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The Buyerarchy of needs

After writing Tuesday’s post and really delving into how we save money around here I got to mulling over this grand and somewhat obscure idea of needs. It’s really easy for me to preach frugal mantras like “buy only what you need” or “don’t spend on things you don’t need” or “figure out how to make the distinction between wants and needs”  when in reality following through with this is actually really really really hard to do. What happens when we lose sight of our true needs? Well, Consumerist culture has desensitized us to our true needs and so, the lines between needs and wants seem to be permanently blurred for most of us. Consumerism has done such a great job of severing our relationship with our true needs that more often than not we’re able to convince ourselves that just about any “want” is in fact a real need…

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10 things you can do right now to save money

Raise your hand if you want to start saving some money right now and start padding that savings account! Saving money is hard hard work am I right? Bills pile up, debt needs to be repaid, emergencies happen and things just need to be bought. Life isn’t simple and sometimes putting anything away at all is downright impossible. We’re a frugal family by choice. What started off as a lifestyle change to help us pay down a whopping 21k in consumer credit card debt turned into a lifelong commitment when we realized how much happier and more fulfilled we were by spending less and saving more. Once we paid down that heap of debt we started putting the same amount of money into our savings and were able to purchase our home with over a 50% down payment. Our frugal lifestyle choices not only allowed us to make debt a…

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A fabulous fathers day weekend

Morning friends! How was your weekend? I hope you were fortunate to have wonderful weather! Our forecast originally called for rain and thundershowers but miraculously until very late yesterday night the rain held off so we were able to enjoy most of our weekend outdoors. On Saturday, I ran a bunch of errands including a stop at the grocery store, the butcher and the greenhouse. Back at home I planted a second batch of lettuce which should by my estimates be ready for picking once our first batch is finished. We try to cycle our planting so that we have fresh produce on a consistent basis and reduce our quantity of food waste. This week I’m also planning to plant a second batch of potatoes so I can double my harvest in the fall. After finishing boring adult responsibilities like tidying and cleaning we took the afternoon off and enjoyed…

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Frugal Fridays: dishwashers, dumpster diving & greens

Morning folks and happy Friday Saturday! This post was supposed to go live yesterday morning but Margsy was sick overnight Thursday and we spent the morning snuggling and watching movies. Baby girl got her 18-month vaccines on Thursday afternoon and around 3am Friday morning she spiked a pretty high fever. We dozed off and on but she clearly wasn’t feeling her greatest so I put down the phone and shut down the laptop to give her as much TLC as possible. Here’s hoping that we’ve passed the worst of the side effects! We’re expecting a ton of rain this weekend which is extra disappointing since Mer is home and can’t enjoy the same gorgeous weather we’ve had having all week. Margsy and I have spent our days lounging outside, playing and getting ourselves wet with our own DIY sprinkler and dips in the pool. Her confidence in the water is…

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What I’m loving lately

This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for supporting TTBH. Morning friends! How’s your week been so far? It’s been hot, hot, hot in these parts and we’ve been taking full advantage of the glorious weather by enjoying long walks, dips in the pool and running through sprinklers. My kiddo tolerates the cold water far better than I do that’s for sure! She loves it though, so I’ve been putting on my bathing suit and playing water games with her non-stop! She’s exhausted and content by the end of the day so it’s totally worth it! Also, thank you so so much for all your thoughtful responses on yesterday’s post about finding a daycare for Margsy. I really enjoyed reading each one and will get to responding to each of you throughout the day. We’ve got another daycare interview on Friday and we’re hopeful that it’ll fit the requirements…

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Lifestyle Changes: Making the decision to send our toddler to daycare

When I was pregnant with Margsy I abruptly stopped working. I had no choice really because I knew that the moment I hit 12 weeks I’d get my cerclage and then be put on long-term home bed rest. This was the plan. We knew about it and I had zero reservations about it. When she was born Mer and I discussed how we wanted to manage her childcare. We both felt comfortable with me staying at home full-time because I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her and childcare can get extremely expensive. In some respects I think we naively assumed that raising a kid was easier than it’s turned out to be. I’m not saying it’s unbearably hard but as Margsy ages we’re realizing that our current lifestyle (single child, one and done family) isn’t necessarily ideal when it comes to her social development and general…

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Life behind the blog at 18 months

This little girl turned 18 months old! She’s walking, running, spinning in circles and trying to talk up a storm. I say trying to because although she says quite a few words most of her “talk” is still baby babble. She’s gotten to the point where her babble is continuous and she babbles right to me assuming I understand! Here’s a recap of what our life looks like right now. I wrote a similar post a couple of months ago when Margsy was 15 months old and after rereading before writing this one I was floored at how much has changed in only a few short months! 6:00 am – My alarm goes off and I head downstairs to start practicing my morning routine. The first thing I do is pop on a pot of coffee and do some reflection and meditation before I start my day. I’ve taken to…

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