letters from the wilderness
Time for. a quick update! This is going to turn into an on-going list for the month so be prepared for a long post by the time April 30th rolls around. Identify need-to-buy purchases My daughter's prom tickets, dress, and up-do— My daughter decided to use a dress she bought for a previous dance, plus... Continue Reading →
I'm doing a no-spend month for April. Since I jumped in at the last minute, I'm quickly pulling together my list of things to do for this challenge. I'll be popping in with periodic updates as we move through the month. Identify need-to-buy purchases My daughter's prom tickets, dress, and up-do—While the prom tickets and... Continue Reading →
It seems like just yesterday was the beginning of March, and now it's April all of a sudden. We had to make 2 trips to Pennsylvania which impacted much of the month. 5 years ago, driving or riding in the car for 12 hours in one day wasn't too bad. Now, a trip like that... Continue Reading →
This month, I've been decluttering areas of the house. It started as a 15-minute daily declutter, however, that wasn't sustainable. Instead, I plan to declutter each deep cleaning zone once a week. I've sort of stuck to that goal which means I need to make it a regular part of my zone cleaning. What is... Continue Reading →
In my February grocery budget post, I mentioned doing a March grocery challenge. I am also doing an electricity challenge. In our area of Virginia, our electricity is supplied by Appalachian Power. In our home, all our appliances, heat pump, hot water, lighting, and air conditioning are powered by electricity. Only the stove is powered... Continue Reading →
In May 2024, I challenged myself to reduce our grocery bill. At the time it was about $1,300. At the end of January 2025, I had brought it down to $1,007. Unfortunately, for February, we were back up at $1,320.91. Granted this includes Valentine's Day shopping, dessert for my birthday, pizza from Domino's for my... Continue Reading →
Even though we've had quite a few expenses recently between a funeral, car repairs, and medical stuff, I'm focusing on saving where I can. Recently, a financial newsletter I read weekly talked about saving money as the skill of spending. I really liked that! Not buy Starbucks or Joe Beans coffee; made coffee at home... Continue Reading →
Since we redid the office, I've been mostly happy with it. Removing the wallpaper and painting the walls blue helped me feel more comfortable in our home office. But, I wasn't completely comfortable. I've been feeling frustrated about getting things done. My systems were not working and I continued to have a visual mess on... Continue Reading →
One of the bloggers I'm following, Katie of The Non-Consumer Advocate, does a regular post about her frugal doings. As I work on our spending plan and focused budget challenges, I thought I would share weekly the big and little frugal doings. 5 frugal things Cancel Spotify: We had a family membership for Spotify for... Continue Reading →
...and for now it seems as thoughyou are still summerstill the high familiarendless summeryet with a glintof bronze in the chill morningsand the late yellow petalsof the mullein flutteringon the stalks that leanover their brokenshadows across the cracked ground...To the Light of September by W. S. Merwin The kids, all the kids, except my oldest... Continue Reading →
2 dogs and a house 