Today is an interesting day. Today DH and I re-combine our households and finances after spending the last 6 months apart. We’ve each accumulated some credit card debt during this time, so today is also the first day of our budget and paying those down. Soon we’ll be looking for a “real” house as opposed to my one bedroom apartment, which is great in every respect but it really is insufficient space now that DH is back. Here’s a snapshot of what you may find here in the future:
Frugal Cooking Tips
We currently have a pretty high food budget: $100 a week. However, we use every part of the buffalo in this house, so you’ll have access to our wild and crazy strategies for making every meal stretch. We eat well and I love to cook, so don’t expect endless discussions of dried beans and rice (although I do only use dried beans – so much cheaper than canned!). I’m also pretty adventurous and like to try to make tasty things healthy, so you might find a wealth of “well, I tried this but it didn’t work so well,” posts.
Remembering Old Traditions
There are a number of forgotten home traditions we have been re-learning to prevent spending extra money on the little pleasures of life. We’ve been brewing our own beer for the past 5-6 years, and have accumulated a fair bit of stories on what works, what doesn’t work every time, and what never ever works and makes you want to cry when 5 gallons of good beer gets skunked. I’d like to branch into wine-making, so you’ll get all kinds of fun stories when we face trials and tribulations with this new DIY task. Other things you’ll find: cheesemaking, pickling, canning, sewing, crochet, knitting, the list could go on as I find more and more fun things.
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Tips
Although we have no big home-improvement projects to provide tips on, I come from a family where everything is done at home instead of done by a paid professional. Since DH’s car has been suffering some these past 6 months, you’ll hear the fun stories of our attempts to make it work without paying a shop thousands of dollars. Other minor home repairs will be tackled, and furniture repair and refinishing may also be addressed. Basically, as it comes up and takes over our lives, you’ll hear about it!
Urban Homesteading
Did I mention we’re living in a one-bedroom apartment? Did I also mention that our garden currently provides all the heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and radishes we need? Since the garden has finally been found by tomato worms, raccoons, and squirrels, you’ll be hearing an awful lot about my attempts to humanely and organically control these evil critters. Evil too strong a word for a squirrel, you say? Let me tell you, they may look cute and cuddly, but those little things turn into a hissing ball of teeth and claws when they break into your apartment and you want them out. We’ll be bringing in winter squash, turnips, and lettuce soon, and also planting new items as the winter growing season approaches (Northern Cali just has the hot, dry season and the cooler, wetter season. You can grow early spring crops all winter here).
General Savings and Personal Finance Tips
DH is something of an investing buff, he really enjoys researching and following the market. Unfortunately, we don’t have extra capital to invest yet. Hopefully, I’ll get him talked into posting some of his thoughts on what he would do if we had the money, and some of his thoughts on what we’re avoiding at all costs, even if we do have enough money for them. I’ll also be posting updates on our budgeting and progress on paying off the debts, so you can see what works and what doesn’t for an average couple on a lower income in a high-cost-of-living area.
Frugal Cooking Tips
We currently have a pretty high food budget: $100 a week. However, we use every part of the buffalo in this house, so you’ll have access to our wild and crazy strategies for making every meal stretch. We eat well and I love to cook, so don’t expect endless discussions of dried beans and rice (although I do only use dried beans – so much cheaper than canned!). I’m also pretty adventurous and like to try to make tasty things healthy, so you might find a wealth of “well, I tried this but it didn’t work so well,” posts.
Remembering Old Traditions
There are a number of forgotten home traditions we have been re-learning to prevent spending extra money on the little pleasures of life. We’ve been brewing our own beer for the past 5-6 years, and have accumulated a fair bit of stories on what works, what doesn’t work every time, and what never ever works and makes you want to cry when 5 gallons of good beer gets skunked. I’d like to branch into wine-making, so you’ll get all kinds of fun stories when we face trials and tribulations with this new DIY task. Other things you’ll find: cheesemaking, pickling, canning, sewing, crochet, knitting, the list could go on as I find more and more fun things.
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Tips
Although we have no big home-improvement projects to provide tips on, I come from a family where everything is done at home instead of done by a paid professional. Since DH’s car has been suffering some these past 6 months, you’ll hear the fun stories of our attempts to make it work without paying a shop thousands of dollars. Other minor home repairs will be tackled, and furniture repair and refinishing may also be addressed. Basically, as it comes up and takes over our lives, you’ll hear about it!
Urban Homesteading
Did I mention we’re living in a one-bedroom apartment? Did I also mention that our garden currently provides all the heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and radishes we need? Since the garden has finally been found by tomato worms, raccoons, and squirrels, you’ll be hearing an awful lot about my attempts to humanely and organically control these evil critters. Evil too strong a word for a squirrel, you say? Let me tell you, they may look cute and cuddly, but those little things turn into a hissing ball of teeth and claws when they break into your apartment and you want them out. We’ll be bringing in winter squash, turnips, and lettuce soon, and also planting new items as the winter growing season approaches (Northern Cali just has the hot, dry season and the cooler, wetter season. You can grow early spring crops all winter here).
General Savings and Personal Finance Tips
DH is something of an investing buff, he really enjoys researching and following the market. Unfortunately, we don’t have extra capital to invest yet. Hopefully, I’ll get him talked into posting some of his thoughts on what he would do if we had the money, and some of his thoughts on what we’re avoiding at all costs, even if we do have enough money for them. I’ll also be posting updates on our budgeting and progress on paying off the debts, so you can see what works and what doesn’t for an average couple on a lower income in a high-cost-of-living area.
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