may spending freeze: a recap

yesterday marked the last day of our may spending freeze & today i thought i'd share a little recap of our experience in saying no to most purchases, regulating needs versus wants & finding contentment in what we already have. 

before the month started, i shared what the spending freeze looked like for our family & part way through the month, i shared an update. 

overall, the spending freeze was a huge success.

we cut way back & saved over $1k toward unexpected expenses & debt accrued from earlier in the year. our regular monthly budget is not extravagant (we don't have cable & we rarely eat out), but we realized that even the slightest spending toward a red box movie & to-go coffee really adds up. 

we maximized the use of what we already owned, parted ways with excess & felt the slightly uncomfortable pull to say no to those extra purchases. 

surprisingly, i also saved a lot of time not spending money. instead of purchasing things i thought we needed, i spent my time cleaning out our closets & organizing our spaces to accommodate our lighter living. 

i did mess up a few times. 

i purchased a few pieces of clothing for our upcoming europe trip & my summer capsule wardrobe. we also spent a few bucks over our date night budget celebrating a friend's birthday. 

despite a few hang ups along the way, we learned a lot about our spending habits:

- like i said before, i gained a lot more time not spending money. i used that extra time to organize, purge, enjoy hobbies (reading, practicing calligraphy) & simply rest. 

- gifts are a necessity to our budget. i am a giver by nature & love gifting even the simplest of gifts to friends & family. the void of that extra $30 each month to spend on others really left me feeling down. that giving category is no longer a non-negotiable in our budget; it's a necessity.

- date nights are key to our marriage sanity. although we kept our date night budget & just trimmed it back slightly, we really wished we had kept the $60 instead of $40 for the month. date nights are a way for us to connect outside of the home & celebrate over good food. every date night is sacred & a necessity to the health of our marriage. 

- the garden is an amazing way to cut down on the grocery budget. we spent far less this month than during the winter months eating fresh salads & vegetables from the garden. we love harvesting baskets full garden goodies & it's a great way for us to connect after a long day.

 - we will do this again. it was an effective way for us to get back on track financially & a fun experiment for our family. 

i'd love for you to share what you learned during your spending freeze!

love,

natalie

tips for making dinner prep easier

i've tried denying it for quite some time, but let's face the truth.

i'm not crazy about cooking dinner. 

when dinner time rolls around, i oftentimes feel exhausted & irritated. i am a morning person afterall! i used to hold myself to so many expectations for dinner. needless to say, i've trashed some of those expectations over the years & found my rhythm in the kitchen.

today i thought i'd share some tips i implement into my daily routine for making dinner prep much easier! 

1. MEAL PLAN: here's my thorough blog post on meal planning & oh boy, does it make the week easier! i buy exactly what i need from the grocery store once a week & plan what we will eat around our weekly schedule. 

2. TAKE NOTES: when meal planning, i take notes on what needs to be done the day before or morning before that evening's supper. i check the meal plan that evening & thaw my meats, cut vegetables or prepare the crockpot for tomorrow's dinner. 

3. CROCKPOT MEALS: crockpot meals are your friend. we have 1-2 crockpot meals per week & they make eating dinner at home possible during those busy evenings. 

4. CANNED GOODS: i often opt for the fresh option, but i stand strong in purchasing canned beans. i used to soak & crockpot our beans, but i've since started purchasing pre-cooked canned beans. they're affordable & so much easier.

5. LIST OF EASY MEALS: use an evening this week to jot down a list of easy meals. on those nights when you have very little time to cook, prepare an easy meal! one of my favorite is nacho night. i throw out tortilla chips, a handful of toppings & melt with shredded chips! so easy & delicious!

6. RICE COOKER: my family gifted me a rice cooker for christmas & i use this kitchen tool all of the time. it cooks our rice perfectly & has the option of delaying cooking time so that our rice is warm right when we're sitting down to eat. 

7. PREP RAW INGREDIENTS IN BULK: when harvesting salad from the garden, we always harvest enough for the week. it makes washing, chopping & preparing much easier than doing this task every single night. this can also be done for supermarket purchased goods. prep your fresh ingredients once a week for the entire week to make meal prep easier. 

8. SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY: sharing the responsibility of cooking & cleaning is key. when i cook, my husband always washes the dishes. it lifts the weight of cooking at home tremendously & i feel incredibly supported by his willingness to contribute to our home life.

what are some of your tips for making dinner prep easy peasy?

love,

natalie

u-pick strawberries & my homemade strawberry jam recipe

over memorial day weekend, we took a trip to our friends' farm for an afternoon of berry picking!

throughout the spring & summer months, we always try to set aside time to pick our two favorites -strawberries & blueberries. we love supporting our fellow farmers' u-pick farms because we know they can grow berries much better than we could given our available space.

to find a u-pick farm, ask around or visit your local farmers' market & ask the vendors. (i find that the websites listing u-pick farms are often outdated & unhelpful).

i use our strawberries in a variety of ways. i typically freeze large freezer bags full of berries for smoothies, pies & more. i also like making berry simple syrups & canning jam for gifts!

when we arrived home from our berry picking afternoon, i got right to work canning 20 pounds of strawberries!

today i thought i'd share my strawberry jam recipe for you!

homemade strawberry jam recipe

(one batch makes about 6 quart size jars)

ingredients:

8 cups strawberries, tops cut off

1 box sure-jell fruit pectin

7 cups sugar

1. prepare your jars as usual. here's a great resource for basic canning/preparing jars.

2. measure strawberries & add to large stockpot. crush strawberries thoroughly. 

3. add pectin to fruit in stockpot & mix until well combined. bring to a full rolling boil (a boil that continues even when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

4. add sugar to fruit mixture & stir until sugar is fully dissolved. return to a full rolling boil & boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

5. remove pot from heat & skim off foam with a large spoon.

6. ladle prepared jam into prepared jars immediately, filling to 1/4 inch from top of jar. wipe rim & screw lid on tightly. place in canner & cover in water.

7. process as usual. (i process my jam for 15 minutes).

8. enjoy for up to one year!

what are some of your favorite recipes for farm fresh strawberries?

love,

natalie

happy memorial day weekend!

happy memorial day weekend, dear friends!

i am signing off here to spend the day with family grilling, chatting, pooling & more! 

i hope the same for you! xo.

love,

natalie

to the new mrs. wolfe: a vintage-inspired bridal shower

friends, it's time to celebrate!

earlier in the spring, i co-hosted a beautiful shower for my dear friend, tori. 

this weekend is tori's wedding (yay!) so i wanted to honor her by sharing some of the details of her sweet afternoon with you!

together with tori's mama & my mom, we created a sweet & lovely space to celebrate the new mrs.! 

tori's mom & my mama made a spread of the most amazing food. we paired antique glass pieces with vintage platters to give the space that vintage charm we all love.

i purchased cardboard letters from the craft store & covered them in gold glitter & decoupage to create the "mrs" for the wall. i spent the evening making paper flowers for her shower & added handmade bunting for a pop of color.

throughout the shower, we displayed fresh flowers & potted bulbs.

the cake was custom-made just for tori's shower & we paired it with fresh strawberries, spiced nuts & petit fours to create a fun dessert bar!

when i first started this blog, tori was my first of (maybe) five blog readers. she's always been an inspiration & encourager of my creative life. it's amazing to see how this little online space has grown along with our friendship.

2006-present

i have been waiting for this exciting weekend for nearly seven years! nick & tori, we cannot wait to party with you!

congratulations to the new mr. & mrs. wolfe!

love,

natalie

may: currently

 

currently, we are:

+ harvesting baskets full of lettuce, radishes, beets, turnips, spinach, arugula & more from the garden

+ admiring our first farm fresh flower bouquet of the season 

+ learning a lot from our may spending freeze

+ enjoying the sight of baby bunnies in the pasture

+ savoring dinnertime on the patio

+ reading our favorite books late into the night

+ picking peonies from my mother-in-law's garden

+ making packing lists & preparing for our summer adventure throughout europe (!!!)

 + working long hours in the studio (n) & working long hours at the farm (l)

+ snacking on my new favorite - gluten free pretzels from aldi's 

+ bbqing with friends on the weekends

+ waking up early for a good run before the day starts

+ spending more hours out than in

what are you currently doing? please share!

love,

natalie 

may spending freeze update

if there's one big thing i've learned thus far during my may spending freeze, it's this:

i am really good at collecting crap.

without any real effort at all, junk begins to pile up & our home feels like it might bust at the seams. i spend money on crap i'll rarely use because it feels good to buy stuff. the thrill of that new thing begins to fade so i replace that dull feeling with another new shiny toy & of course, the cycle continues.

i've learned a lot about myself during this may spending freeze & actually, quite a bit more than i thought i might. 

for example, it's been hard to challenge what we need versus what i want. 

i've also learned that "consumer" is a large part of my identify, which in itself has been difficult to swallow. 

i've had quite a few wins so far, though.

i resisted the urge to buy new sheets after a large hole appeared in our fitted sheet. as i was sorting through donations from a friend, i found a lovely new set of blue sheets that matched our bedding & fit our mattress perfectly. win win!

i've organized & purged almost every corner of our home. it feels good to have more space to breathe.

the junk i collected from my organization/purging spree was put into a yard sale. my efforts paid off when at the end of the weekend, we made over $500 towards our europe trip. yay!

i've also been able to enjoy what we already have. i've read books & enjoyed a glass of iced tea on our patio.

& perhaps the biggest win is the time i've saved from not shopping. i knew i would save money during our spending freeze, but i never thought i'd save so much time from not shopping. it takes an incredible amount of time to drive to target, wander the aisles, buy that unneeded item, check out, drive home & put it somewhere to collect dust. 

we've still got a couple of weeks left in this month-long experiment, but i am learning that the reward is much richer than the perceived sacrifices. 

i'd love to read how you're doing in your spending freeze! please share in the comments & use the hashtag #mayspendingfreeze on instagram!

love,

natalie