Our grocery bill has gone through a lot of changes in the past few years. We went from feeding two people to three and now four. At the same time, we started to prioritize our savings. So even as we need to feed more people we are frequently looking at what we spend on groceries and trying to see how we can do a better job. We shop at Trader Joe's on a weekly basis and just recently bought a Costco membership after careful evaluation. Chris and I worked up a spreadsheet with every item we normally buy at Trader... Read more →

On our way home from work most weekdays we gain a small pile of artwork and scribbles by way of preschool/daycare. Cedric comes home with a creation or two per week but Dashiell is downright industrious. Each day there are freehand drawings, photocopied coloring sheets full of color, a letter-of-the-week-themed creation, and sometimes something large and folded into thirds. One time it was a truffala tree! Especially as Dashiell starts to express his own creativity and imagination each piece of his work feels precious! But if we start collecting now we will surely need an entire storage unit to house... Read more →

Each month, Chris and I budget $100 each to spend as "personal allowance." This includes eating out/coffee/activities we do separately (we have a joint family allowance budget of $100 as well) and purchases are that wants and not needs. To keep ourselves accountable, we use Mint to monitor our spending. As an extra layer of accountability I am sharing what I spent my personal allowance on each month and whether I stayed within budget. This is my fifth month of diligently tracking my spending and being transparent about it. And it feels great! Already this year we have reduced our... Read more →

A smaller home is why we're able to live such a full life. Read more →

Hello, June! Over the past two weeks we've gone swimming SIX times. So I'd say we're in summer mode. Now that I have my summer hygge plan I'm feeling pretty welcoming towards summer. Chris's schedule has become significantly less demanding and that makes everything feel easier. Perhaps the only drawback is that I'm pretty busy at work during the summer. It's harder to stay motivated about work when Chris is able to relax more! This month my Get To Work Book ends and I need to buy another - my third! This one will take me through June 2018 which... Read more →