New obsession

Remember how I used to collect magazines? Well mostly I've cleaned up that habit a bit. To save us money I FINALLY purchased a subscription to Glamour, the magazine I do actually read and enjoy every single month. The rest of them? Shhh, don't tell, but I totally read them in the drugstore at lunchtime. Score! And I check out blogs a lot more to get my reader's fix. Seriously, I've figured in doing so I've saved about 40 bucks a month at least...around 500 bucks a year!

Alas, I have started enjoying something else though...workout videos! I bought two off ebay with some leftover paypal funds I had from a secret shop I did ages ago. I don't plan on getting a gym membership anytime soon, and I really enjoy working out at home (which makes it doable timewise...just throw on my clothes and do it! I save a ton of time.) I just needed a bit of variety because all I was doing was Jillian's videos (which will always be my staples; you know I love her). I just got a new one just the other day that I'm super excited to try, by Cathe Friedrich. She's supposed to more advanced, so I'm pumped to try it because most of them are introductory levels which doesn't do much for me now. My collection is at around 15 or so. Trav and I have Jamaica in December...that's two months to get it tight and together, so I've got no excuses to try every one! I'll certainly let you know how it goes.

Stalled but moving...

Don't you hate that feeling? Every day I make it through my list of menial things to do: going here, going there, working, cleaning, shopping, filing, paying bills, etc. But then there's those bigger things that just don't happen. Read: bathroom reno. Ongoing for a couple of months now. Between Trav and I and our opposite schedules and multiple jobs, it just ain't happening! Instead I'm working on ways to forget about it and relax, haha. Right now the floor is torn up, and we finally went to End of the Roll and purchased some lino. The finish line is so far away...

Fresh and frugal?

I've seen inspiration many places...from Jillian Michaels' latest book (LOVE!) to Young House Love's tips on living on less. Trav and I are budgeting tighter now, but that doesn't mean we can't have as much fun as before! I'm actually enjoying ways to cut back...it simplifies life and ensures you're spending your hard-earned money on things that are really important to you. And it certainly forces you to be creative, which is perhaps the best part for me. I have a couple of cheapo house projects on the go that I'm very excited about, so once those are complete, I'm super excited to share them – stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've examined other ways to live a little more simply, and finally thought to give this a try: natural cleaning products. I mean vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice. That's it. Nothing else. No windex, or clorex wipes (my fave), no vim, no bleach...you get the idea. It seemed a little hippie to me at first, but the more I research it, the more I get excited about (I know, getting excited about cleaning. I'm really turning into my mother!) I'm also a migraine sufferer, and usually wake up with headaches in the morning, so I'm hoping this helps. I'm extremely sensitive to chemicals. (I remember this one strong tub cleaner we had. Mom had me clean the shower and I threw up 12 times right after and had the worst shakes of my life! Isn't that scary?) So I thought this might be an interesting and much healthier route to try. And of course, it's cheap!

Here's the article that will get me on my way. I have the products (from the dollar store!)...I'm just using up my old cleaners (I don't want to waste everything) and then I'll be trying these tips out. I also found this article about the endless uses for vinegar totally entertaining. Happy cleaning!