I covered seedlings in the garden with glass jars to help them grow faster. They work like mini-greenhouses in the garden and I have found that covered seedlings grow three times faster than uncovered ones. I have been using smaller canning jars in the past, but I am starting to keep other miscellaneous glass jars that…
While some of you were inside during the coldest winter recorded in the last 25 years in the U.S., I spent as much time as possible working in the garden trying to get things done before spring officially arrives. I realize that our current temperatures are summer temperatures for some of you (!!!) I…
I read an e-book from the library. We started using IXL via the library accounts. This is a huge savings versus paying for the site. We’re still learning how much it covers and how it works, but as I was considering signing up for this site in a few months anyway, so I’m happy to have…
I got some fresh air and exercise in my own backyard while I worked in the garden. Rain was expected this week, so I turned off the drip irrigation and sprinklers on our assigned watering day before the rain started (it came the day after). I put out buckets to collect rain for watering pots…
I turned off the irrigation to the garden when it rained the day before we are supposed to water, saving a day’s water outside. I also collected warm-up water from the shower and used it to water potted plants on my patio. I harvested lemons and Swiss chard from the garden. I got some free…
Have you ever dreamed of your ideal life? Take a minute. What would it look like? What would you do with your time? How would you live? Are you living that now? Most of us would say no. We would decide that’s just not how life is (sigh) and return to life as normal. While…
My white Iceberg roses turn this lovely shade of pink when it gets cold. I worked diligently to organize my four main areas of clutter to keep me more content in my home (without spending anything). I saved shower warm-up water and used it to water potted plants in the garden. I cut green…
I made Christmas cookies using ingredients I had on hand. I cooked a turkey and used it for several meals, including using it to make tacos. I made cheese balls using chives and parsley from the garden for our Christmas lunch. Christmas dinner was a very simple affair; my husband cooked a ham (that had been…
We finished putting up the last of the Christmas decorations: I hung faux wreaths I already had and my son put up our LED lights out front. We did not hang lights on the roof but decorated the trees and bushes in the yard instead. We put them on a timer so that they shut off…
I’ve been taking a couple of online photography classes (purchased on sale at 30% off each in the last couple of months). One of the students from one of the classes who lives in another state was visiting our city and looking for couples to photograph for a sunrise session. I spoke up quickly. My husband…
My biggest frugal accomplishment for this past week was not paying a designer to redo my website, but instead taking the time to learn how to use a completely new program on my own. I did have to pay quite a bit to have my content all moved over from a completely different platform (about…
I’m thankful for the chance to make changes and do things differently. I’m thankful that we can choose to make changes in our lives immediately, instead of waiting to start at the beginning of the year or even the beginning of the month. We can start today. We can choose to lose weight now, be…