I feel like winter has lasted way too long this year! Even in April, it's fairly cold where I live and we still have to wear spring jackets, sometimes even scarves. Yesterday we were blessed with 80 degree weather (definitely abnormal!) and it's now back to being cool again today. Typical atlantic weather :) 

Luckily, I had the day off yesterday so I was able to enjoy some of the beautiful weather. I planted 8 spider plants from all the cuttings I had and hung some laundry on the line for the second time this year!

I also hired the least expensive cleaners I could find and two of them spent 6 hours in my house spring cleaning and organizing! We couldn't believe the difference!! I wish I had been blessed with being able to clean well, but I suppose I was just blessed with other things. Their services put a small dent in my wallet but at the same time it was needed and since my mom is coming to visit, she won't say things like "How can you live like this?" :D When she visits I get stressed out because she inspects my house and makes comments....if she says anything, I'll tell her to call the cleaners instead and tell them :P

I also have a guest from airbnb.com coming in tomorrow so having a clean house is great! The extra income is nice and I am hoping to host at least a few nights a month. I have decided to have these cleaners come every two weeks now that I can afford it, and when my contract ends hopefully I can find someone who likes to barter.  The cleaners even brought me some homemade cookies to snack on! wow! During these times, customer service is really what will get people clients, they definitely won me over with their exceptional skills and friendliness. What surprised me is that their quality of work exceeded what other more expensive cleaners had done in my house. So if you are starting a cleaning business, bringing homemade goods to first time clients might be a way to get them hooked :)

On another note, I am back at doing yoga regularly and out of my hibernation! I was itching to do a teacher training course but upon doing research again, I realized that it would be a minimum of $3000 and that's if I wanted to take it in my city. I haven't connected much with the schools that offer it here and flying to India and Thailand for a month isn't an option at the moment. I could do it in September when my contract is over, but since I don't know if I'll have work lined up, spending that much money to go away for a month is too risky. I ended up finding a recognized correspondence course for $370US and I have a year to complete it! All exams and tutoring are included and there is an online community and forums as well as videos and podcasts to stay in contact. I had been looking at it for a few months and finally bit the bullet! I am really excited!!!  I have a year to do it but apparently depending on your level it can be done in 3-4 months. I'll see how it goes :)) To motivate myself, I have made a website with information and potential dates for holding free yoga classes on the full moon later this summer.
 

2 more weeks till my next trip. I have a feeling this is going to be a good one. I have $200 spending money saved up for it and already found a cheap yoga class while I am there. I love to get on a plane!

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring and watching the flowers grow. :)

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I havent really known what to write lately. My life has been pretty quiet. I had a hectic day Friday at work as I was holding the fort alone and one of the cabinet ministers and the mayor were in so I had to organize everything for all kinds of meetings. YIkes! I was happy to be done at the end of the day and met for coffee with a friend.

I finally got out to socialize last night. An ex took me to a party where I knew no one but recognized some people from around town. I made some new friends and was pleased to know there were more alternative people over 35 still around! yay! It restored my faith in this city. I really thought I was almost alone in the way I live. The ex provided the alcohol for the party which was nice. 4 various fruity coolers that were quite tasty! I am not much of a drinker so he knows I like those :) I didn't have dinner because I knew food would be supplied, ALL VEGAN! So i stuffed my face with all kinds of yummy appetizers and also made cookies for the party. The french in me always needs to bring food wherever I go, it's definitely a cultural thing!

I then went to another bar to see another ex who was in from out of town. He bought me two drinks so I only spent $5 on cover charge and that was it for the night! People should be so lucky to have exes like mine..i love them dearly as friends and they are incredible! I've never had a boyfriend treat me badly or be a jerk. For the most part, they are all great people even though the relationships ended. I am even still in contact with two exes from over 20 years ago! Ive been blessed with good people in my life :)

Today is the day to do groceries and laundry. It's finally nice enough outside so I can hang my laundry for the first time this season. I am so excited about that. One of the grocery stores is having a 2/1 sale on lots of items, including soymilk so I will stock up for the summer. I will also plant some seeds since the house is finally getting a bit warmer too without heat. I made some planters out of egg cartons and also toilet paper rolls. I bought luffa seeds which i've never grown before but heard they are easy. I am so excited as i'll be able to use them for gifts, and grated in soap for exfoliation.

That's about it for me! Hope everyone had a frugal weekend too!

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Ok, so lately I've been on a shopping kick (mostly online) trying to replace old bad shoes and replacing some clothes with more sustainable fabric ones. I'm happy that my money is going to good places for good things but am feeling a lot of guilt for spending. So here is where I need to justify it to myself:

I was telling my sweetie that now that I am working and making good money I should do these things now before my contract ends when I won't be able to. I am making sure to pay my credit card which is almost paid off, so I'm not doing too badly! I am also using paypal for purchases since I do sell things on Etsy.com and have some money in there at times from my sales.

Ive done a lot of spring purging and am in the midst of replacing a few things including cotton menstrual pads. My sweetie had sewn some for me years ago but they were ready to be thrown out and to get him to sew ones for me can take awhile. He's pretty busy and does do it when asked when they are small projects but sewing a bunch of menstrual pads is a lot of work and sadly I can't sew even though I've tried numerous times. I found someone on Etsy who was selling 3 for the price of two and since she lives close to me the shipping was inexpensive. I find I need at least 5-7 of them but will settle for 3 for now :) Maybe I can ask him to teach me again (after doing it 10 times already!) so I can download a good pattern and give it another shot! In the long run, these pads do save money. I use them with a sea sponge which can be used for months before being discarded. So I can justify this :)

My spring/summer wardrobe is now fairly complete,mostly from thrift purchases from last year and some new handmade items purchased this year. I just need to find a good big tote/purse and some funky chunky jewelry to make my looks complete. I've never been good at accessorizing and still working on it. :)

I''ve decided to make a list of things I need and keep it with me for when I go to thrift stores! Sure, I've seen tons of great purses online...for $150 but figured purses aren't one of those things to spend a ridiculous amount of money on. I'd love to find something that I can take with my on my travels next month, big enough to hold my mini laptop and other goods but not soooo big that it looks like a sloppy shopping bag. :) I have another month to find one!

On another note, my other blog is going well. I am holding an earth day contest so anyone who is interested can go check it out: Http://thefrugalvegan.wordpress.com

I'll try to post a pic of me sometime with a new spring look with all my finds! Could be fun!

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Since nothing is open today and I don't have much to do, I decided to go through my clothes once again. I am highly disorganized and have had a lot of my clothes in a large rubbernaid bin. I usually have two bins; one for spring/summer and another for fall/winter. When I changed over last season I never ended up hanging up my clothes and just left everything in the bin. Because of this, I discovered that there were clothes I had forgotten about just sitting at the bottom of it which was disappointing but clearly my own fault.

I also went through what was actually hung up and discarded about half of it, some to go in the winter bin, some to go to charity and other things to the consignment store. I have purchased several pieces of handmade clothes lately and want to make room for a more distinguished wardrobe.

The closet looks great and I now have some tops that I can wear with some of the handmade clothes. I also discarded an entire bag of shoes and several purses which I will replace with more current finds (hopefully at a thrift store!).

I am liking the mix and match of vintage and new clothes together to make it current. I was never much of a fashionista (more like a fashion victim!) but as I grow older I am appreciating putting looks together a lot more and find it more fun. I picked up a style magazines (I rarely buy magazines so this was unusual for me) just to check out what is in and what isn't. I discovered that I already had pieces to be current if I mixed them with other things! 

Sandals:

Gladiator and /shoeswoven type sandals are back again! I had some woven sandles from the thrift store which are still good and some gladiator style sandals I purchased last year.

Shoes/sandles with wedges are also back. I love these because it means i can wear high heels without killing myself. Wedges are so comfortable and make high heel wearing a lot more stable then those scary stilettos!

Jeans:

Skinny jeans can still be worn (YAY!) with a current top, something bohemian or flowery which seem to be in fashion. Any graphic print top paired with these jeans would look great, from a halter to a tunic.

Those washed out denim jeans, slightly ripped or really used looking are back (think 90's). The term used right now is "distressed jeans". I had a few pairs back then and thought they were pretty cool. It's senseless to purchase those types of jeans when you can put a few holes and rips in them yourself or just fade them out with some bleach in several spots. Here is a tutorial on how you can update your old jeans for this season: http://www.jeans-and-accessories.com/how-to-distress-jeans.html

Looks:
The bohemian look is still in, especially with shoes and bags. Hobo bags are still big and I'm happy the bohemian style is in because that's mostly the style I wear.

High and medium waisted items are still hot too. I used to dislike tucking my shirts in but am liking it now that I can just put a belt around my waist. I usually do it with skirts that go down to my knee and a fitted shirt.

Mini skirts are in too, though I probably won't sport one myself (not sure most people want to see an almost 40 year old wearing one even if she CAN pull it off). So you can cut old skirts and hem them to make them mini and hip. Easily done!

Jewelry & Accessories:
Bracelets are in, lots of them. Almost 80's style but more chunky and beaded. Put several of them on your wrist, looks neat! To me, jewelry is a way to personalize your style if you have to go to work in a conservative outfit and want to jazz it up a bit. We can all get away with some fun jewelry no matter what look you are wearing.

Aviator glasses are the thing for spring/summer. I am sure they can be found at thrift stores because they've been around so long. (I believe they were pretty popular in the 60's). I am seeing mostly large sunglasses as well, just like last year.

Fabrics:
Any sustainable fabric is in. Anything from organic cotton to bamboo and linen are popular choices. Most of the handmade clothes I purchased are made of sustainable fabric. So discard that polyester!!

So mix old and new and with these tips in mind perhaps you can find a bunch of stuff thrift :)
Happy Fashionable Spring!

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I am so happy it's a long weekend. I get 4 days off work because of Easter. Since I don't celebrate Easter it means that I have a WHOLE lot of time this weekend to do all kinds of crafting & spending some time doing fun frugal stuff on my own and with my sweetie (poor guy will get roped into my projects again!)

I bought some funky t-shirts at the thrift store to make my own recycle t-shirt bags. These make awesome gifts and I'll be making one for my mom & store her presents in there. I discovered a lot of cool t-shirt crafts online too, like reconstructing them to make a halter top for example. There are endless things to do with them like scarves, bikinis, skirts.....you name it! I can't wait to get more t-shirts. I'll have to enlist my partner to help me sew since I am not very good with the machine.

I also found a craft to make skirts with a drawstring out of pillowcases! I can slide into a pillowcase pretty easily so I'll probably try to make one of those too, hardly any sewing at all for these ones.

I will also continue making plantable seed paper. I made some cards out of the paper I made and stamped them and tied on some hemp cord. I packaged them in an envelope made out of an old file folder and will give these as part of my mom's mother's day presents! She can then use the tags when she gives gifts to people.

If I have time I will make some soap assuming the house doesn't get too damp (lots of rain in April!). I want to make a soft smelling soap like Lavender and colour it with some natural spices or herbs. I have some nice berry tea that could turn the soap kind of pinkish.

Last but not least, I picked up some $14 eco-recycled paint at the hardware store to repaint the guestroom. I am so excited! It's been an ugly greenish colour for 1 1/2 years now and I can't stand it anymore. I'll also have to clean up my own room which is FILLED with crafty stuff and that's where I store my clothes. Time for a clothes cleanup again because I donate them to the Diabetes Association here which picks up every two weeks.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

MY BLOG: http://thefrugalvegan.wordpress.com

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Hi everyone!

The meal plan is FINALLY ready! There are two recipes I didn't test but am pretty sure they are good :) I have been busy and people were anxiously awating this so I decided to post it.

Download the Vegan Frugal Weekly Meal Plan for 4 adults here: (includes: grocery list, recipes and meal plan): http://members.sitegadgets.com/scripts/download.cgi?username=freya1970&dl=5

I did a quick edit so please let me know if you find any errors in the document :)

Enjoy!

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Lately I've been trying to make my home more "green", getting rid of regular facecloths and handwowels and replacing them with hemp, using all green cleaners and body products. Lucikily, green cleaners can be made at home or bought cheaply at the stores! 

I was left with my regular deodorant and shampoo/conditioner which I wanted to change but organic alum free deodorant is about $6. At the grocery store today, I found tons of organic deodorant for 50% off from Kiss my Face so I bought 4 of them, as well as some organic conditioner for $3! I was so excited! I also purchased a large natural lemon non-aerosol bathroom spray for $4! Normally 1/4 of the size of this spray is about $6 (I know because I bought it before). I was excited to see more people using eco-friendly products in the world which means prices are getting more reasonable.

I am on the lookout for natural hemp yarn so my mom can knit me some dish cloths to replace all my other ones. I just love that hemp is mold and mildew resistant! I still can't afford big hemp bath towels but will get to that eventually :) I also picked up a recycled cotton non bleached mattress pad for the queen bed in the other guestroom. We didn't have one on there and everytime someone stayed in that bed the sheets would come off. It's nice and fluffy and was $25 at a discount store.

I spent more money than usual today but we hadn't really been spending much at all the past 6 weeks or so. It just seemed like we needed so many things all of a sudden. We finally stocked up on groceries and won't need to go for at least another month, if not longer. We only spent about $50. Tomorrow we'll head out to another bargain store which is selling 2L orange juice for $1.29! Does anyone know if these can be frozen? Also picked up 50 twinings green tea bags for $3 (down from 7) and Colgate sensitive toothpaste 2/$3!!! They are normally $4 each so we bought 8 of them. My sweetie needs sensitive toothpaste, Colgate is his favourite but I always bought the Arm & Hammer as it is cheaper...though this was even cheaper than that, so we stocked up! Tomorrow I;lll pick up my Crest Pro Health Toothpaste 2/$4. Funny, ever since I started using that toothpaste I've had no dental issues! I go to the dentist twice a year and haven't had ANY cavities since using it...so I recommend it. Preventative healthcare :D

We'll also head out to the thrift store, haven't been there in ages. Can't wait to see what we'll find there.

Made some Granola using my cast iron skillet. Only takes 5 minutes or so as the pan gets hot so fast and stays hot so it cooks the granola even when I take it off the heat. It's wonderful. I don't understand why people buy it as it's so cheap and easy to make and tastes 100 times better than storebought.

The sun is finally shinning! Hoping it will stay this way for awhile. We still have the woodstove going but happy that the sun decided to make an appearance! Have a good weekend everyone!
 

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After waiting 6 weeks I finally got paid!! The good news is that I was being extra frugal since my money wasn't coming in for work...darn government can take forever sometimes. When my two cheques came in my boss and I realized that they still owe me about $250 in overtime but we emailed them. These overtime cheques usually come separately so let's hope it comes in soon. I was able to almost pay off my credit card with some of the money and a few bills too. When my overtime cheque comes in, we'll be paid off on all our bills entirely and all we'll have left is the usual mortgage/car payments to make....finally! 

I was so thrilled with my money that I treated myself to a few handmade goodies on Etsy and another pair of John Fluevog shoes on sale for $100 instead of $300! I am in the midst of replacing all my discount shoes because they are just bad for my feet and arthritis. My mom was thrilled to hear that, she harassed me about my bad shoes for years and thought she was just being a typical woman but she wasn't. She said I wore special orthopedic shoes as a kid. Maybe had she told me years ago, I would have invested in my footwear a lot sooner. I used to be very frugal with shoes but sadly I can't buy at Payless or other discount stores. I do look for designer shoes like Clarks at the thrift store but have never found any...sadly. It's good to be frugal with a lot of things but for me it just can't be footwear.

I also got some special gift tags made out of handmade paper with seeds in them. You give the tag with a gift and they can plant it right in the yard! I want to learn to make these myself this summer when I start collecting seeds from my garden. I've always wanted to learn how to make my own paper. This is definitely a summer project to come!

My frugal meal plan is almost done. Should be up on my new blog this weekend. I seem to have quite a few readers right now and I suspect the stats will go up once I post the meal plan. I'm excited and hope this will help a lot of people. I'll keep giving the cooked food I am testing to the soup kitchen, they seem to really appreciate it.

I'm so glad it's Friday tomorrow. It's been a long slow week at work so the days aren't going by very fast. I am hoping to make it to yoga tomorrow night for their cheap class. There is an independent film festival here in town which I wanted to attend as they have a handful of free events. It's still fairly cold out so I haven't been in the mood to venture out.

I made a list of all the Loss Leader items in the flyers I got today. Not much on sale right now for me. I haven't done a full grocery shopping in over a month since cleaning out my pantry/fridge/freezer and using what I have on hand. It's amazing. I have replenished a few things but haven't spent more than $20 in a week if even that. I usually just buy organic local tofu and some stuffed grapeleaves at the market and a few veggies at a discount fruit/veggie store. Other than that, I eat what I have stocked up through the weekly specials. I'm going to make some more granola in my iron skillet this weekend so I have breakfast for the week. I was getting tired of hot oatmeal and needed a change. I made some last week with carob chips and will do that again...mmmmm.

I am going to check out the thrift store this weekend! I just cleaned out my closet and realized I need more shirts, the ones I had were getting a bit grungy and used looking. I need something more clean cut looking and less bohemian for work. Most of my clothes are pretty artsy/bohemian/funky looking which makes it tough to dress for work. I don't enjoy conservative clothing so I usually pair up something conservative with funky jewelry to make it my own unique look. Lately I've been doing the bohemian look at work because no one important has been in the office lately, though I have to find more spring-y stuff. All the work clothes I currently have is more for fall/winter.

Hope everyone has a frugal weekend!

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