Fun at the goodwill and home depot. Reduce, reuse, recycle and just plain great deals!

So today I had a ton of stuff to get rid of at the good will since I am trying to declutter my life. While I was there I found some fabulous stuff! I have to share...
Here is a picture of what I got rid of...

My new laundry basket...it was 10 dollars.

Seems like a lot but not when compared to this...

Restoration hardware basket sells for $199 I like my ten dollar one...

and of course some new storage for my pantry....

I got the idea at pottery barn. But I only paid a dollar each. Pottery barn is 35 dollars each! Next pic is pottery barn...

a container for my garden....

and I am not sure what I will use these for but I liked them, so I will find a use...

At home depot they had a lot of shrubs and a few flowers for $2.50 each! So I planted the rest of my garden!!!

These two filled in the hole in my front yard....

Here you can see the hole they filled in...

I planted in my "by the house" side garden, I love that it is not just weeds anymore...

and then along the back of the house I am plantint these boxwoods that were also $2.50 each at home depot!

these are not boxwoods but they were also $2.50! Check out the prices if you want garden plants. Wish they were paying me to say this(0:

Laundry Line

My beloved retractable laundry line. Goes 100 feet. Purchased at Home Depot for $17. Still waiting for the electricity bill to see how much money I am saving. Feels better to hang dry my diapers then constantly run that dryer

I put the clothes out even on cloudy days. They still dry as long as it doesn't rain of course!

Baby smiles when she see's mommy hanging laundry.

My household and food budget

I am a former critical care nurse (still a nurse)  recently turned stay-at-home mom. When the accountant and I decided I was going to be a stay-at-home mom we realized that we were really going to have to tighten the proverbial belt since we would be minus my $2500 per month paycheck. That is a HUGE paycheck drop. Since we reworked the budget I often think about all the money I wasted!  


Back to the groceries. My pantry, freezer and refrigerator are well stocked. I spend $200 to $250 on food/ household items per month, more than half what I used to spend working full-time. Currently there are only two of us eating foods since baby is still 100% breast fed (good money saver if you can do it!). We eat primarily whole foods, meaning no processed or packaged convenience food with the exception of some canned foods as will be noted below. What I need varies monthly depending on what is running low. I freeze a lot of items to prevent things going to waste. Lunch is often leftovers but I like my own cooking so that is okay. 


You will notice that I have not included items like cheese and sour cream. I am dairy and gluten sensitive so only my husband eats the dairy products I bring into the house. If I don't buy them he no longer misses them.

Here is a breakdown of my pantry, household and fridge items and where I buy them:


My messy pantry :

• Organic Coffee ( 3lb bag from Costco) buy about every two months
• Organic Quinoa ( 4lb bag from Costco) buy about every three months
• Organic Brown Rice (10lb bag from Costco) buy every four months
• Organic Frozen peas, corn and green beans ( 5lb bags of each from Costco) buy every two to four months depending on the season, mostly winter food for me
• Pure Maple Syrup ( 32fl ounces from Costco) every 3 months
• Organic avocados ( 4 to 5 from Trader Joe's) every two weeks
• Organic Coconut Milk (Fred Meyers. Looking into azure standard as it is cheaper) as needed
• Chocolate Chips ( 2 pkg from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Organic Whole Chickens (2 from Fred Meyers when on sale) monthly
• Organic Coconut Oil ( Currently 1 gallon from mountainroseherbs.com. Previously from amazon.com) every two months
• Brown Rice Pasta ( 2 pkgs from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Organic bananas (4 from Fred Meyers 0.79 per pound) weekly
• Organic free roaming eggs (my mother in law gives me these)
• Organic chicken sausage (4 links from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Organic lettuce ( 1 head per month from farmers market in the summer. In the winter I buy from Costco)
• Grass Fed beef (currently from the farmers market, I have bought a quarter of a cow that I will receive in October)
• Organic Ketchup (Trader Joe's) every few months
• Organic Mustard (Trader Joe's) every few months
• Wine, Charles Shaw ( 2 bottles from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Organic Potatoes (5 lbs from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Organic Tomatoes ( farmers market summer, Trader Joe's winter) bi-weekly
• Organic beans, canned BPA free, Eden (Vitacost.com) every 4 months
• Beans dry non-organic (Winco bulk section) when I run out of canned beans. I am looking into buying dry in bulk from Azure standard
• Oatmeal (currently buy from Costco) every six months
• Organic Olive Oil (51 fluid ounces, Costco) Every three months
• Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar (Fred Meyer) Every three months
• Spices (Costco and Trader Joe's)
• Baking Soda (13 lbs from Costco)
• Organic frozen berries (3 pkgs from trader Joe's, I would like to pick my own) monthly
• Organic Orange Juice ( 2 half gallons from Costco or Winco in a pinch) monthly
• Organic Apples ( Costco when they have them otherwise Fred Meyers) monthly
• Nuts (from trader Joe's as needed)
• Bread ( 2 loaves of Dave's Killer Bread from Costco) I freeze it since only Jason eats it and buy every two months. Trader Joe's has a similar product for 2.15 per loaf
• White vinegar for housecleaning ( 1 gallon from Costco) every few months
• Chicken broth (4 pkgs Trader Joe's) Goal is to make my own this month
• Other organic veggies and fruits (what's in season I buy at the local farmers market, during the winter I get Klesick family farm deliveries every other week)
• Tea (Trader Joe's) as I need it
• Nancy's Organic Yogurt ( 1 large container from Win co) monthly
• Organic Milk (whatever is on sale from Fred Meyer only my accountant drinks it otherwise Costco is a great deal)
• Gluten free flour, Bob's red mill (buy as needed in bulk from Win co)
• Organic Tortilla Chips (Very large bag from Costco, smaller bag from Trader Joe's) monthly
• Onions and Garlic (currently Costco, looking for a nice price on organic ones) monthly
• Organic Jam ( 2 lbs from Costco) not purchased very often
• Organic butter substitute (Fred Meyer) Monthly
• Hydrogen Peroxide (Costco) Yearly
• Toothpaste (Trader Joe's) every 4-6 months
• Toilet Paper (Costco)
• Castile Soap ( 1-5 gallon sizes currently from mountainroseherbs.com, previously amazon.com)
• Shampoo and conditioner, organic (where ever I can find them on sale) every two months
• I tend to buy my treats such as Jo Jo's and cereal from Trader Joe's, what I get varies monthly but I limit treats to ten dollars per month

Olivia as I blog

I make my own:

• Tortillas
• Baked Goods including gluten free bread
• Salad Dressings
• Breakfast foods with cereal as a treat rather than a staple ( homemade pancakes, waffles, muffins, oatmeal)
• Chili
• Spaghetti sauce

What I would like to make from scratch soon:

• jam, pickles, canned tomatoes (all currently purchased at Costco)
• yogurt, kefir, kombucha
• re fried beans

Olivia as I finish blogging:

Thanks for listening. I love your comments. Please leave one!

Living organically, cheaply and simply

Hi! So I am a 32 year old first time mommy who worried about all the toxins out there in the environment and foods who is trying to live as organically as possible on one income without adding to our burden of debt (we have a large mortgage and owe about 5000 on credit cards). My little girl Olivia is now 5 months old. I recently made the decision not to return to a very rewarding job as an ICU nurse. Not only is it rewarding helping others the money was great! One day perhaps I will return but for now I am off on a new adventure, relying on my husband for income and trusting God to provide, living as simply and organically as I can. I know the road ahead is fraught with challanges. I have $250 a month to spend on food and household items. Can one do that and eat organically? We will see. My desire is to buy grass fed beef and pesticide free produce. On top of all that for me it must be dairy and gluten free! I am excited and challenged by the road ahead. If you saw my budget you would see how tight we really are (four dollars left over at the end of the month). We will be giving up our cell phones at the end of the month to free up 80 dollars more per month. It will be quite a change! What will life be like with only a house phone? We are going to purchase an emergency only cell phone to carry around in our old beater cars (a 1987 Cadillac cimarron and a 1991 Plymouth acclaim). I want to buy good for me cosmetics, cleaning supplies and body care. In this blog I hope to share my daily experiences and challenges. Perhaps share with you a good deal when I find it, share my made at home menu plans, and my failures and successes. The road ahead of me seems exciting, fraught with danger and reward. Thanks for sharing the journey with me!