Revised and updated. This book is a compilation of over a year of writing on homemaking, creating household budgets, buying a home on one income, and the very beginnings of backyard farming in a small city. It is from a blog that was created to inspire and share life as a housewife and mother and ways to do it all in the easiest and most enjoyable way possible. It is about mixing the delights of the modern life with the slower pace of the old fashioned to create balance and heart in the home and with the family.

In this day and age with housing prices and rents skyrocketing, how can a family live on a small paycheck? Let's look at ways this family has lived on an average of $30,000 to $38,000 for years and lived very well and happy. I will show you my daily life and choices that have created such an easy life and help to not only live frugally but create and build wealth.

We live on a gas station paycheck and some royalties from my side creative endeavors. I have decorated our home for almost free, used our stimulus checks to stock the pantry, put in an orchard, and planted a winter garden. We don't make much money but our life is charmed and cozy. We have no stress and recently we have reduced our work hours even more...but that is another story. How can you thrive and not be a slave to work? How can you live on one small income and one of you stay home? How do you have a full pantry, a charming home, and a sweet life while living on less than $35,000 a ...

Want a fun book that teaches you how to run your home like a business...a cozy business, of course. Turn the kitchen into a cafe and your pantry into a grocery store. Grow your own organic produce and save tons of money. Learn how to budget like a pro without all the fancy financial spreadsheets. Make your house sparkly clean and charmingly decorated from thrift stores. Learn to love this job and become more creative with a tiny budget. Have fun and learn to slow down and be a bit old fashioned. This book will explain in detail every inch of house management and inspire you greatly. Brew up...

So your home isn't magazine ready and you have only three dollars left to next payday? This is real life and being a homemaker is serious stuff. This is a quick and fun guide to being a frugal, wise, and happy housewife. It's loaded with advice on cleaning, running, and decorating a home, being thrifty, having fun, cooking well, and not getting burnt out on the job that has no weekends.

When you live in Northern California with the housing market rising, cost of living excelling, and trying to make it work on one small income...creativity and surrender comes into play. This housewife has learned, from years of making ends meet on a small budget and making money mistakes, just how to create a lovely shabby chic home, feed her family nutritious and healthy foods, and make a fun life for all of them on little funds or for free. She has also realized what can be sacrificed to afford what really matters. There is homesteading in town, canning, even if you have to buy your ...

This is a must have guide for the housewife who isn't perfect, has no dreams of matching the Martha Stewart's out there, but does take great pride in having a clean, charming, and tidy home. This is for the mothers out there that want to run the home and raise the children in a stress-free and affordable way. This is for the wife that would like to be the hostess with the mostess, but not toil and fret all day and has no talents in making radishes into roses. This is for the real housewive's that are a little funky, want to be frugal, want the adorable home, maybe a little farm in their ...

This housewife has almost a decade under her belt of creating a life that is cozy and satisfying on a limited income. There are stories, advice, and experiences of how to manage a small budget, a small home, and a small family to the fullest. There are stories of building careers out of hobbies with no money to spare. Stories of other homemakers working with so little you wouldn't think they could survive. In the end, you will learn that a delicious life is created with wisdom and love. You may even learn how to live richly on very little in the way of finances. On one paycheck, this family...

Can we live like the middle class on a small income? Can we have a charming home, go on a shopping spree now and then, eat organics, throw great parties, and live like queens and kings on fixed incomes? Sure! You just have to learn all the thrifty and frugal ways of the wise and create a budget that sustains you. Learn all this and more in this fabulous little book packed with advice and tips to run your home, create household budgets, cut cost, reduce the grocery bill and keep those organics, garden in small spaces, and much, much more. This is a great book for everyone on a tight budget, ...

Small but fun cookbook of delicious, frugal recipes used in my home. I save hundreds of dollars on groceries monthly by cooking all our meals at home and plenty of scratch cooking.

Have you ever had that moment where you realize that work and money seem to be the priority and not so much family or even having a life? Do you keep working past exhaustion because of fear? Do you fear getting behind on bills, debt, or a mortgage that is painfully large? This is a common life for most people. Mortgages and rents are too high, wallets are filled with credit cards that are maxed out. The commutes are long and work hours bleed into weekends leaving little time for relationships or basic sleep. This is no way to live. It is not living at all. This book was written after I was ...

This is a short story of money and how individuals and families choose to work with it. It is a look at one person's life from a childhood where money was mismanaged and on to a young adult life working three jobs to get out of large amounts of debt. It is the exploration of how a family can look at money as a useful tool and when used and saved wisely life can be a lot easier. This book has some advice and inspiration but it is not a money saving "guide". It is a personal exploration of how money was used during a lifetime and how it effects our today's and tomorrows. It is about the ...

Once long ago, I wrote a book with this title and it was a boring little thing. Today I have all kinds of experience with those lean times that come and go. I am a nerd when it comes to homemaking and being frugal, however, frugality has its season. This book is all about that season and how to prepare for it, enjoy it, and have a rich and luxurious life despite small paychecks. And who says being broke is a bummer? In our house, we decided to unplug from the internet and downsize our life. We live with no stress and the days are simple. We focus on learning, playing, and hobbies. I don't ...

I've been a homemaker for seven years and through the plentiful times and the not so plentiful times, I have never returned to work in the mainstream. I'd like to avoid it, to be honest. Currently, we are a little above the poverty line in our salary. And life has never been better. We purchased our first home with a paltry loan and even more meager savings during this housing market boom...in Northern California! My dreams of starting a homestead in town have been actualized and we eat like royalty. Well, maybe upper class. We are thriving and having so much fun with our life even with the...

This gem is perfect for the new housewife (or husband). It's loaded with advice and guidance on how to run a home and nurture a family. Everything you need to know to set up the home and run it efficiently is in here along with learning how to schedule your routines, make homemade cleaning products, create a budget for the household, throw a party on pennies and much more. This is all your grandmother's old-fashioned advice in one book. A must have to start nesting.