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:

(feel free to follow me on instagram)

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?

clutter versus minimalism

Clutter and minimalism don't agree. When I think of clutter, I think of Hoarders- chaos, mess, and items that should be thrown away. But I also like the look of combining interesting things, like the image below from one of my favorite blogs, Design Crush:

image (and related post): http://www.designcrushblog.com/2012/03/20/little-corners/

On the flip side, when I think of minimalism, I think of another favorite blog- Zen Habits. and an empty room, maybe all white, very serene and almost clinical.

I've always been drawn to simplicity and oddly comforted by a mess. When I have a mess, it's usually because I'm in the midst of a project, or have been having too much fun lately. I sometimes fall asleep amid a  pile of books and I love that. But the other side of me gets very stressed out and overwhelmed by messes, and craves that quiet simplicity of minimalistic design. 

Since 2012 began, I've been attempting to declutter by using a program called 40 bags in 40 days (clearly it's taking me longer than that but whatever) that chooses one cluttered spot- a closet, a drawer- and you attack that spot with a garbage bag and images of Hoarders fresh in your head. I've met with great success doing this and now that I only have my car left on my original list, plan to start over again with 40 more bags. 

But my goal is to end up with something like the above- not empty, but deliberate and thoughtful and clearly referential to who we are as a family.

One Day at a Time

Image Flickr user quibus

I am an obsessive planner. I mean, who starts a blog called The Year of Frugal Living other than an obsessive planner? I cannot just do anything- for example, rather than just declutter my house, like a normal person, I did two things:

• started a 40 bags in 40 days project that I posted on facebook and got friends to join in
• started a holiday called "Decluttering Day" (it's coming up, actually!)

Normal people probably don't try to start holidays to clean their house, but that's how I've always been. I need to do everything as a group. Once, in 7th grade, I had a religion. With followers. Like a cult. Anyway.

So I'm trying to stop that. Not because it's a bad thing, but it's just really hard to do anything so big all the time. It becomes exhausting and you burn out. You stop on bag 36. I'm trying really hard to focus on the day at hand, try to make decisions based in the moment, and be happy and stop making everything into a huge deal. It goes against my very core, but I'm trying.

(Here's the link to Decluttering Day's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Decluttering-Day/119658034721388)

Top ten ways to save money at the grocery store

1. Don't bring the kids.
2. Don't bring the kids.
3. Don't bring the kids.
4. Don't bring the kids.
5. Don't bring the kids.
6. Don't bring the kids.
7. Don't bring the kids.
8. Don't bring the kids.
9. Don't bring the kids.
10. Don't bring the kids.

Photo: flickr user tjdewey

Just kidding. Here's my real list:

1. BEFORE YOU GO: Check to see what you need. Look through the fridge and pantry, and think about what you have going on that week. You may only need a few meals or a few ingredients to go with the things you already have.

2. Eat before you go so you're not hungry. In fact, try on pants that are too tight before you go. That'll kill your appetite.

3. Buy produce with the different shelf life expectancies. Buy some items that last 1-2 days (strawberries) and some items that will still be fine in a week (apples).

4. Buy one or two choices for breakfast each week- everyone can have bagels for a week. Too many choices= making too many different foods and increases the chance of some items going bad.

5. If you buy fish or meat, only buy 1 or 2 meals worth, and do vegetarian/frozen items later in the week. Again, less chance of food spoiling.

6. Have fun trying to make meals out of food already in the house. I use the ingredients search on allrecipes.com to see what I can make. Example: I had raw pumpkin seeds and coconut (who knows why) and it gave me a great granola recipe.

7. Buy items you use frequently in the large size. There's no point in buying a small jar of peanut butter every other week. Check the price per unit on the tag to see the best price for comparison...

8. ...BUT only buy large items if you use the item frequently. It's not a bargain to buy a huge bottle of russian dressing because one day you wanted to make reubens.

9. Check the yesterday's baked goods rack for steals- just don't leave the tag on your mom's birthday cake you snagged for half off (yes, this happened).

10. Don't bring the kids. I wasn't kidding.

Digging out

Image: flickr user Chiot's Run

It's Spring! That means many of my favorite things- starting the garden, spring cleaning and decluttering, the return of fresh fruit and vegetables... and that feeling of new beginnings that motivates me like no other. It's been a long, rough winter and I'm ready to start making progress on my goals again- paying off debt, getting back in shape (holy 10 lbs of winter weight gain, batman!) and spending more time doing things that make me happy. This blog makes me happy, so step one- check!

Making lists

Like any mom/working mom/person in the world, I have 8 million things to do, an hour to do it, and I'd really rather be drinking beer and watching the Real Housewives of...well...anywhere but here.

The past few days I've really been plowing through those things to do thanks to some really adorable to do lists my dear friend Lisa gave me. I couldn't find the lists for sale online but they are designed by Mary Kate McDevitt, who has a great etsy shop that sells some chalkboards that are very similar to the notepad I have:

I don't have these, but they are super cute too:

What's your go-to for to-dos? A mix of systems or something you use religiously?