{A simple, green, homeschooling family of six learning to thrive with less on a modern-day Iowa homestead.}
Last week, I told you all that I am back on the Frugal Girl’s Food Waste Friday bandwagon. I’m very pleased with my food waste from last week! I did go through my fridge and found a few nasty things to throw out, but overall, we managed to eat up all the leftovers and that [...]
It’s Frugal Tuesday! I feel like I’ve been in a massive spend money mode lately. Between Christmas, my daughter’s birthday, and a mini vacation to Chicago {including Trader Joe’s, Ikea, & the American Girl Doll Store}, buying boots for myself, and drooling over Le Creuset’s 7-1/4-Quart Round French Oven {anyone want to send me one [...]
Last year about this time I joined up with The Frugal Girl and wrote weekly posts about my food waste for quite a while. It seemed to help me minimize my waste, but eventually I got away from the posts, and my food waste has risen recently again. Since one of my goals for 2013 [...]
Here’s my weekly frugal update… Last week I braved Black Friday with my mom – on our own terms. We slept in, had a nice breakfast, and headed out. We spent most of our time at Salvation Army, where I bought a mountain of clothes for $30. All clothing was 50% off- my favorite day [...]
Happy Tuesday! Today’s Frugal Tip is all about Gift Cards. Buying gift cards this time of year can be a great way to save money because there are all kinds of incentives around the holidays. Here are some of the ways I’ve saved money in the past buying gift cards. 1. If you’re lucky enough [...]
I found out yesterday that Thanksgiving is NEXT week already. I thought I had another week. November’s been crazy this year. Between the election, Ben’s 7th birthday yesterday, and Sara’s hip dysplasia follow up appointment yesterday as well, I have had other things on my mind. When I realized that NEXT WEEK is Thanksgiving already, [...]
I am a HUGE advocate of using natural, healthy, green cleaning products in my home and I’ve been using them exclusively for last 5 years. Over the years, I’ve put together a great GREEN CLEAN TEAM and have a lot of experience staying away from chemically laden cleaners. Products in my Green Clean Team: Heinz [...]
I can’t believe it’s November already! I love the beginning of each new month primarily because our budget starts over. To help keep us on track, we are a mostly cash family. We do use credit cards for our business and some online shopping {I use a credit card to pay for my Azure Standard [...]
Welll…here’s my confession. Garden = abandoned. I have NOT even cleaned it for winter yet. Oppps!!! I keep thinking I’ll get out there and do it, and then I don’t. It’s a mess, and I’ll even show you! The good news is, I did get another surprise garden haul yesterday: Broccoli, kale, a radish {I [...]
After my plea last week for help, I found out that a lot of you really enjoy the frugal living aspect of my blog – an element that has been lacking a bit recently. So for those of you who like frugal tips, I’m starting a new series called Frugal Tuesday. I hope to update [...]
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
