Posted on 21st August 2010 by Mish in family | frugal
frugal, living simply, saving money, simple life, simple living, spending, voluntary simplicity
We’ve had a little bout of consumerism here lately and it’s starting to drive me a little nuts. When we first moved to the city, I thought it would be great. No, really, I did. How fabulous not to have to drive an hour to go to the grocery store! How wonderful that we can go to lots of festivals and fairs and see and do things we couldn’t do before! How amazing that there is a bookstore full of homeschool items practically right around the corner. Simply divine that there’s a convenience store nearby so I don’t have to buy 7 or 10 gallons of milk at once.
Oh how wrong I was. What I wouldn’t give for the days when it took an hour to get to a grocery store. When I only went to the “big city” once a month to stock up on supplies. When I purchased most of our homeschool books online because it was easier to have them delivered.
Suddenly, I seem to be in stores as much as once a day for things we absolutely “need.” And my kids are starting to get the gimmes because of it. I have fallen back into old traps of getting them “just one treat” or just one thing – just because we’re there. It dawned on me just how much I am losing my way.
We we’ve been to no fewer than 10 various festivals and fairs this summer and my wallet is aching because of it. Every single journey was considered a “learning” experience but what am I teaching about our core values if I keep forking over $100 just to get into some of these events? Even going to yard sales has become an exercise in consumerism lately – granted, it’s recycled consumerism – but still! The kids always thinking that going to a yard sale is an entitlement to another toy or game. And because they’re cheap – I buy them. Now, don’t get me wrong, what I consider to be spend-thrifty, most people will probably laugh at. But even my new tendency to curb pick and get things off Free-cycle seems a little materialistic to me. What exactly do I need all of this stuff for? I fear it’s to fill a big house and to replace the things I know I’m missing in my life.
But they’re just things. And I’m getting a little tired of them.
Whether or not we choose to move to Alaska and live out our rural dream, right now I have to refocus and double my efforts to remember what living simply means. We’ve done well in reducing our main expenses, but I’d like to see our miscellaneous spending stop and start focusing on saving more. Just because we spend our money frugally or pack a lunch to go to a gazillion dollar fair, doesn’t mean we’re living simply – it just means we’re trying to get more for less. And the point, after all, is to be more and have less.
Technorati Tags: frugal, living simply, saving money, simple life, simple living, spending, voluntary simplicity
Posted on 4th August 2010 by Mish in frugal | green | health
chemicals in plastics, frugal, Glass Bottles, green, health, healthy kids, mason jars, phthalates, plastics, water bottles
I love my Mason Jars. Because of information I’ve been reading lately about the different chemicals in plastics, including phthalates, I’ve started switching most of our food storage and drink ware to glass (a tough decision to make with little kids in the house). I now use a Mason jar to drink out of everywhere. I put my coffee in it in the morning sometimes as it retains heat well, put my water in it all day and can put a lid on it and take it with me on our walks or other outings. Sometimes I feel like an old mountain man drinking moonshine out of a jar, but that feeling usually passes quickly!
Mom’s “jar of water” is now a frequent – and much sought after – site in the bottom of the stroller, especially on a hot day. I’ve also started saving smaller jelly jars for the kids to use. While buying jelly in the smaller jars isn’t the most frugal thing we could do, I buy the “simply fruit” brands because they don’t contain HFCS and because Alex needs a lesser carb count (he’s a Type-1 Diabetic).
So constantly reusing a Mason jar reduces the number of Phthalates we’re exposed to, reduces the amount of disposable cups and bottles (plastic) we use, and keeps me from wasting water washing out 400 hundred cups everyday (it sometimes seems like that!).
It bums me out a little that I constantly miss out on major product reviews and other money-making opportunities on my blog because I don’t ask my readers to buy a new thingy that will make them more frugal, healthy or green. So many blogs I see say – “You can be green and frugal, just buy this thing!” Oh well. I just don’t see the point. Just use common sense. Grab an old Mason jar. Put a lid on it. Use it. Cheap, simple, healthy and green. You can also use larger jars to store dry food and leftovers.
Here’s more info about Phthalates:
(more…)
Technorati Tags: chemicals in plastics, frugal, Glass Bottles, green, health, healthy kids, mason jars, phthalates, plastics, water bottles
Posted on 13th June 2010 by Mish in food | frugal | gardening
eating frugal, food, food budgets, frugal, frugal living, thrifty plan, USDA thrifty food plan
According to the USDA, the monthly THRIFTY plan budget for the groceries of me, my husband and our 7 children is, wait for it…$1217 a month! Holy cow! That’s the cheapest plan they can come up with. If I was LIBERAL with our spending, according to the USDA we could spend $2400 a month! Is there anyone who spends that much per month on food? If so, we need to talk.
I was also reading over at the Jeub Family about a recent NPR article that said it now costs $222,360, on average, to raise a child. One Child! No wonder people get freaked out about having kids. If I listened to stuff like this all of the time, I’d be afraid to have kids too. Seriously, how much do people think car seats cost? And really, soccer was only $35.
Would you believe that we spend less than $600 a month on food for our family? That’s less than $3 per day per person. I’ve done it on even less than that – less than $100 a week – but in the summer we buy more foods to grill than we probably should. Winter is where I really save money.
(more…)
Technorati Tags: eating frugal, food, food budgets, frugal, frugal living, thrifty plan, USDA thrifty food plan
Posted on 9th June 2010 by Mish in frugal | gardening
frugal, garden, gardening, grass, grass-cutting, lawnmowers, lawns, money, organic gardening, time
How? Tear up your lawn. No, seriously.
I hate lawns. I hate green grass, sitting there, doing nothing but waiting to be cut. And then cut again. We have a huge lawn at our new house. So much in fact that the house came with a lawn tractor. And it’s not even nice, golf course style lawn. It’s ugly, cabbagey lawn. So, as part of my urban homestead plan, I have been bidding as much lawn as I possible can “goodbye.”
What’s the point of a lawn? No one knows. I can’t find anyone who can tell me why having lawn is a good thing. In fact, a History of Lawns in America, published by American-Lawns.com tells us that it wasn’t until the American Garden Club “decided” that Americans should have nice, neat little lawns – to go along with their nice, neat “little boxes on the hillside made of ticky-tacky,” that most Americans started to grow them: “Through contests and other forms of publicity, they convinced home owners that it was their civic duty to maintain a beautiful and healthy lawn. So effective was the club’s campaign that lawns were soon the accepted form of landscaping. The garden club further stipulated that the appropriate type of lawn was “a plot with a single type of grass with no intruding weeds, kept mown at a height of an inch and a half, uniformly green, and neatly edged.” America thus entered the age of lawn care.”
(more…)
Technorati Tags: frugal, garden, gardening, grass, grass-cutting, lawnmowers, lawns, money, organic gardening, time
Posted on 17th May 2010 by Mish in food | frugal | gardening | green
city farming, food, frugal, gardening, large families, michelle hogan, michelle kennedy, organic gardening, urban farming, urban homesteading
All day Saturday and Sunday we placed compost thickly over the side yard (we live on a corner lot so most of our yard is on the side) and started planting the tomatoes and peppers I started in March. Eggplants went in as did rows of lettuce, brussel sprouts, more broccoli and cauliflower. We also placed mounds of compost over sod we dug up and planted squash, pumpkins and cucumbers.
Because we have so much yard and terrible grass, we are smothering the lawn and digging up places for the plants. We’ll see how this method works. We are trying very hard to use only hand tools and rid ourselves of gas guzzling machines (yes, getting rid of our mower is next on the list!). We hope to rely on mulching and compost to help us in this endeavor so that maybe I’m not nearly as sore next weekend as I am this weekend!
These photos are from Saturday, but we actually continued the smothering to the path on Sunday with another load of free compost from the yard waste center. If you have a yard waste center near you, check it out, don’t waste your time buying bags! This place is amazing!
Jack helps get compost out of the truck
Technorati Tags: city farming, food, frugal, gardening, large families, michelle hogan, michelle kennedy, organic gardening, urban farming, urban homesteading
Posted on 22nd April 2010 by Mish in cloth diapers | earth day | food | frugal | green
baby wipes, bathroom cleaner, earth day, earth day 2010, eco-friendly, eco-friendly paper towels, frugal, green, green cleaner, homemade, homemade baby wipes, homemade laundry detergent, homemade paper towels, laundry detergent, natural stain remover, stain remover, stains, vinegar, vinegar uses
And it’s definitely not frugal…”
I recently read about all of the things that we can buy as consumers to make our lives “greener.” Eco-friendly detergents, paper towels, bathroom cleaner, towels, place mats, you name it. Rather than encourage people to live simpler and do without, we’ve simply created a newer, more expensive marketing machine for “green” products.
I appreciate that some people would like to help and buying a name-brand expensive eco-friendly cleaner makes them feel good, but aren’t we then just contributing to the problem further?
So, instead of buying paper towels – even eco-friendly ones – use an old bath towel cut up into washcloth sizes. You can even hem them to keep them from fraying. Or if you must BUY something, buy a huge pile of rags or microfiber cloths they sell in the automotive department. Their cheap – and get this – reusable!
Make your own laundry detergent. Here’s the recipe.
Need a bathroom cleaner? Fill a spray bottle (recycled of course) with half vinegar and half water. Need a scrubbing agent in the tub? Use a little baking soda. Hate the smell of vinegar? Try lemon juice instead.
Stains in the laundry or on your carpet? Don’t go for your chemical stain stick, look for remedies that utilize rubbing alcohol (ink); vinegar (carpet); cold water (protein-based); and hot water (grease and oil) to get rid of those stains.
Baby wipes are handy. But rather than buy a bunch of disposable ones, go to the washcloth again. Place about an inch or two of water and a mild soap (Ivory liquid works great) in a bucket with a lid (ice cream buckets are perfect). Fold up a bunch of washcloths or rags and place them in the bucket. Need a wipe? Grab one out of the bucket. This method is also portable. If you don’t want to bring the bucket, use a waterproof nylon bag (the kind to keep valuables safe camping or at the beach) and place your wipes in there. Get a second one and label it or use a different color and keep the used ones in there.
Technorati Tags: baby wipes, bathroom cleaner, earth day, earth day 2010, eco-friendly, eco-friendly paper towels, frugal, green, green cleaner, homemade, homemade baby wipes, homemade laundry detergent, homemade paper towels, laundry detergent, natural stain remover, stain remover, stains, vinegar, vinegar uses
Posted on 21st April 2010 by Mish in frugal | gardening | green
earth day, frugal, gardening, green, green living, natural childbirth, organic, saving money
Get the first two chapters of Michelle’s new book, A Fine Mess: Living Simply With Children, for free! Michelle is the homeschooling mother of 7 children and has lots of humor, tips and hints for living with so many for much less. Want to try it out for nothing? Just email Michelle and put “free chapters” in the subject line.
- Bring your own bags – everywhere! This is so simple that it’s criminal that we don’t all do it already. I leave 4 or 5 canvas bags in my car at all times and just grab them when I go into a store. Have a bunch of plastic ones? Well, put them in your car and just reuse those! You don’t need to buy a fancy canvas bag like this one, from Organically Inclined! I wish that when I went to the store I wasn’t the only one around who answers “neither” when asked if they want paper or plastic.
- Don’t Buy Things! This is so simple even a baby can do it. Just don’t buy stuff. Don’t go to stores. Don’t buy things that have lots of packaging. If you must buy something – check out Craigslist.org, Freecycle.org or hit your local yard sales and thrift stores (bringing your own bags of course). You’d be amazed at how much money you’ll save by simply not purchasing things…and how kind you’ll be to the planet.
- Stay home. Don’t get in the car. Don’t drive away. Don’t go out to eat. Don’t go buy things (see above). Don’t do anything. Sit in a hammock in your backyard. Pick weeds. Do the laundry. Watch a movie. You’ll save gas, emissions and money all at the same time. (more…)
Technorati Tags: earth day, frugal, gardening, green, green living, natural childbirth, organic, saving money
Posted on 12th April 2010 by mishakennedy in finance | food | gardening | money | personal finance
food, frugal, gardening, money, personal finance
My oldest son, Matthew, called me a loser a few years back. He was 15 then. OK, he didn’t call me a “loser” specifically, but he was talking to a nurse in the emergency room about how he was thinking of going into politics when he gets older. He wants to be the president, he said.
“Hey,” I said to him after the nurse had gone, “I was going to be president when I grew up.”
I really was going to be president. I had every intention of going into politics when I was between the ages of 14 and 18. My intention was to complete college, maybe go to law school and then run for office – with the White House in full-view. To make a long story short, I went to college in DC and in essence found that I enjoyed writing about politics and being an activist more than I wanted to run for an office – and as I pointed out to my son, who was looking at me with much pity – I still have time to run for an office if I so choose. At 34, I am not even yet eligible to run for president…although the clock is ticking louder now than it once did.
“I know, Mom,” he said. “But I’m actually going to do it.” The way he said it, stung a little. He said it with such disdain, as if I had thrown away my dream. Did he just see me as a wife and mother – with no other accomplishments under my belt? Did he think I somehow failed because my dreams at 14 or 15 were not the dreams I achieved?
He did.
(more…)
Technorati Tags: food, frugal, gardening, money, personal finance
Posted on 13th March 2010 by Mish in frugal
family, frugal, money, saving
I’ve posted this one before – but it seemed very appropriate right now – so here are a few things to ponder…and please comment if you have something to add!
1. Fix-It. Don’t throw out your old VCR, DVD player, washer or whatever it is that just broke. Fix it. I recently saved our VCR (we still like videotapes) by simply removing the top and cleaning the insides with a Q-Tip and some rubbing alcohol. Not to mention the fact that no one seems to sell just the VCR anymore. I’ve replaced belts on old dryers and handles on old axes. Stop throwing away stuff just because it’s broken! Now, we did get rid of an old microwave that stopped working, but I didn’t buy a new one – we got along just fine for three years without one. Then, I came along a perfectly good one, for free, that someone was giving away.
(more…)
Technorati Tags: family, frugal, money, saving
Posted on 28th February 2010 by Mish in frugal | money | personal finance
frugal, money, personal finance
When we lived in Vermont, my husband and I decided that we couldn’t rely on just one job to provide us with our main source of income. Instead, we came up with various ideas to make money for our family. In the six years we lived on the farm we sold vegetables and berries; made and sold maple syrup; drove a school bus; fixed computers; designed and marketed web sites; wrote books and articles; baked and sold breads, pastries and pizzas and much more.
One morning in Vermont, I watched part of a Vermont Public Radio pledge drive special from a woman who talked about creating multiple revenue streams and I thought to myself, “hey, that’s what we do already!”
I just didn’t know it had a name. In fact, it was a skill I learned from a book called The Good Life
by Helen and Scott Nearing. They advocated a very similar lifestyle during the Depression.
- The first step to creating your multiple revenue streams is to not quit your full-time job if you currently have one. As soon as you start implementing your multiple streams, you can cut back on your hours or perhaps work from home, but in the beginning, you’ll need to rely on that income to get you through. If you are one of many who currently feel that while your job is safe now, but you may be in jeopardy soon – take advantage of the time and money and start implementing your multiple stream strategies right away. (more…)
Technorati Tags: frugal, money, personal finance
Please click here to download the plugin required to make recent comments work!