row of empty grocery carts

How We’re Keeping Our Food Costs Low Despite Inflation + Rising Food Costs

Like the rest of the world, we have not been immune to rising food costs, empty grocery shelves, and inflation occurring on everything from our heating and utility bills (which were already on the high side due to our home being older) to the gas we put in our vehicles (which was already more expensive …

open fridge

Zero Food Waste Challenge {1}

Several years ago, when we were on a very tight budget, I started looking into all the different ways I could possibly think of to get our grocery bill down as low as I possibly could. I clipped coupons, only shopped the sales, made basically 99% of our meals, and cooked and baked as much …

budget family room makeover

Back Family Room Makeover {w/ Before + After Pics and Cost Breakdown}

I know I’ve been promising house updates and before and after pics for several months, but now that my first flower farming season is finally starting to wind down, I’m able to focus a bit on the house again and actually follow through on that promise. The majority of our big house updates that we …

What I Learned From Decluttering 1,001 Things {Final Decluttering Report}

If you’re new to this series, in 2021 I’ve been working on decluttering 1,001 items from our home as part of one of my goals for my 101 in 1001 list. Back in 2013, I did a massive decluttering project I called 50 Weeks to Organized, where we got rid of approximately 50% of our …

cluttered master closet

Declutter 1,001 Challenge: Progress Report #4

If you’re new to this series, I’m currently working on decluttering 1,001 items from our home as part of one of my goals for my 101 in 1001 list. Back in 2013, I did a massive decluttering project I called 50 Weeks to Organized, where we got rid of approximately 50% of our belongings. Since …

shelves of goods for short-term food storage

Food Storage 101: Short-Term Food Storage {aka, Creating a Revolving Pantry}

This is part two in a 4-part series I’m doing on food storage and emergency preparedness, which is something our family is currently working on. The first post was all about how to actually AFFORD to build up your food storage (and why it’s important to do so), and this post is going to be …