Ebook Bundle #18: Tech & Internet Bundle

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Dianna

Learn how to use the technology in your life to your advantage with this week’s collection of ebooks. You’ll discover the secrets to beautiful iPhone photos, how to get organized usingfree apps and programs, the beauty of online friendships and more. But don’t wait because this bundle is on sale for 70% off this week only!

Once Upon the Internet by Marla Taviano
Once Upon the Internet is the funny and touching memoir of the Tavianos’ one-year quest to visit 52 zoos in 52 weeks — and the online friends who helped make it possible. Through the course of their journey, they stayed with 31 different families, 17 of whom they’d never met in person (and countless others met them at zoos along the way), and today some of their dearest friends are ones they first met on the internet.

iPhone Photography by Alli Worthington
Alli’s iPhone Photography: The Visual Guide is your go-to guide for the best iPhone photo editing apps. With plenty of full-color images, you’ll find step-by-step tutorials to capture and create stunning images yourself as well as ideas for using iPhone photos to stay organized, save money and just be happier.

Pin-terpretation by Holley Gerth & Stephanie Bryant
Your Pinterest account and the images you pin say more about you than you might think, and the ladies at Squee! wrote Pin-terpretation to help you step back and really see yourself. Their goal is to help you see your Pinterest boards with fresh eyes — to provide questions as well as insights into you, your personal brand & your blog. It’s kind of like a Cosmo quiz for your Pinterest boards.

Paperless Home Organization by Mystie Winckler
Organize your life with a digital home management “binder” that you can take with you, doesn’t use up extra space, works on every platform and doesn’t cost anything. In Paperless Home Organization, Mystie shows you how to get organized using only free, web-based applications that sync with free apps on both Apple and Android devices.

Evernote for Moms by Lauren Rothlisberger
Lauren’s specialty is providing tech tips for “non-geeks”, and Evernote for Moms is the quick and easy guide to help you use Evernote to organize your ideas and information. It includes a quickstart guide, simple template files and step-by-step instractions for installing, launching and adding items to Evernote through your smartphone or computer.

The Tech & Internet bundle is only available through 8am EST on Monday, 5/6. Get yours today:

making a habit of of living frugal…..

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Today I Am …..

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Dianna

photo credit

missing my blog readers after a week off line.

thankful that we seemed to have gotten everyone in the house well after a widespread illness.

sad my company had to return home after a wonderful visit.

sad our visit was interrupted by sickness.

happy to make garden progress each day, no matter how small it is.

wishing the piles of laundry would disappear while I am out today.

thankful you are here to read this.

shocked that it’s already May 1.

eating oatmeal while listening to K’s alarm go off forever and ever and ever.

headed to move big girl and her friend into their apartment today.

unbelievably sad, but so proud, that Big Girl is growing up.

I hope everyone has a great day. Stay tuned for more practicing frugal tomorrow.

making a habit out of living frugal…..

Practicing Frugal Daily: Busy Busy Busy

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Dianna

Join me daily as I share what I did the previous day that was frugal. I want you, my readers, to join in and comment on what you did that was frugal. Even if it was nothing but cutting the end of a tube off or rinsing the fabric softener bottle with water to get all the softener (yes I do that), it’s worth mentioning.

There’s a chance that you or I do something that others have not thought about. It can be a fun filled learning experience for us all.

Practicing Frugal Daily Times

It’s been a busy past few days around here at practicing frugal. We have special visitors with us for the week, so we are spending our time with them. We only get to see them a couple times of the year, so we are making the most of the visit. I apologize now for not posting much this week. I will try to make up for it next week.

Friday we spent the day cleaning the house with our natural cleaners. I use vinegar, apple cider vinegar and baking soda for much of my cleaning. I mixed up a couple bottles of 2:1 apple cider vinegar cleaner. almost one whole bottle was used on some ants in our garden beds. K had too much fun taking care of them!

We worked on our garden, which will provide us with frugal produce, and we started a new compost pile.

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Yesterday hubby was off so we all worked on the garden in some form or fashion by filling beds with dirt, putting up electric fence and planting a few plants. We got so much accomplished out there.

chicken coop

Hubby had so many hands helping that he was able to start our new chicken coop. So far we have only bought some nails for the project. So a much frugal project this coop will be.

I hope you all are managing to add some form of being frugal into your life.

Why not leave a comment telling us what you are doing that is frugal? Big or small it all adds up and we all get great ideas.

making a habit out of living frugal…..

Ebook Bundle #17: Gardening Bundle

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Dianna

Is simple living just a pipe dream in today’s fast-paced, always-on, more-is-better culture? With this week’s collection, you’ll discover the secrets to living simply from five authors who are living intentionally and inspiring others to do the same! But don’t wait because this bundle is on sale for 90% off this week only.

25 Intentional Days by AndHeDrew
Laid out in an easy-to-follow format, 25 Intentional Days will take you step by step through setting effective long-term and short-term goals, finding time you didn’t know you had, tracking your progress and creating the life you’ve dreamed of.

Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney Carver
In Simple Ways to Be More with Less, Courtney shows you how to simplify your life and live each day more purposefully. This book will challenge you, brighten your day, and if you let it, change your world.

Inside-Out Simplicity by Joshua Becker
Living simply starts on the inside, and in Inside-Out Simplicity, Joshua shares why healthy relationships are essential to a simplified life. You’ll discover how to live intentionally by embracing contentment, gratitude, and humility and making generosity, kindness, service, and forgiveness a hallmark of all of your relationships.

ClutterFree by Leo Babauta & Courtney Carver
With the tools in ClutterFree, you’ll learn how to eliminate the clutter and create more time and space in your home and life. Leo and Courtney walk you through understanding why we have clutter, learning how to get rid of it and enjoying a clutter-free life.

Flying by the Seat of My Soul by Tess Marshall
Through personal stories, profound lessons, uplifting quotes and stories of others, Tess inspires you to live more passionately and pursue your heart’s desire with more conviction. Flying By The Seat Of My Soul will empower you to move toward inner change, let go of the past, follow your dreams and fly!

The Simple Living bundle is only available through 8am EST on Monday, 4/22. Get yours today:

making a habit of of living frugal…..

It’s Garden Time

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Dianna

It’s officially time to get moving and get this garden in the ground. I thought I would show you guys the before pictures, as I will be making some progress today and in the next few days.

I have some weeds to pull, as well as some dirt and compost to add.

So here goes nothing:

garden start 1

Darn weeds. I’ll tell you though, it’s not as bad since they are beds. These weeds come out so easy.

garden start 2

raised garden beds

and don’t forget that these baby’s need to get put in their place!

Hubby has an extra day off so we should get that electric fence up. The deer will not eat my garden this year.

garden plans

I even have these nice plans for the garden sketched out.

Aren’t you impressed?

Well I’m off to work on a little house cleaning and gardening.

How are your garden plans coming? What will you plant?

making a habit out of living frugal…..

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Practicing Frugal Daily: Repurposing

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Dianna

There’s a chance that you or I do something that others have not thought about. It can be a fun filled learning experience for us all.

Practicing Frugal Daily Times

It rained all day here yesterday, but I managed to hang up some laundry in the laundry room to dry. I may dry many things in the dryer, but delicate items and screen print items are a must to hang up. I like to hang dressier items too. Clothes seem to last much longer, fade and pill less when hung to dry.

snack crackers

Hubby emptied a jug of whey, so I grabbed it up for snack storage. It had a bit of a strawberry/whey odor, so I let it sit in the sink with water and a little apple cider vinegar, and then washed it with a little soap. It now holds snack crackers.

cardboard box

I also saved this box to use as a base layer around my garden. I plan to put down boxes, landscape fabric and then a mulch to keep the grass out and keep it from being muddy and dirty.

In case you missed yesterday’s post, Katy had a great idea for the use of an empty face powder container. Just read what she did in the comments.

What did you do that was frugal yesterday? I know many of you are doing some great frugal things and are very creative, so jump on in and tell us what you like to do.

I am getting a wonderful response to this series. Everyone seems to enjoy it and love reading the comments and learning new things

making a habit out of living frugal…..

Like what you see here at Practicing Frugal? Why not subscribe to get a daily email of frugal updates? Just fill in the form below.

A Savings Update: March 2013

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Dianna

Back in January, I talked a bit about our savings goals and how I planned to reach them. I also said that I was going to update you all about how I did.

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I’m here to give you the sad update for March. It wasn’t the amount I had planned, but many unexpected doctor bills came up along with a few other expenses (car repairs).

We were not able to contribute anything to our fun account. The balance of the fun account is still $76.22. I plan to sell some items on Ebay, and add the proceeds to this account. I also have a bag of stuff almost ready to send to Thred Up.

We were not able to contribute anything to our Goal savings this month. The goal savings is where we will save (and spend pretty quickly) for college expenses and home projects.

I’m not going to get down about it. I am going to move on and know that I will be making up for it in the next few months (school is about done and I will work just a little more). I foresee being able to put a great deal in our goal savings for the month of April.

We were able to contribute $400 to our trips savings. I will be adding to this as much as possible, as I need approximately $3000 for our two week trip.

You may be interested in these previous posts:

January & February 2013 Savings Update (explains what we do)
What Will You Be Saving For?

How did you do with your savings goals for March? What new ways have you found to add to your savings?

making a habit out of living frugal…..

Like what you see here at Practicing Frugal? Why not subscribe to get a daily email of frugal updates? Just fill in the form below.