Author: Penny
Simple Switches: Shop for Your Food Bank Each Week

Fresh fruit? Check. Almond milk? Got it. Brown rice? Better grab two. Each week, my grocery list includes a little something extra. Of course, I splurge on treats for myself (hello, chai tea!) and Mr. P (cheers, beer!) every once in a while. But those are not consistent extras. I do, however, routinely add items … [Read more…]
Side Hustles Any Teacher Should Try: Part 1

Here’s the thing: you didn’t go into teaching to become a millionaire overnight. Or if you did, hopefully you’re not a math teacher, because the numbers don’t stack up. There are tons of amazing reasons to pursue a career as an educator, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. Thankfully, there are also quite … [Read more…]
Four Tips to Make the Slow Switch to Better Eating

Are you wanting to incorporate more organic or natural foods into your diet but you’re not sure where to start? Have you decided to try to cut back on the amount of processed foods you eat but you don’t want to sacrifice your budget? Then it sounds like you are ready to make the slow … [Read more…]
Monday Motivation: Here Comes the Sunshine

I’m forgoing my usual Monday Motivation lineup because I got nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award. How’s that for motivation? I feel just like Taylor Swift. You know, all adorable and cute right before Kanye interrupted her. In all truthfulness, these past three weeks have been the craziest of rides. Less than a month ago, … [Read more…]
Financially Savvy Saturdays: One Hundred Sixth Edition
Happy weekend, frugal friends! I hope you’ll enjoy this special weekend post. Welcome to Financially Savvy Saturdays, the savviest personal finance blog hop on the planet, created specifically for personal finance writers! We welcome all things money here. Whether you’ve written anything from money saving green beauty products to budgeting tips, you’re invited to link-up. … [Read more…]
Simple Switches: Regrow Romaine Lettuce and Other Vegetables

Gardening is often viewed as a time-consuming and sometimes costly effort. There’s no denying that planting, watering, tending, harvesting, and storing vegetables can be hard work. Even if you’re not big on gardening and prefer farmers’ markets or stores, fresh produce can be quite costly. But what if you could regrow some of your organic … [Read more…]
Simplifying Smoothies with Frozen Bananas

Smoothies are delicious. While juice–the slightly more complicated and less-closely-related-to-ice-cream cousin of the smoothie–may be a bit more en vogue at the moment, smoothies have always maintained a little je ne sais quoi* that keeps people coming back for more. Healthy, tasty, pretty. What’s not to love? Maybe the cost, you say. In my quest … [Read more…]
My $7 Breakfast Budget for the Month: An Ode to Oatmeal

Some say breakfast of champions. I say breakfast of cheapskates. Some people were surprised to hear that our grocery budget goal for this month is $200. It clocks in quite a bit lower than the national “thrifty” average of $387 for two people. I’ll let you in on a secret. Part of why our grocery budget … [Read more…]
September Goals: A $200 Grocery Budget Plus A Decluttered Kitchen

It’s almost fall. As the temperature slowly starts to drop (at least in theory – not in the Midwest, though, apparently), that means it’s time for football games, homemade chili, sweater weather, and new goals. First up? Food! Most months our grocery budget comes in at around $250 for the two of us. Typically, household … [Read more…]