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About Me

Hello! I'm a stay-at-home mom with a passion for personal finance and healthy living. Join me as a I explore budgetting, eco-friendly brands, gluten-free recipes, capsule wardrobes, and everything in between! Want to learn more about me? Subscribe below and check out the About tab!

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This upcoming Tuesday will mark eight years of wedded bliss for my husband and I.....wait, let’s start this over......this Tuesday will mark eight years of my husband and I choosing every day to make each other a priority, learning how to be the best partners we can be, and loving each other in a more meaningful way than when we started in our marriage. That’s more like it. 💯 When Ryan asked me to marry him just two hours after buying this engagement ring shown here, he was a senior in college! What!?!? And not like how I’m currently a senior in college, but the expected college senior age of 22. I was just about to turn 24. We were relatively young for our peer group, just starting to figure out adult life, and not making much money at all. So aside from the fact that we’re vowing to spend the rest of our lives together, purchasing this ring was a big deal for a college senior working a part-time job. Today, Ryan is 31 and I am about to be 33, and we are very comfortable in our current financial status. And now that more of our peers are married, I’m hearing about the concept of upgrading your engagement ring and/or wedding band to match your current preferences, lifestyle, or income level. And it made me think about if that is something I should consider. I loved my ring the first time I saw it, and I love it today, but it is far from being a show-stopper compared with many of my peers’ own rings. So my question to myself was, “is upgrading my own ring something I would want?” And my answer is a solid no. We have upgraded a lot of things in our life to match our income and lifestyle - our vehicles, our furniture, and our food, come to mind. But I like the idea of my rings being a snapshot of who we were when we got married. Because it also represents who we are today. Ryan did not go into debt buying the ring, we factored it into our overall wedding costs when we set our budget, and it’s relatively simple. All that being said, your worth is not based on the clarity, cut, carat, and color of the gemstone on your finger. Or lack of a gemstone on your finger, for that matter. You are not defined by what you own.

Striving towards a low waste lifestyle with a family full of picky eaters has been one of my greatest challenges in a more intentional life. It is incredibly important to me to buy food with less packaging as this is the biggest source of garbage our family creates within the home. But it is also important to me that my family enjoy what they’re eating and it provides nutritional value. We’ve been able to find a really good balance lately, so I thought I would share a peak into our pantry on this #lesswastewednesday and talk about what I purchase, how I purchase it, and what I make with those ingredients. I’ve been cooking primarily plant-based at home with some chicken or eggs here and there. James and Emma eats cheese/sliced deli meat at lunch and Ryan has yogurt for breakfast, but otherwise I’m sticking to fresh & frozen produce, plant-based dairy, and lots of bulk dry goods. That’s what you see in the labeled jars. Keeping this jars stocked means I always have the base ingredient for most recipes. I bring big cotton bags to the bulk bins at Sprouts once/week to get at least 4 cups of whatever we’re running low on. Nuts, seeds, beans, rice, coffee, oats, etc. are purchased year-round, regardless of the planned menu because I know I’ll always need them eventually. I purchase spices in the same manner because I’ve been out of cumin way too many times when I go to make a chili, curry, or taco-something. About every 2-3 months I visit Costco to purchase the bulk packaged goods we still enjoy - snack bars for the kids at school, GF pasta, tortilla chips, cooking oils, frozen fruit, and cauliflower crust pizza for the nights when dinner just doesn’t come together. After my Sunday morning grocery run, I get into meal prep mode so we have enough ready-made items for the week. This week’s menu includes: - oatmeal for breakfast - rice/beans/sautéed veggies for my husband’s lunch - cauliflower soup and kale & cabbage salad for my lunches - veggie chili and vegan cheese sauce to make chili cheese nachos & mac n cheese for a few evening meals - a veggie noodle soup that comes together in 10 minutes (Continued in the comments)

One of the criticisms I’ve heard of minimalism is that, when it comes to sentimental items, you have to be heartless; that there is no room for mementos when you are living a minimalist lifestyle. But I have found that is not the case. If anything I am more discerning with what I keep, and those items bring me more joy than if I held onto everything that came across my kitchen countertop. And that extra joy comes from taking these special items out of storage and giving them a purpose in my home. Here are a few examples: 1. The “guestbook” from our wedding - river rocks with handwritten messages from our guests live in this lamp, and I get to sit next to at least once a day. 2. A family portrait painted by my friend Tess. A previous version when it was just Ryan, Maddie, and I lives behind this updated one. 3. A wine glass from my wedding with my dress and shoes painted on it. I use this every time I drink wine or kombucha as I have no other wine glasses. No need to keep the dress or shoes when I have this lovely reminder! 4. Another piece of art from my friend Tess, bearing the nickname of the room we shared in college and all our inside jokes. This lives in my bathroom cabinet for me to see twice a day when I do my skincare ritual. 5. My favorite childhood stuffed animal, Woof Bear, that James adopted as his own when we was a baby. He renamed him Ba-bee (phonetic spelling) and cuddles him every night. 6. The family photo display I made using IG photos and a branch from our backyard. This lives above the couch, and we spend at least a few minutes a day turned around on the couch, looking at all the photos, especially the ones from when James and Emma were babies. Without a doubt, there is room for those items that hold memories when you practice minimalism. Try bringing some of your favorite mementos out in the open (if they are not already) and find a way to enjoy them regularly, if you deem they are important enough to take up space in your home in the first place.

Minimalism isn’t just about getting rid of things. But for me, this is where I needed to start before I could build the life I wanted. A big move (Florida to Alabama) and a big job change (full-time student housing professional to full-time stay-at-home-mom) prompted my big declutter. But you don’t need a big life event to prompt the last big purge you will ever need to do. If you have a junk drawer, you can start right this moment. Put on a podcast, a show you’ve seen a million times, a playlist, just put your phone down, and dump everything out that drawer. Wipe down the interior of the drawer with a cleaning spray and a rag. Start sorting through the items from that drawer and ONLY put back what you really need to keep. You might find some of those things could have a better home than that drawer. Tape goes with other office supplies on a desk, loose change in your car for the parking meter, receipts can be stored digitally as photos in your phone. Anything project or task-related should not go back in the drawer. Leave it on a visible surface to motivate you to complete it immediately. Maybe even right after you’ve replaced the newly organized, or better yet, empty drawer, you can tackle that project. Then set a limit on your phone for how much time you can spend on Instagram (if you don’t know how to do this, Google it). The next time your limit message pops up, set down your phone and tackle another drawer or your vehicle or a closet. If you have time to scroll through your Instagram feed, you have 5 minutes to clean out a drawer. You have all the time you need to make a big purge happen when you decide to make pursuing the life you want a priority. But first, let’s get our surroundings managed and get rid of all the things in that life you don’t want.

I have done some form of a capsule wardrobe for the kids their entire lives. In the beginning it consisted of gifted and hand-me-downs, but as they’ve gotten older, it means me intentionally choosing things to purchase for them. And while that looks prettier, it is a lot more difficult. In the past, I stressed about finding things secondhand, saving money by shopping out of season for sizes they will wear later, storing things in multiple bins that they couldn’t currently wear, trying to justify buying $50 pants from an ethical children’s clothing maker that they will get dirty immediately and only wear for a year if I’m lucky (I never actually bought the pants). So now I just go online to a store like Carter’s or Target and buy what we need for the upcoming season in one big purchase. No guessing about sizing or what they might need. No stressing about not choosing an ethical maker. They typically have a few items that still fit from the previous cold/warm weather capsule, so I’ll buy enough to create 8-9 outfits total. And that’s what we have now in this current cold weather capsule they’ve been wearing since late October; they each have 9 tops and 9 bottoms to pick and match. Plus a few sets of pajamas and underwear to make it through the week. I store out of season clothing that might fit again for the upcoming season in a plastic bin under their beds. I’ll pull it out when it’s time to assess for warm weather in March/April. It’s uncomplicated and fairly inexpensive for us. I’ve been doing it this way for about three years. As I mentioned it’s also easy enough that it allows the kids to pick out their own clothing each day as well as pack for trips. We all also share the responsible of putting away clean clothing. I did it this round as you can see by the color organization and neatly folding pajamas. The cost breakdown because I know you’re thinking #butwhatdoesitcost is $177 for cold weather clothing, $18 for this clothing rack and it’s twin hiding disassembled in the corner of the closet, $20 for the striped hamper, and $5 for the paper garland I bought originally as decor for the kids’ 1st birthday for a total of $220.

One of today’s plant-based meals for #huntsvilleveganchallenge is a family favorite - @ohsheglows Ultimate Green Taco Wraps served with a side of pineapple and mango. Learning that can I make a taco meat substitute using lentils and walnuts has been huge in getting the whole family on board for more meat-free meals. I think cooking plant-based can be intimidating, but I find it eliminates one very big factor you often don’t consider that goes into meal prep - handling raw meat. You have to be very careful to keep it separate from other foods, you can’t use the same tools for everything without thoroughly sanitizing them, it’s a whole thing. Eliminating this burden just makes meal preparation feel so much easier. Not to mention the savings by adding more plants and less animals. If you’re wondering #butwhatdoesitcost to make an organic, vegan meal, 8 servings of this meal is $19.56 from Kroger while 8 servings of conventional ground beef & shredded tacos from Kroger is $23.46. Full disclosure as I added up these items, I completely expected the conventional meal to be cheaper, and I would be like “see, y’all, organic and vegan is not that much more expensive than conventional animal products!” But instead, I get to say “see, y’all, vegan and organic can be cheaper than conventional animal products!” 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

Who makes their bed every morning? Me! But do you know who also makes their bed every single morning, first thing, without fail? My kids! I’m just kidding. Wouldn’t that be nice. No, the scene usually plays out like this. Before bed, I ask “what are we going to do first thing tomorrow?” and they reply, “get dressed and make our beds!” with enthusiasm and smiles on their faces. And in the morning, when I’m in the kitchen making their breakfast, one of them will stumble out, maybe still in pajamas, maybe dragging their pillow, blanket, and a stuffed animal with them. And I’ll ask, “did you make your bed?” And my question is answered with “but I can’t, it’s too hard!” followed by lots of tears. But eventually, somehow, the beds get made by the children. And they look just like this. Not particularly Instagram-worthy, but they are done. If you are a naturally-controlling person like myself, the urge to re-make the beds is difficult to ignore. But then I remind myself that I am raising them to be capable adults which means lots and lots of trying and failing and trying again and failing again and trying again and the cycle repeats itself over and over until you have raised your own little controlling adults who want everything to look perfect all the time just like you. Again, just kidding. But not about the capable adults part. The best thing I can teach them besides “mommy loves you unconditionally” is that they are capable of doing things all by themselves. They are capable of making decisions, finding answers, accomplishing things beyond what they thought their own abilities are. And that failure is not scary, but a lack of persistence is. Humans naturally have fear because we need to avoid danger and stay alive. But we also naturally have intrinsic motivation so we can actually accomplish something with that life. I don’t know how I ended up here talking about William James’ Motivation Theory when I started with photos of my kids’ beds, but, in synopsis of this Instagram post that is now potential extra credit for a Principles of Management course, I make my kids do things they don’t want to do because it’s good for them and so should you. The end.

Children’s books, like toys, are on of those areas that can easily get out of hand. But even more so because it is much easier to justify owning lots of books. “They’re educational! I love that my kids love books! I don’t want to limit their reading!” While there are exceptions to every rule, in most cases, this is just an excuse for not wanting to be intentional. I say this because I have said those same statements, fully knowing that owning 500 books does make my kids more likely to love reading than owning 5 books. And I know this because I, as an adult, have watched myself and others dramatically increase the amount they read when they reduced the books they own. This is for a multitude of reasons, but, for me, it was because I started utilizing the public library more frequently. Now that my kids are emerging readers, we are visiting the library almost weekly instead of adding to our own collection. While we do have a few we own, when the two boxes are full, it’s time to condense again. This system never feels limiting for us, allows us to read our favorites over and over, and doesn’t require me to buy them another piece of furniture for storage.

Last January, I embarked on a month-long challenge with my kids to help them determine which toys they truly valued. We did this through what I dubbed the Use It or Lose It Toy Challenge. I started by removing everything they owned and placing it in a locked room. Then they could ask for whichever book, toy, activity, etc. they wanted, and it would stay out, the one caveat being they could not see it before choosing it. At the end of the month, everything left that they had not chosen would be donated or sold. This resulted in about 75% of their items leaving our home. And them playing for longer and more creatively with less bickering between the two of them and less of a struggle at clean up time. It has been like this for so long, I had almost forgotten how much I used to stress about their toy situation. I have stayed diligent in not letting junk toys hang around very long, but they have also developed their own willingness to donate something when they no longer want it. Halfway through the summer, they asked if I could donate a bunch of their toys. And they asked for nothing in return. If you are feeling the toy overwhelm, commit to the Use It or Loss It Toy Challenge and tag me in any of the posts with the hashtag #UseItorLoseItToyChallenge. I would love to follow along, answer any questions you have, or give advice on how to implement this with your family!

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