Showcase: Owlhaven
NEW FEATURE NEXT WEEK: Interview You! Be prepared to answer a question in the comments.
Tell me a little about yourself: who are you?
I’m Mary, wife to the wonderful John and mom to 10 kids. Four of our kids were born to us, and six arrived via international adoption. I began blogging in early 2006 at two different places: at adoption.com and at Owlhaven, and I haven’t shut up since.
How did you come up with your blog title?
I chose the name Owlhaven because we live out in the country on a rocky hillside where burrowing owls nested. When we got a houseful of kids, the owls decided that the rocks across the road looked a little more appealing than right next to our back yard. But we still enjoy looking across the road and seeing the owls swooping around hunting in the pasture.
What does “frugal” mean to you?
What do you think it means to other people? A lot of people think of frugality as deprivation, of never getting to have what you want. But I’m convinced that is the wrong way to look at it. Frugality opens doors. It gives you more choice in the long run. Frugality has allowed me to be at home with my children for the past decade. It has allowed us to be debt free except for our home loan (which will be paid off in 8 years– hooray). It has allowed us to adopt internationally, which is not an inexpensive endeavor. I really wish that more people would understand how freeing frugality can be.
What do you think was your best frugal post ever?
My best frugal post was actually a series of posts. In September of 2006 I blogged about my 30 Days of Nothing «, where I spent a month trying to spend as little as possible– no clothes, no books, nothing that wasn’t essential. We ended up spending $318 on food that month. Our garden is huge and was in full swing that month, so that was a big help. But even taking that into consideration, I was still amazed that we spent so little to feed 10 people. These days I spend more like $800 a month to feed 12 people. I don’t think I’d like to live as cheaply as we did that one month, but it was really interesting to see how little it was possible to spend.
Do you have any frugal heroes or role models?
I can think of several frugal heroes in my life. My childhood hero was my grandmother, who amazed me as a child by making quilts from old clothes, and used the wax paper from inside cereal boxes to cover food instead of buying plastic bags. My adult frugal hero would have to be Amy Dacyzyn, author of The Tightwad Gazette. Back in the 90’s I was a subscriber to her monthly newsletter. At the time I was working as a nurse, but was wondering if my husband and I could make it if I stayed home with the kids. Her newsletters were a huge source of inspiration. I kept the whole collection and re-read them any time I need a kick-in-the-pants bit of inspiration to live a little better.
Do you believe the saying, “you get what you pay for”?
About 80% of the time I would say no. I yard sale quite often and can get wonderful clothes for my kids for much less than I’d buy new. There are some things that seem to last longer when you buy them high-end. Faucets, door knobs, carpet, etc. My large family is pretty hard on the furnishings in our home and I have not regretted spending a little more for higher-quality fittings around the home. My front-loading washer was more expensive than my old top-loader, but it works so much better. And as far as hot dogs (which we only have one a month or so) I MUST have Falls Brand beef, because most other brands gross me out. But as far as food and most of our clothing, we spend as little as possible. I still laugh to remember the time my daughter’s friends were oohing and aahing over her beautiful $60 jeans– and how their mouths dropped open when she told them she’d bought them at a yard sale for $3.
How does the rest of your family feel about your frugal ideas?
I am thrilled that my kids beg to go to yard sales with me, and that they remember the good bargains they’ve found in the past. If you can teach your kids to see frugality as a game to get good at, you’re giving them skills for the future. Not to mention a whole different mindset. They’ve asked me why people are out there buying $60 jeans at full price when you can spend a fraction of the money, and end up dressed just as stylishly. And I don’t really know. When I was a senior in high school, I took an economics class where one of the assignments was to add up our clothing expenses for the past year. My total came up to less than $300. My teacher wrote a note across the top of my paper. “Your future husband is a lucky man.” I didn’t really know why he wrote that until I saw that some of my classmates spent over a thousand dollar on clothes that year. That was in 1985. I was just stunned.
Is it ever possible to be too frugal?
Sure. It’s all about balance. Your shopping routine should not be so time-consuming that you don’t have time to play cards with your kids. And your frugal choices should not suck all the enjoyment out of food. I could feed my family beans 5 days a week and save more money. But I enjoy providing my family with a nice variety of good food, even though that means I spend a little bit more than I truly ‘need’ to. Of course there are extreme financial cases where beans 5 days a week might be what it takes to get a family back on track– I’m not knocking that choice. But we can afford to add a few interesting ingredients to give my family with a healthy variety of food. So I am happy to spend that extra bit of money and effort.
We all have moments of glory and brilliance that we want to relive for the rest of our lives, right? What was your best ever frugal idea?
Well, this is certainly not THE best frugal idea ever, but it is one that consistently get hits on my blog– it’s my way of fixing a broken slat on a vertical blind.
What was your worst or craziest frugal idea?
Ummm…probably about 15 years ago when I tried making gluten. Basically it is flour and water that you mix and then rinse over and over while kneading. It makes this chewy kind of dough that supposedly passes for meat if you cook it with barbecue sauce and other seasonings. Scary.
Out of the Box Uses
You know how Real Simple magazine has all kinds of nifty new uses for old and faithful stuff? As the frugal mavens that I know you all are, I’m curious to know how YOU use old things in new places to save money.
Some of my favorite ideas are using orphaned stemware for vases, candle holders and displaying little things the kids drag in. Using clothes dressers to hold normal everyday stuff, like my good dishes or games in the family room. And decorating with plates.
Have to many to list? Choose your favorites!
Keeping Summer Essentials Handy
Keeping kids entertained in the summer is just so much easier than it is in the winter. My kids can be entertained for hours with paint brushes and water, washing their toys, and spending quiet time drawing in a nature journal or coloring books. When it gets a little warmer, sprinklers offer fabulous entertainment for hours for my kids.
I do like to replenish our summer supplies of activities though and here are a few things that you can keep on hand to keep little hands busy in the warmer months:
Here are a few things to keep on hand for your children this summer!
Balloons (regular, water)
Balls (play, rubber, super, tennis, Wiffle)
Beach Ball
Bubbles, fancy wands
Bucket, handheld hoe, rake, shovel
Bug catcher, bug keeper container
Chalk (colored, white)
Clay, cookie cutters, miniature rolling pin (This is an outdoor event for us- I hate to find that dough in our carpet)
Dominoes
Insects (plastic)
Jacks & ball
Jump rope
Kaleidoscope
Marbles
Kite
Paddle ball (with ball attached)
Pinwheel
Sailboats (plastic)
Sponges
Squirt Guns
Swimmies, raft
Telescope
Sound Off: What are some items that you stock up on when it gets warm out?
Cheerful Frugality Lives On The Bright Side
I adopted my motto of Cheerful Frugality so long ago, perhaps I should have trademarked it.
Sometimes I get emails from people who read Like Merchant Ships:
Why shouldn’t you be happy with what you have? You live in a nice house, you have beautiful things, you try living in a dumpy apartment and seeing how cheerful you would be.
Boy, I wish I had blogged during my dumpy apartment days. When marijuana smoke drifted up the stairwell and the pipes burst in my closet. Or in our first little house, where a stray pit bull and a lady of the night were the only neighbors walking past my cottage garden.
Cheerful frugality means saving money–and enjoying it. The best way to do that is to look on the bright side, even if you live on the wrong side of the tracks.
- In our 1st house, we were thankful that we could paint the whole exterior with a $9 bucket of recycled paint.
- In our 2nd house, we were ecstatic that hours of refinishing completely erased the stained old floors.
- In our 3rd house, we made a carport into an outdoor dining room, since the kitchen was so cramped.
- In our 4th house, we learned to walk where we needed to go, especially when we lost the 2nd car.
There are negative aspects to my life right now, but you won’t hear me complain about them often. Be relentless in your pursuit of cheerful frugality, and you may just be surprised at how often you feel cheerful, or how you inspire a cheerful attitude in those around you.
But that’s my strategy. Do you enjoy saving money? How do you overcome the negatives?
Showcase: Be Thrifty Like Us
Tell me a little about yourself: who are you?
We are a husband and wife blogging team who write at Be Thrifty Like Us. We are in our mid 20’s and are new parents to a baby girl. My husband is a CPA & I am a systems analyst. We love the outdoors and have a strong interest in finance – together, we make one heck of a money saving team!
When did you start blogging? Why do you blog?
We started blogging in January. As new parents – we found ourselves staying in more. We decided a blog would be a good hobby for us after our daughter goes to sleep at night. The blog is a great, cheap hobby! Our blog was recently featured in Newsweek magazine back in March – you can read the article here.
We decided that if we started a blog we could help others to be thrifty and save money.The blog is also a motivator for us. Since starting the blog four months ago, we’ve paid down $20,000 in student loans and automobile debt! We are on a quest to get rid of our student loans so that we can fund our daughter’s college education someday.
Lastly, the blog helps us get connected with other like minded people. We have learned so many ideas and money saving tips from the frugal and personal finance blogging community.
How important is frugality to you?
For us being frugal is both a game and a way of life. We continually try to live on less and send more to our student loans. We are used to being frugal and it’s the way our life is. We do view frugality as a game sometimes – when we try to see how to get the best deal when buying something.
How does the rest of your family feel about your frugal ideas?
Our parents couldn’t be prouder! Both our families are frugal people who worked really hard to raise their kids. They love to see us trying to spend our money wisely and do the best we can for our daughter. We’ve helped our families with budgeting, retirement planning and lowering their cable bills.
And did I mention I have gotten them all hooked on CVS? We have about five or six people in our extended family who are shopping the Extra Care Bucks program. My brother acts like we are crazy for clipping coupons – but I’ve noticed he is never one to pass up the freebies I offer him for his dorm room!
Thanks for your time. If you stop by Be Thrifty Like Us, we are sure you will find some interesting things to read. From our CVS weekly deal preview to our ideas on how to negotiate on purchases to our ideas on avoiding the dry cleaners – there is something for everyone!
Warm Weather Fun
It’s about that time again. School is almost out, summer is just around the corner and your kids are soon to start using the “b” word: bored. Phooey on them. Life can be so much fun if you have the right attitude. With just a little prompting, there are lots of frugally fun things to do.
I’ve already shared some of my thoughts on preventing boredom in kids, how to take advantage of your AAA membership for summer fun and where to find yearly passes to get into air conditioned museums for “free.” So I went Googling for some other cool ideas for the hot summer to come. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) These are some my favorite finds…
Get discount tickets to amusement parks, vacation Bible school, Ariana’s new favorite thing: sidewalk chalk, summer reading programs at your local library, swimming lessons, afternoons at the beach or kiddie pools, doing messy science projects and activities outdoors where you are close to the hose, long bike rides, picnics in unusual places and lazy afternoons in the hammock making up outrageous stories of adventure and beauty. (Or something like that… I ad libbed a bit.)
I thought this was a terrific list of two dozen frugal summer activities. Suggestions include bird watching, putting on your own circus or Olympic games and having a stay at home vacation complete with tourist brochures. (Where do I sign up??)
I really liked the serial story idea that Frugal Fun offered. They have a list of rainy day activities too. Oh, and don’t forget to take good children’s literature with you on a picnic!
Frugal Dad talks about starting a family fun jar. Those ideas will be great for rainy summer days.
So Moms, are you stocking up on your top secret warm weather fun arsenal? What are some of your favorite (and cheap) warm weather activities?
Simple Writings Bring Simple Pleasure
One of my dearest friends and I built our relationship up through daily email exchanges about our lives. We started emailing when my husband and I were just newlyweds and she was in a committed relationship. Our emails continued as we journeyed to Massachusetts and settled down in our first home, through my pregnancy, her engagement, her marriage, and her first baby, my second baby, her second baby… each email carefully documented our daily joys and struggles. When I became a mother my emails were full of joy, but a lot of whining about sleep, difficulty transitioning into motherhood, problems nursing, and general woes. Her emails were filled with encouragement and hope of a light at the end of the tunnel. When she wrote about motherhood though, she rarely complained but just reveled in the joy of being a mother. She was like that, she just enjoyed life.
Whatever she wrote about though, I seemed to want. It wasn’t belongings, but a sense of peace and of tranquility that she seemed to capture, that I had never had. I was always running, always going, always busy…I now realize that I didn’t take the time to enjoy the simple things, the simple life, and the simple goodness that could be created by being still for a moment.
I am trying to transition out of the busy bee world and into a more quiet time with my children. Perhaps it is melancholy because my firstborn will be attending kindergarten next year or perhaps it is just the realization that I don’t need to be running or constantly entertained to enjoy a quiet spell in my life.
Today was just one example of what a quiet day for us is like. The windows were cracked and I could feel the fresh air blowing into our house and the smell of freshly cut grass. I look down at my daughter as I feel her deliberate and persistent tapping on my leg. As I look down at her, I smile because she is wearing a pair of my shoes on her chubby little feet. Of all her toys, it is these shoes she loves and she calls them her “tap shoes” as she scoots the sandals across the floor. I look over at my son who is curled at one end of our sofa with a book. I can hear him as he sounds out each word very carefully and slowly, just as he has been taught in school. I revel in his growing vocabulary and how much he has learned this year- he has grown so much.
The smell of fresh muffins travels through the room as I wrap up my baking for the week ahead. This batch of muffins is stuffed to the brim with oatmeal and a little bit of chocolate, to balance out the heartiness and make them more appealing to my children. The muffins smell like freshly baked cookies and the kids begin to count down the minutes until they will be cool enough to handle.
I hum a little bit as I tidy up the kitchen, from the day spent baking, and fill the sink with the dirty dishes. The suds and warm water fill the sink and I dip my hands into the bubbles to finish the day’s dishes. As I scrub, I look out the window at our sweet little garden that we planted together. I recall the tender way my son wanted to help plant each and every plant, asking each time, “What can I do, mommy?” He was there for each step of the process and helped to water our finished product. He was just as proud and dirty as me that day.
I then sit at the other end of the sofa with my son and the sound of my knitting needles, Emily’s tap shoes, and my son’s quiet readings are all you hear. We enjoy the quiet of this day and look forward to our idyllic summer together. This stillness is what I need and I see our children growing from it. Not from the organized activities, the well-thought and well-executed organized crafts, the busy running. No, they thrive in the quiet and stillness…and so do I.
Do you see how the mundane can be made to sound lovely? Just as advertisers would have us believe that a new car will give us this amazing life we have always dreamed of, simple writing about simple pleasures may invoke that same enthusiasm. Suddenly baking muffins, knitting, quiet moments, a tiny garden, and doing dishes sound lovely…and you begin to want that. Imagine if the whole world returned to these simple pleasures- joy in the laundry hanging on the line, kids playing in sprinklers instead of with electronic gadgets, freshly baked goodies straight from your own oven, an appreciation for the beauty in nature instead of the beauty of our exterior selves…I would imagine that it would put a lot of companies out of business.
Today I challenge you to a day of simplicity and I look forward to hearing what special and simple things bring you the most joy in your life. Is it your children’s laughter? Is it a freshly cracked library book? Is it the quiet time you spend with your spouse after your children have went to bed? Is it that first cup of morning coffee with a dash of cream? What are some simple pleasures that bring you happiness? Revel in those things, bring those things into your life, focus on those simple and amazing pleasures and see if it doesn’t bring into perspective the beautiful life you are already leading.