What stuck

Five years. Can you believe I started this blog five years ago? I can't either. So much has changed! I thought I would take a minute to reflect on the projects I've started over the years and talk about what worked enough to become part of my regular life. Here are some of them:

Budgeting

I'm still using the same excel spreadsheet I used to budget nearly 8 years ago. Here's a post from 2008 where I talked about how I do my budget. I absolutely couldn't handle my finances without it! I've tried other things over the years (apps, Quicken, the Dave Ramsey envelope system) but they don't work as well for me. I say, stick with what works.

Gardening

One of my biggest changes was starting a vegetable garden. This has been a great success! Here are some posts on my garden through the years, and here is a recent shot of some veggies I grew:

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I broke up with Target

It wasn't me, it was Target. Read my breakup letter here.

I started a holiday

In 2010, I started a holiday called "Decluttering Day." It even has a Facebook page!

There are more things I've hung on to, but this is a glimpse into some of the fun projects I've hung on to over the years. What have you changed for good?

2014 just might be the last year of frugal living

I began the Year of Frugal Living in 2008 when I was a newly divorced mother of 2 and 4 year old boys. Over the years, my commitment to the blog has waxed and waned, but my commitment to paying off my debt and being debt free has never faded.

Though things got tougher for me in 2011, I've never lost hope that I'd be able to accomplish my goal. Well, okay, I've never lost hope for more than a few days- I've googled bankruptcy more times than I care to admit- but in the end, I'm still working on it.

I've made some hard decisions and at this point I'm SOCLOSE to being credit card debt free (I still have student loans)- I expect to be done with it in the next 9-12 months. Because of this, I'm doubling down on my frugal living and really living cheap so I can finally be done. I thought I'd bring the blog back since I'll need support- but also because I want to celebrate it with you when I do!

So, is anyone still reading?