Yard work > house work any day. I love getting out in my yard, digging in the dirt and feeling the sun on my face. Working in the yard is by far my favorite and IMO, the most satisfying chore. But it can also be expensive and can generate a lot of waste. Over the years I’ve learned how to beautify my yard in some inexpensive and sustainable ways.
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This picture is unedited! The sky was really that blue!
My birthday this year was a big one. I turned 30. Eeek! I’ve been a little anxious about getting older, but George, my husband, softened the blow with a trip to Seattle. I didn’t know where we were going until a week before the trip, so I didn’t have much time to plan. And that was A-OK. In my everyday life, I plan like a squirrel on steroids, but I don’t like to plan every detail of trips. It takes the adventure out of it. Continue reading
I’ve been under a lot of stress at work, so when I finished up the huge conference I was planning, I threw caution to the wind and decided to go on a little weekend getaway. I’ve been on a spending fast for a while, i.e. I only spend $100 per month on unnecessary stuff. I knew this would totally blow my budget, but I did it anyway. Travel is so important to me, but I also know that if I travel too much, I’ll never save any money. It’s a Catch 22.
We did a lot of things to cut costs for this trip. Charleston is only four hours from our home so we drove there in my fuel-efficient car. I found a budget hotel and used my credit card points to book it. We packed snacks, we participated in free attractions (we found a gorgeous park and visited the beach!), we had a continental breakfast each morning at the hotel and, although we ate at restaurants several times, we also picked up dinner from a local grocery store.
We even took Bambi with us! That was an adventure, but places were much more accommodating than I imagined. And after she got used to the hotel and not barking every time someone shut a door, she calmed down. By the end of the trip, she was a road dog. We even took her on a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city. Ha-ha. I’m sure we looked insane, but I love that little girl.
How huge are these houses?!
Charleston is so pretty and I’m glad we got to share it together as a family. After the trip, I felt much more relaxed and ready to take on the world.
What are your favorite tips for budget travel? I want to hear all about it in the comments!
love,
melanie
Photo c/o Death to Stock Photos.
Whether we’re ready or not the holiday season is upon us. But with all the gift-giving and party-attending, your wallet might be hurtin’. Mine is too, friend. So this holiday season I’m looking for cheap ways to celebrate the holidays. Here’s some of my favorites free or cheap things to do this holiday season.
What are your favorite free or cheap things to do this holiday season? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
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Since this is our first Halloween with Bambi, I wanted to make it special. I had planned to make her three costumes for her first Halloween. I am an unstable dog-mamma, obviously. I didn’t have time to make her three costumes, because, well, mama has a job, but I did manage to make her one costume and find a bunch of super cheap and easy Halloween costumes for dogs.
This year I made a simple Dobby costume. Dobby is a house elf from Harry Potter, in case you aren’t a huge HP geek like me. With her ears, I think she looks just like him! I took an old t-shirt, dyed it with coffee, let it dry, then cut up the neck and sewed up the sides to fit her. Easy peasy.
Here’s my favorite cheap and easy dog costumes from the web-o-sphere! I picked them with the my fellow procrastinators in mind 🙂
Dying over this one– it’s Lamb Chop!
A M&M! Make this one even easier by using hot glue instead of sewing.
This is too damn cute! A chia pet!
Clowns can be creepy or insanely cute.
There’s no bones about it, this dog is adorable (and warm!) as a skeleton!
A bat! This one is great for those dogs who don’t like wearing something on their heads.
Are you dressing up your dog this Halloween? I’d love to hear your costume ideas in the comments!
love,
melanie
You guys. Fall is almost here. Target has put out their insanely large, insanely cute display of Back to School supplies. I’m trying desperately to stay away from it. I’m also preparing to teach a course this fall. So crazy. Feel free to refer to me as “professor.”
I’m also still on this saving money kick, but it hasn’t been much fun. I’m the kind of person who needs something to look forward to– like a trip! Since a trip is out of my budgetary reach and the summer is almost over (boo!), I created a list of free or cheap things to do this fall. I hope it will keep my spirits up, give me me something to look forward to and maybe even get you inspired and excited for fall?!
Are you ready for fall? I’m feeling a little more ready and hopeful after this list.
What are your favorite fall-themed free activities? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
I wasn’t going to post about this week’s spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash when it is cooked, really isn’t so pretty. It kind of looks like a big pile of mush. So forgive the pictures. But I mentioned that I cooked it for my lunches this week, and well, the people have spoken ;). So here it is by popular demand, my recipe for classic spaghetti squash.
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 350. Roast spaghetti squash whole for 15 minutes. While squash is roasting, salt and pepper your beef, then brown it up. Sauté the onion and pepper in olive oil. Turn burners to low. Take squash out of oven and cut length-wise. I am use an Ove Glove for this part. Best invention ever. Roast squash for another 20 minutes or until squash easily peels out of the skin with a fork. Scrape the squash out of the skin with a fork and add to the beef. Add in the onion and pepper, sauce, oregano, garlic and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.
Congrats! You just conquered the illusive spaghetti squash.
love,
melanie
This isn’t my actual budget, but it’s a good start!
Yesterday I went over 20 ways to save on a road trip. And today I’m going to take you through the details of creating a road trip budget. Creating a budget for a road trip is a little nerdy (what?! nerdy? who? not me!) and maybe a little too Type A for some folks. But I’d highly recommend it. We don’t want to come back after a relaxing trip to a mound of debt. Am I right?!
To help you figure out costs, I recommend the following:
A Travel Budget Calculator
Travel budget calculators are quick and convenient. I like to use online travel calculators like this one and this one for the initial and estimated cost of my trip. Then, I get real nerdy and create a more official budget in Google Drive. With a spreadsheet in Google Drive, I can see the hard numbers, including money I spent before the trip. If I have wifi, I can also update the costs along the way! If you’ve never created a spreadsheet in Google drive here’s a video on how to do that.
A Fuel Cost Calculator
Paying to fuel up your car is no fun– especially if you drive a gas guzzler. With the app and website Gas Buddy, pump prices are no longer a surprise. Just put your route and vehicle information into the calculator and Gas Buddy will pinpoint the cheapest gas on the route, so you know exactly where to fill up and the exact cost!
Don’t forget to factor in costs for:
Tolls
Tolls can be one of those unexpected and bummer costs on a road trip. To avoid an unexpected toll, or even worse getting caught without the cash to pay the toll, put your trip into Google Maps before you leave. Google Maps will warn you if there is toll on your route. You might be able to go around the toll, but sometimes tolls are unavoidable. Most states with tolls will have some sort of prepaid quick pass. Florida has a “Sun Pass” that makes travelling through tolls cheaper and quicker. Just a little bit of Internet searching should bring up the costs of the tolls in the states you are planning to visit.
Food
To me, food costs are the most difficult thing to budget for on a trip. I don’t know what I’ll want to eat tomorrow, so how do I know what I want to eat three months from now?! Unfortunately food costs are more of an estimation. To even attempt a budgetary number, I look at the price range of the restaurants in the area on Yelp. I know that some days a mom & pop diner will do just fine, but other days I’ll want something a little more fancy. It’ll usually even out, but I always give myself a little more wiggle room in this department.
Experiences
Don’t ever forget to budget for experiences. Experiences, like parasailing in the keys or seeing Cirque du Soleil in Vegas can really make your trip. Just do your research before you go! You might be able to find online coupons or discounts for ordering in advance.
Lodging
Lodging will probably be the most expensive part of your trip. Remember, you can ask to stay with relatives or friends, couch surf or even camp. For this trip, we’re planning a combination of budget hotels, a couple days in the lap of luxury and a couple of days camping! That way we get the best of everything! Lodging costs are fairly easy to calculate if you book all your hotels in advance. Remember to always check for discounts and shop around for a hotel. Start your search early and you could save some major buckaroos. Experts recommend booking about 6 weeks out, but for some travel locales (like the beach during the summer) I’d recommend booking much farther in advance. My favorite hotel deal site is Kayak since it searches all the travel deal sites at once!
Incidentals
It’s the law of the universe. Something is going to happen and you’re going to need a little more money than you thought you would need. It’s always better to over budget and come home with money in your pocket than come home with pockets full of sand and regret.
How do you create a budget for a road trip? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Gorgeous handmade socks by Hedgehog Fibres on Flickr
I didn’t finish my holiday challenge or stick to my strict budget of $100, but considering everything I had going on, I think I made a commendable effort. Let’s take a look back, shall we?
I ended up going over budget at $142.43, but all considering, I’m proud of the work I’ve done. Next year, I’ll start on my projects earlier, so I’ll have time for unexpected things to pop up.
I hope everyone had the best of holidays. I’ll see you all in the new year!
love,
melanie
There aren’t very many occasions in my life that I get to wear something fancy. Weddings, our anniversary, maybe. I mean, a library doesn’t really call for glitter or even heels. But during the holidays I get the urge to spice my ensembles up a bit without buying anything that won’t be worn more than twice a year.
I’ve been seeing some adorable holiday crowns on Pinterest. Gah, so many of my conversations lately have started with, so I saw this thing on Pinterest… Anyway, I wanted to recreate the look without spending more than a few bucks. Enter this pearlized branch stem from Michael’s. It cost me a whopping $1.49 and would have cost me less if had I remembered to pull up my Michael’s coupon on my phone. Michael’s always has coupons. It’s kind of awesome.
When I got home, I just bent and fashioned it into a circle that fit my head and voila! I’m totally fancy.
I can’t wait to wear this on our anniversary trip to Austin! It’s coming up so fast!
Have you made anything festive lately? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie