has allowed our home to become a showcase. Minimalism transforms my home into a museum of hope. Our artwork, mementos, and keepsakes have become center stage in how our families story is presented to the world through every room in our home. Every piece, every frame, every memory is important and meticulously placed. This is a source of pride for me.

6. Technology – Today, computers replace the need for DVD’s, paper files, photo albums, calendars, planners, calculators, phone books, and more. One way we implement minimalism in our lives is by digitizing. Everything from 45’s and 12″ vinyl, to movies, tax documents, manuals, and even holiday greeting cards. We receive digital subscriptions to magazines and our local newspaper (which cut our subscription rates in half). We pay our bills electronically. We opt for e-books on the OverDrive app from our public library. We replaced couponing with digital apps. We shop online for our monthly staple products from Amazon Subscribe and Save, including toilet paper. We electronically vote in country, state, and national elections. We donate to charities on the web. We can even tithe online via our parish’s website. Technology has enabled my personal journey into minimalism to expand farther than I could have ever imagined.

7. Simplification – Minimalism gives me a sense of security. In an ever-changing, fast-paced world where the personal demand on one’s time, space, and sanity seem to be without end, minimalism gives our family a refuge of silence and peace. Minimalism gives our family quiet places, open green spaces, unspoiled views, open surfaces, and experiences. Minimalism offers a life with less stress, less distraction, more freedom, more time, with less guilt and emotional baggage.

8. Presence – While the minimalism lifestyle may seem sparse, stark, and lonely, this is far from the contrary. For minimalists are never alone. You see, there are many, many proponents of the minimalist lifestyle. And everyday they are making their presence more and more known to the world. There are awesome folks like Dave Bruno, Colin Wright, and Joshua Becker who offer daily insight, advice, encouragement, and inspiration for the minimalist lifestyle. I am able to glean from they’re victories and learn from their mistakes. They are like friends who are always their for you in spirit. They are my minimalist cheerleaders!

9. Lifestyle – Myself, like countless others, are choosing to make their living online. I work from a fully digital, remote home office thanks to Skype, Google Hangouts, e-faxing, Cloud drives, Google Docs. I can generate additional income by running both a blog and a website for my home studio. Did I also mention I have an ETSY shop too? I am freer to travel. I can work from anywhere. I can even engage with colleagues while walking my fur-babies. Technology, I am a changed woman!

10. Realization – Consumerism is alive and well. Advertisers tell us that our next purchase will bring us satisfaction, longevity, happiness, and joy. And people believe it. Minimalism has helped me to pull off the veneer of commercialism. To be a more thoughtful person. I now realize that there is a falsehood in debt. There is corruption in over-consumption. I know I will never find happiness through anything man-made. While money isn’t inherently evil, the love of money and things can be. I choose to seek happiness and fulfillment in other places: in my faith, my relationships, my social causes, and my own significance.

This is why I personally chose minimalism. Why at the end of the day, minimalism doesn’t have to be about living in a tiny house with two t-shirts in your closet, sleeping on the floor. Minimalism is about paring down and focusing on what really matters. For once you’ve experienced the inherently awesome benefits of living with less clutter, you have no reason to go back.

For me, this wasn’t as much about streamlining my physical possessions, as it was about minimizing my schedule, getting clear about my priorities, and being laser focused about what I want out of life. Becoming whole meant I could become a better wife to Daniel, a better mom to many, and a better person to myself.

Professionally, minimalism has manifested itself into my life can best be seen in the way I design my days. I no longer had to block off time to clean incidental messes, I could devote time to blog editorials, assignments for work, spending time nurturing my family, and a big one for me, living a more natural life. Minimalism helps me live with intention.

So, folks, this will be the tone for April here on the blog. I will be discussing in detail what we got rid of in our home, why we love the Kon’mari method ( including a Spark Joy and Kon’Mari Journal Review), how we stopped being stuffaholics, how you can start a minimalist life and my favorite minimalist resources, blog spring cleaning, social media spring cleaning, my Spring cleaning routine and my daily 1-hour cleaning schedule, natural cleaning tutorials, more on our less junk more journey philosophy, seasonal meal planning, and what I loved in April.

I’ve said all this to say to you all: Minimalism brings me joy, and that’s a joy worth sharing with others. That’s all.

Here’s to living with less,

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What I’ve been loving in March

Ah, March…

The month of March end this Thursday. From warmer spring weather to a myriad of holidays, March is always such a great month for myself and my family. As we leave behind cold winter weather for warmer Spring days ahead, I just wanted to take pause and reflect back on why March was a month of blessings for my family and myself. So, here’s a list of the top 12 things that I’ve been loving this month.

March is the month when Mother Nature bursts forth into full technicolor bloom. Here at home our crocuses, hyacinths, wisterias, and daffodils are already blooming. Soon they will be joined by tulips, hyacinths, jasmine, lilacs, and crepe myrtles. The streets of my small hometown will soon be lined with blooming pear trees and azaleas. Mississippi is coming alive with bees, blooms, and the best of what this season has to offer!

We Dr. Seuss’ birthday was celebrated on March 2nd. We attended our local country library to hear a live reading of “The Cat in the Hat” and many other beloved Seussical children’s books as part of the Read Across America birthday celebration. This rally was amazing, and truly brought to life Dr. Seuss’ mission to making literacy fundamental and fun for children across this nation.

It’s said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Yet again, Mother Nature didn’t disappoint this year as March saw a lot of weather extremes, from highs in the 70’s, lows in the 20’s, three tornado warnings, and even an afternoon where Daniel’s school dismissed early due to flash flood warnings. Oy!

Here in Dixie, Daylight Saving Time began on March 13th. And while we will have more sunlight, more time this Summer to enjoy the great outdoors, loosing an hour of sleep was a bummer. One point of consolation, early morning sunrises that rival any beachscape I’ve ever seen. Waking up early to soak in the beauty of simple moments of solitude is something I’ve been really loving this month.

This month my family celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day simply at home with a feast of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread. There’s something to be said for the comfort that one pot dishes can bring to the soul. And not to be outdone by any corned beef and cabbage platter, my husband Daniel celebrated the day in his own way. He printed, colored, and rocked his very own Shamrock. This month I’ve really been loving my husband’s playful nature.

The first day of spring was celebrated with the Vernal Equinox on March 20th. On this day, day and night are equal everywhere, and I took this time to finish a few last minute ETSY shop orders, including this Easter Egg Wreath. Taking ordinary materials and turning them into something funky and fabulous is something I have been loving this month. Around this same time like many other Christians the world over, we celebrated Holy Week, Palm Sunday, Passover, and finally Easter Sunday, in a very quiet manner on March 27. We smoked hams, broke bread as a family, and spending time in fellowship with friends and neighbors.

Also this month my family and I were given the awesome opportunity to try out Airhead’s new birthday cake flavor taffy as part of their #airheadsepicbday 30th anniversary celebration, from February 29th thru June 29th of this year. Shockingly, the birthday cake flavor tastes just like fresh, homemade buttercream icing. Though I’m not a huge candy fan our crew loved them. This candy is surely not part of our journey into semi-crunchy nation, but you need a few fun departures every now and then! Be sure to checkout Airhead’s birthday bash inline, and enter for a chance to win $10,000 in cash and prizes as well.

And of course it wouldn’t be a proper change of season without switching out threads in my capsule wardrobe. This month marked a year from my first Spring capsule, and it was nice to see the progression of this current seasons capsule compared to my capsule a year ago. While I love everything about capsule wardrobes, my absolutely favorite part? The small teal polka dot boxes from Thredup that arrive when I need to replace a staple piece here and there. Yeah, I’m a fan of shopping from home, and with free return shipping it’s a no-brainer in my book!

And as a side note, I’m a brand ambassador for Bulu Box. And this past month I was given the opportunity to review the new Double Scoops products from Bulu Box. Let me just say, wow ladies. These. Are. Amazing.

As a skeptic when it comes to anything involving unmentionable innovations, this product surprised even me. These two scoops help keep your cones right where they belong, pun intended. They are an affordable, modest means to transform the way you can look and feel this season in thinner fabrics, dresses, and blouses. The best part? They are comfortable.

I tried the peach color, but they come in different shapes and colors, and are even waterproof. Yes—you can use them in a swimsuit. These scoops help ward off the effects of both motherhood and gravity in a simple, simple way. Each box even comes with tape so you can essentially use these with lower cut necklines as well. To find out more about these scoops, click here.

And I didn’t want this month to end without again sharing that this past week, March 20th, was the tenth anniversary of National Puppy Day. Though I’m a pet-parent to several amazing fuzzies, my Sassy, our six-year-old Shih-Tzu, will always hold an extra special place in my heart. She was an adopted baby, and there is not a day that goes my when she has not been a blessing to my life. Even as a puppy, the day she chewed a foot long hole into my brand new jute dining room rug. I still loved her even then.

National Puppy Day is a reminder for our family to #adoptnotshop when it comes to pets. Every life is important, and my husband and I take the stewardship of our fuzzies very seriously. We believe in being good parents to children and pets, too! We have to look out for everyone in the kingdom, you know?

This past month I’ve been able to spend a good amount of time of my favorite hobby, reading. I was very honored to be asked to be a member of Ruth Sokup’s book launch team for her upcoming release, Unstuffed.

Do you feel your life, home, and office are stuffed to the brims with things, papers, and piles? Then you are in luck my friend! This book speaks to the need from all walks of life to slow down and evaluate ways to clear both our homes and lives of the unnecessary abundance of cluttered that causes chaos, over-spending, time management conflicts, and feelings of being rundown in our minds, lives, and homes.

Ruth offers readers practical tips and time-tested advice for finding joy in living lives less stuffed with joy-busting clutter. This book is divided into lessons. Each lesson walks you room-by-room, obstacle-by-obstacle through your home, allowing the reader to create a strategy and mindset for last cleaning, organizing, and living success.

This quote, especially spoke to me:

“But here’s the truth: A busy life is not the same as a meaningful one. Athletic, successful or talented children do not make us more important. Activities, obligations, and commitments do not make us count. If we’re looking for the answer to our frustrations, despair, and hopelessness in a full calendar, we will never find it there. In fact, quite often, the fuller our calendars become, the emptier our hearts feel.”

The book also contains a fun, interactive quiz to help you determine how much is too much, when it comes to personal and business commitments, the daily drudge of “life clutter.” A particular point of interest for me in this book was it’s chapter on friendships and interpersonal relationships. Though Ruth does not engage readers in the art of making friends (though I feel this would have added greatly to this book), she does speak of the necessity to seek friendships that will remain vital to your well-being. And in the reverse, knowing the best ways to ditch unhealthy, one-sided friendships in order to devote time to cultivating nurturing, lasting friendships instead.

This book is a true, transparent look at how one can unclutter all aspects of your life. I highly recommend this book. If you’d like to read Unstuffed, it’s currently on pre-order at Amazon for $9.89, and will be released on April 5, 2016.

This month I was also given the opportunity to review I Want It All: Exchanging Your Average Life for Deeper Faith, Greater Power, and More Impact, by Gwen Smith.

The book intrigued in it’s simple but profound central question, “Do you struggle with sleepy faith syndrome?” If you are anything like me, the answer to this question may be an astounding yes.

The author discusses with readers her views on how easy it can be easy to dismiss God’s plans with diminutive thoughts that ordinary women, women like ourselves, cannot make a huge difference in the body of Christ, manifesting in an I can’t attitude to life.

The author gives readers a different, refreshing perspective. Stating that despite our personal shortcomings, God created each woman in the brethren of Christ to be equipped with the disposition, spirit, and ability to lead our families and communities towards lives of abundant joy, courage, and influence. We can each create new, lasting seasons of gratitude and change in our own lives. We can each be mirrors of proactive social change too!

The author leaves readers with a central note, that one can have it all when you abandon your self-loathing for a live of grace-filled purpose and significance.

I Want It All will ignite a fire in your heart to experience more faith and impact as you move forward in this next season of life, and was the perfect start to the Spring season of renewal in my own life as well.

This has been one of my favorite Women’s Christian non-fiction books I’ve read thus far this year. If you’d like to check this book out, it’s currently available on Amazon for $9.99 shipped with Amazon Prime or $9.49 on Amazon Kindle.

Lastly, I was also honored to be apart of the book tour for Sisi: An Empress on Her Own, by Allison Pataki.

This is a beautiful story. This book is woven full of drama, suspense, unrequited romances, and guilt. This book is also surprisingly based on the life story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, or Sisi as she was known to those dear to her. Elizabeth the woman, lived a fascinatingly dangerous life fatally intermingled with the ill-fated Hasburg dynasty during its final decade of decline. Pataki beautifully illustrates the better half of Sisi’s life, giving readers a tender glimpse into the mentally uncertain life of the empress.

With each chapter the reader will hope for lasting solace and fortune for the often spoiled Sisi. As I read this book I found a great deal of empathy for Sisi, as I longingly wanted her to abandon family, title, duty for a life less forced exploitation. This book is no less than a saga of words, emotions, and song.

Pataki shows the corrupt, gritty details of royal life in a way that still leaves the sophistication and romanticized spledor this dynasty is known for with each forthcoming page. The fantasy of being a Hasburg, both the grandiose and the grotesque, remains unaltered all it’s splendor. Pataki is a stickler to historical detail, which makes reading this and any of her novels a highly enjoyable experience.

So, if your looking for a refreshing take on history, this is the book for you. Currently, this book is available on Amazon for $18.48 shipped with Amazon Prime, and $13.49 with Amazon Kindle for those who wish to pick it up this Spring.

So, folks that’s what I’ve been loving this month in March. How has your month been for you? I’d love to hear about your moments, suggestions, and tidbits as well.

Here’s to April,

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My Spring 2016 Capsule Wardrobe

Hello again, fabulous frugal fashionistas! For those who may not know, when it comes to fashion and style, I’m all about practicality. So last Summer, when my journey into minimalism, I was at once intrigues by the concept of Capsule Wardrobes.

So, you may be wondering what a capsule wardrobe is? A capsule wardrobe was originally a term first coined by London stylist Susie Faux in 1972. Faux’s original minimalist capsule wardrobe sought to turn a modest number of four season wardrobe staples into a budget-friendly, utilitarian, classically-styled wardrobe. The original capsule wardrobes consisted of under 33 wardrobe pieces for the entire year.

Decades later sites such as Unfancy and Project 333, extrapolating upon Faux’s original capsule wardrobe model created capsules which now contained 33 and 37 pieces per season. Newer models contend that users can change out, replace, maintain, or add new pieces seasonally, allowing the individual style of users to emerge within four capsule wardrobe changes. For this reason I went with Project 333‘s model for capsule wardrobes.

Still, the most compelling reason for capsule wardrobes? Each piece of the capsule wardrobes stands to make the wearer look their everyday best. Capsule wardrobes completely de-stress you. Image getting dressed each morning without having to second guess yourself one single time. Oh and you save a lot of money- think not having to go shopping for three straight months!

With that said, in my experience the modern Capsule Wardrobes have not only helped me re-think my wardrobe, they have completely changed my outlook on dressing. No longer do I dread outings, fearing I will have nothing to wear. Now I look forward to getting dressed for my day. Amazing. Epic. Change.

This is minimalism in action.

So, let’s delve a little more into the capsule structure.

What’s in a 37-piece wardrobe: tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and shoes.

What’s not included: workout wear (items strictly worn to the gym, walking, running, etc.), pajamas, lounge wear (again items only worn around the house), hosiery, socks, foundation garments, unmentionables, accessories, jewelry, and handbags.

What does a capsule wardrobe represent: We’ve all done it. We buy fun new clothes, but end up wearing old favorites? Me too. Ever go to your closet and feel like you have nothing to wear, even when your closet is filled with clothes? Me too!

To me, a capsule wardrobe represents more time and energy in your morning for what really matters, and less time spent deciding what to wear, more money spent helping others , and most importantly, more personal contentment happiness, and positive body-image.

So, how do you start? Well, for me shoes. I like having about 7-9 pairs of shoes per season. Typically I’ll have: three pairs of flats, three pairs of heels, and three pairs of boots, though this past winter I went way overboard, as you can see.

My first piece of advise: fine tune your shoes! Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, even shoes!

I also like having nine bottoms: three pairs of jeans, three pairs of capris or skirts, and three pairs of slacks. I use the “rules of 3,” because I like having one casual pair, one statement pair, and one in-between pair, one carry-over from working in a professional office for most of my twenties.

As for tops, I allocate room for 15 tops. Depending on the season I’ll use the “Rule of 3,” such as in winter where I will have three sweaters, three t-shirts, three button-up shirts, three tank tops, and three hankie vests. This changes in Spring and Summer as I live in the deep south and utilize more lighter layers and tees on a more consistent basis.

Last but not least, I leave room for four jackets, coats, or dresses, which of course seasonally changes- in winter I might have four jackets, and in summer I encapsulate one jacket and three dresses.

So, where do I start?

I start by cleaning out my closet. Every last piece comes out. I then dust my shoes sleeves, shoe rack, and sweep out my closet doors and floor.
Then it’s time to purge. I go through my clothes, donating or selling back to Thredup anything that no longer fits, looks best, or makes me happy.
All remaining clothing is sorted into two other piles, love it and will wear it again next season and pieces that will be worn in the upcoming season.
Seasonal. Anything that is seasonal, wool coats, vests, sweaters, sweater dresses, and the like are stored away neatly for another season.
Re-access. Anything left in your closet should be your LOVE IT clothes. Clothes that fit just right, would be your first picks for church, vacation, work, and outings.
Access what you have and need. Make a capsule wardrobe plan, mix and match outfits, and lay out clothing together. If you are missing a piece research affordable options to replace this item, or consider trading in unworn items for those you may need.
Replace new seasonal items in your closet, all 37 pieces.
Please note, I store my coats for each season in our home’s coat closet. This is done to make coats closer to our front door. I also store scarves (in a drawer folded), handbags, clutches, and totes in a drawer. This is just what I find neater. These items are not seen in my closet, but are counted in my capsule item numbers.
Also, I store my workout shoes and gardening clogs in my closet, but as they are only for purposed working, they are stored in my closet but not counted in my capsule itemized numbers.
Two tips? Use all matching hangers to make your wardrobe look more cohesive, and per Kon-Mari (yeah, I’m a fangirl) closet rules, where you should arrange all items by order of length. With the longer items toward the left of the closet and the shortest to the farthest right side of your closet. This creates clean visible lines for your wardrobe.
After this point a shopping hiatus is in place for the next three months.
Two weeks prior to the start of the next season, I begin to plan my new capsule wardrobe. I write down the pieces that will be in my new capsule, then check my drawers and garment bags to make sure I have everything on my list. Should I need to acquire a piece, I give myself two weeks to purchase the items, as most of my clothing is purchased online. I give myself time and grace in forming each new capsule wardrobe.

So, recently I just switched over my Winter Capsule to my Spring Wardrobe and I wanted to share with you all my results. So, here’s my actual wardrobe:

Here’s my piece-by-piece breakdown:

Spring 2016 Capsule Wardrobe by theladypreferstosave featuring a grey crew neck sweater

My Spring 216 Wardrobe consists of:

Tops: Gray tee, white camisole, black bolero jacket, olive tee, blue and white stripped poplin, white poplin shirt, white long sleeve tee, white short sleeve tee, white tank top, gray sweater, gray cardigan, gray kimono shirt, and aqua hankie cover-up.
Jackets: Black leather crop jacket, khaki trench coat, and coral blazer.
Pants: White joggers, white boot cut jeans, ripped jeans, ripped denim capris, khaki capris, polka dot pink capris, gray slacks, and black slacks.
Shoes: Gold heels, black low-top Chuck Taylor’s, gold jewel slides, black peep toe booties, white and jute espadrille sandals, coral wedge sandals, and tan platform heels.
Accessories: Aqua infinity scarf, mint scarf, canvas tote, and tan wristlet. Please note, as stated above accessories do not need to be included in capsule wardrobe totals, but I did for demo reasons. Excluding any accessories my actual wardrobe is a capsule of 33 pieces.

So, that’s my wardrobe, and so far I love it. With Spring coming earlier this year I’m glad I have already made the switch and can start rocking my new pieces again!

Also, now that I’ve lived with my four distinct, separate seasonal 37-piece capsule wardrobes for the past year, I can honestly say that the once minimalist experience is now more of a lifestyle—and I’m all the better for having done so. Life like wardrobes changes so often, and I’m certain that my capsule wardrobes will continue to change as I evolve, and that’s a change I’ll always be happy to live with.

Also, for those looking for other awesome examples of capsule wardrobes, be sure to check out two of my favorite bloggers, Stacy from Humorous Homemaking (which included great staple pieces, my shared loved of all things stripped and season-less maternity wear) and Amiyrah from 4 Hats and Frugal (which showed great, trendy colder climate winter capsule staples), bravely showing their personal capsules and closets this past winter. Yes, I said brave. Any women putting her closet, family, life, and herself out there for the world to see is brave, and these women did so with such grace!

So, have you tried capsule wardrobes? I’d love to hear about what you will be wearing this season.

Love and light,

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How we save money on meats with Zaycon Chicken Breasts!

As many readers of this blog may know, teaching families how to budget for healthy, natural, organic meals is one of my great pleasures in life. While there are many ways to budget for groceries and food staples, often times meat remains one of the largest hurdles families face in terms of monthly meal planning success.

Several years ago my family was not financially stable as we are today. While in working hard to become debt-free, my family took on the task of becoming primary caretakers for my grandmother, a dementia patient. My family lived on less than $24,000 per year net income, which encompassed a meager food budget of $125.00 monthly. It was also during this time that I was diagnosed with PCOS, a syndrome which required a more healthful, natural life style. Both my grandmother and myself, due to health regulations and dietary limitations, required an increased food budget.

It was incredibly frustrating to know that the healthy food options my grandmother and I needed might be financially out of reach. But through focus and prayer, we were able to cut unnecessary expenses such as gym memberships, hair appointments, and cable funds which would be fully devoted to funding a healthier food budget.

Mind you, even with an increased food budget of $200.00 monthly, sometimes it felt life it was never enough. Sometimes we simply have to compromise. When we can’t afford organics, we would search our local stores for affordable whole foods instead. We had only one exceptions, our meats. For you see, hormone and antibiotic-free meat are essential elements to any PCOS-friendly life style.

It was also during this time that I was introduced to Zaycon Foods. The company was described to me as wholesale, seasonal, delivery service. A customer-driven, buying club that delivers to many, many locations all over the country.

So, you may be asking what’s so great about Zaycon? Well for starters, it’s where over half of my families meat is purchased from, and in fact, I have a separate money envelope dedicated to Zaycon meats!

Something I really like about Zaycon is that I can buy my meats online. I go to their site, have a quick, simple checkout process, and am given a time and date for pick-up. And as always, their delivery dates always sync up to times my husband is on break from school, which is awesome!

On pickup days, we always meet at the same location, generally a church parking lot. The Zaycon Foods delivery man is always on time, and ready for us to pick up the chicken. Drivers are always courteous, and even load goods into your trunk for you.

My favorite product, their most popular, their fresh, non-frozen, 40 lb. boxes of boneless, skinless chicken breasts–which contain no hormones, additives, or artificial ingredients. I generally pay around $1.69 lb., and under $70.00 a box, this sales event.

It’s worth noting, their prices do fluctuate, but their prices are always way, way cheaper than our local Sam’s Club and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, and you are required to buy 40 lb. boxes, as you cannot buy single pound purchases. If space is at a premium for you, think about splitting the cost with a friend!

So folks, this is what my recent box of 40 lbs. of chicken breasts looked like.

The chicken breasts themselves are big, very big. For us, two chicken breasts were plenty to feed my family of four several years ago, and with the same amount of chicken our current family of three has been able to use the extra portions chicken for leftovers and weekday lunches .

Breasts do not come individually wrapped or pre-trimmed, so you will have to play butcher on that score. This was a simple task, and only took my husband and I about an hour to marinate, bag, inventory, sort, and freeze all my breasts. Please note, we freeze my breasts in gallon baggies, pre-marinated, and ready to be added to freezer-ready meals, or in the case of this box, ready for Summer grilling.

For this box we used the following seasoning and freezer meals options: chili lime seasoning, Korean BBQ rub, orange ginger honey, bourbon bbq, soy and garlic rub, and salsa verde marinade. This box produced 32 meals.

We took this time to catch up on new pod casts from our favorite financial couple, Talaat and Tai from His and Her Money! Yeah, we like to cook and save together!

This box did end up a small amount of fat on my cutting board, but that will fry up for a yummy snack for the fuzzies!

Speaking of the baggies, each is labeled, added to my iPad freezer inventory list, and are then stored in a large, insulated freezer bag. This order is enough to fill up this bag nearly to the brim!

As always this order was top notch, and I will continue to buy again. Also, you can refer friends and family to Zaycon, and collect referral points, $1.00 for every person you refer. The more you know, the more you save!

This service helps me save $98.00 seasonally off the cost of my families chicken purchases, which is nearly half of any given months total shopping budget. Zaycon is a lifesaver for my family.

The next saving event will host chicken thighs in my area, and I will post a review for this service as well.

So, if you are thinking of trying out Zaycon in your neck of the woods, it’s worth noting that pick-up events tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to sign-up for their email lists so you can be alerted to new events in your area.

You can sign up for a Zaycon account here.

Here’s to saving,

Disclosure: I was not monetarily compensated in any way for this post. All opinions are my own.

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Why I took a break from blogging

It has been a while since I last posted something on this blog. Over three months to be exact. The truth is that I just needed a break. A long break.

There has been so much going on in my life. From expanding my local art business, to creating blocks of time to devote to writing my first book, to running couponing classes I was spent. This of course was added to the fact that these were my online activities, and my nine-to-five job. I felt I had absolutely no time left for this blog.

In full disclosure, it has also been kind of great to have days spend without thinking about editorial calendars, following the constant montage of daily deals and steals, the hours spent anguishing over sending disappointing emails to people seeking to work on collaborative events. Mind you, I did enjoy not having to focus on the disappointments of sponsors that I was expecting to get – that I did not.

There are probably twenty reasons that I justified myself in taking a break for a while, and although I won’t share all twenty of them, I know it’s important to share a the main reason why.

The main reason I stopped blogging was my second trimester miscarriage.

You see my pregnancy was not a well known fact. Aside from my in-laws and a select few friends and fellow bloggers, no one knew. This was my choice, my way of protecting myself until I knew I had a confirmed pregnancy. Even after I had a confirmed pregnancy my baby, my nesting, my decluttering became my secret happiness.

And then one afternoon my world changed. I miscarried my child.

Losing my baby though miscarriage has been one of the most difficult experiences that I have ever endured. There are no words to explain the depth of despair that I’ve felt, the shift that occurs when the hopes and expectations of a new life are gone. It has been an experience that will never make sense to me.

I know the facts. I know that approximately 15-20% of confirmed pregnancies in this country will end in miscarriage. Yet I was still hopeful. I know that some women who lose babies through miscarriage are able to move through this loss freely. I have not been able to do so. I have felt less than grounded, not ready to move forward. My mind has been cloudy. I have been unable to tell anyone how I feel. Aside from my necessary work and family obligations, my life has been on hold.

While most of these changes are purely emotional, there have been physical manifestations as well. After the initial pregnancy ending hemorrhaging, bleeding, one of the most disconcerting aspects of my pregnancy was the slow tapering of pre-miscarriage blood flow which caused my pulse to throb in my ears. It was the kind of noise that makes one feel like an aneurysm is imminent. I felt like I was dying, but in your heart you know it’s the first of many stages my postpartum body will endure.

Never has that pit in your stomach analogy rang truer than literally having an empty belly. Of course engorged, painful breasts, two weeks of hormone-induced night sweats, bouts of acid reflux, back pain induced by a retroverted uterus, an infection, and three weeks of bleeding episodes, the kind where you don’t want to leave your home were excruciating. Worst still were my feelings. My emotions have been all over the place. Starting with denial, then anger, and as of late depression. And if the grief scale is true, I hope acceptance soon follows.

For me, discussing mommy issues, homeschooling, crafting, meal planning, and the like seemed very lack-luster, totally lame. The world of blogging can sometimes be nothing short of a ticker tape of all things baby-related. I had hopes my blog would be the place I could blog about my babies first memories. I was afraid of the conversation and comments that would come as a result of this very post. I can’t tell you how many times I read the infamous six-word 1920’s flash-fiction piece by Ernest Hemingway, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It just seemed needed. It’s hard to believe it’s only been a little over a month since I miscarried. I miss my baby. Every day.

I can also tell you I’ve spent a lot of time in prayer, time in the word. Time filling the hole in my heart with the outpouring of love I’ve received from my husband and others. And I’ve tried to fill the emptiness in my gut with chocolate and mandarin oranges, a habit that will have to worked on at a later date.

Miscarriages are horrible at any stage. But this was my miscarriage. I felt my baby move, and now I feel unsettled. Late last year I started to work towards periscoping daily, youtubing weekly, then put these goals on hold to focus on building my family, and now I frankly feel as I look like a giant, fat, empty slug, with little to share with others.

This is not to say I haven’t tried to focus on the blessings I do have, my family, my husband, my home, my faith. These were just the notions are the thoughts that run through my head each night. This is just how I’ve felt. I’ve always called this blog my second child, and well, I feel I’ve failed in the mom department on that one as well. When my life fell apart, I lost my focus as a blogger. I lost my desire to work and document my life, and I hope this has helped explain why I needed time.

I believe in transparency on my blog and in life. After my miscarriage I was not comfortable with my vulnerability, and I couldn’t put my whole heart into the blog. I felt like I couldn’t keep up with everything. Namely social media, recipes, ideas, pictures, and more importantly life. I’ve screamed, cried, washed my face, and am ready to paint the barn of life again.

So, what have I been up to? I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on downsizing my work schedule. I re-read Marie Kondo’s The Life-changing magic of tidying up. I gained eleven pounds. I bought a treadmill. I noticed a few gray hairs. I didn’t color my hair. I listened to Louis Armstrong. I watched a lot of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. I created a capsule wardrobe. I ditched half my makeup. And I slept. A lot. I just needed to step back, breath, look at everything from a different view. I needed to give myself grace.

And while I’m making a laundry list of confessions, I’ve also decided to make some changes on this blog as well.

You see at the beginning of 2014, I made a halfhearted commitment to publish a blog posts and deals each and every day, sometimes in excess of ten deal posts a day. This was done to provide my readers up-to-date couponed deals.

The ante of life has re-directed my focus.

While still a frugal-minded blogger, I want to stay more consistent with my niche as a frugal living blogger. Simply put, my heart is no longer focused on couponing and deals. In fact, I have not personally shopped with coupons in the past eight months. As a result, I will no longer be posting coupon deal posts via my blog. This is being done to keep the integrity and transparency of this blog in tact. I only want to show my readers how I actually shop.

Before you ask, no my budget has not increased. I am still able to keep my monthly food budget for a family of three under $I60.00 each month. I do this by way of meal planning, shopping in reverse, price point lists, budgeting, online shopping, and digital app savings. No more, no less. I will no longer post weekend drugstore scenarios, coupon listings, and rebate forms. I will post monthly shopping haul, freezer cooking, meal plan posts, recipes, diy and upcycled posts. My reviewing will also be drastically reduced. While I will continue to blog about book, product, and subscription service boxes, the reviews I chose will only be for products that are truly my jam!

I’ve also decided to start posting editorial pieces, Weight Loss Wednesday, and DIY posts each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Meal Plan Monday’s and Sunday’s weekly Happiness is Homemade Linky Party will remain as-is, leaving Friday and Saturday’s posting schedules open and used as needed. I just want to create more quality pieces on this blog. I don’t want to end up with an abandoned blog that damages my professional and personal credibility as a blogger. While three posts per week is an arbitrary number, I do think it’s a good amount of writing.

Yesterday, I found a bunch of old posts I wrote for my first blog, The LadyPreferstoSave. I loved the frankness of these early posts. This is also not the quality of posts on this blog as of late. In 2015 I wasn’t producing my best work, and I don’t like it. I can’t tell you how many posts this past year were thrown together from a last-second idea because I had to publish something. Most was awkward at best. I don’t want to publish just for the sake of posting, because I’m supposed to do so, because my Google calendar said so. I feel I can do better than this for me, and you.

My new plan is this: to write and publish blog posts with a focus on diy’ing, cooking, creating, meal planning, store hauls, gardening, capsule wardrobes, and upcycling.

I want to share my struggles and triumphs. I want to post my actual budgetary guidelines. I want to write about living simply. I want to write about thriving. That’s truly a passion of mine, my calling. Helping others learn by my former financial missteps. I want to put more effort and care into the things I publish. And to write because I have something worth saying.

So, today I’m switching to this new model. While in some aspects of my life I may still need distance and grace, my writing is not . Having some time off from writing has given me the time to regroup, to get excited about blogging again.

I plan to blog about my raw blogging views. I’m just going to come back and do things the way that feels right. And I’m super excited about it.

Here’s to us all,