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site news

Melissa — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:30:05 +0000

The May / June newsletter will be emailed out on Sunday evening. This addition is all about sustainable living. In it you will find:

Ideas for getting started in sustainable living
All about creating a household management binder and how it can help you live more sustainably
Myth busting some common obstacles to sustainable living
Links to the blog
Links to other great blogs and articles on sustainable living

If you’re interested in subscribing, you can click on the button in the sidebar (on the right) or the link to find out more about the newsletters and view the archives of past newsletters.

Also, from June onwards, the posting schedule on the website will be a little different: articles will be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the remainder of the year. Less is more, as they say.

I hope that if you’re a mum, you have a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Have you read these articles?:

Anzac day

Melissa — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:00:07 +0000

For international readers, today is ANZAC Day in Australia, a public holiday when we collectively remember and commemorate those Australians (and Kiwis) who fought and lost their lives in previous (and current) wars.

And we do so in true Aussie style – today is the only day when it’s legal to play and gamble on the game of Two-up.

Today I’m sharing a link from the archives – a recipe for ANZAC biscuits, straight from my grandmother’s 1930’s common-sense cookbook, via my dad’s cookbook.

I will be relaxing today, making (and eating) ANZAC bikkies with the little fella.

(You can get the recipe here).

What are your plans for today?

Have you read these articles?:

three years and still at it – the 3rd blogiversary of frugal and thriving

Melissa — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:50 +0000

Well, as I say each year, I can’t quite believe it. I’ve been pounding away at this keyboard for three full years. How quickly time flies.

I can’t imagine what life would be like now without writing. Or not carrying a notebook around everywhere to jot down ideas.

And as usual, I have more ideas and plans for the blog than I have hours in the day. So many ideas and plans.

I love doing this. I look forward to working on the website every day. It’s definitely become a part of my life and the family’s daily life.

Some blog stats

In the three years there have been just over 590,000 visits to the website. That’s over half a million!

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who stops by. Thank you for reading, thank you for your comments, thank you for your emails, and thank you for dropping in to the website to check it out. It is so nice to know that there are other people out there to whom I can relate to when it comes to all things frugal.

There are currently nearly 700 articles on the blog, plus over two years of newsletters and I’m working on building the resources section, one little bit at a time. So many plans…

The most popular post by far (thanks to Stumble Upon) is still 45 Awesome Bag Tutorials (from which I still sew bags), but the printable expense sheets are also popular.

I have plans to keep building this website this year, and hopefully for many years to come. Our second baby is due at the end of June and so I will reduce the time spent here in cyberspace over the months following, while I enjoy the new addition to our family. There will still be lots of new content, maybe not as much as I plan though, lol.

an indulgence: some reflections on journeying to a more sustainable lifestyle

Being frugal has meant we’ve been living a life of luxury really: where we might lack in material wealth as measured by western standards, we make up for by having more time, more freedom, more choices and less stress. It’s a lifestyle I wouldn’t trade.

Frugal living can be challenging but mostly in a good way: it challenges us to think creatively to meet our needs on a tight budget and I enjoy that. Being able to create, to build, to grow and to give something of ourselves rather than to just consume is a source of deep satisfaction and joy. It helps make life more meaningful.

Frugal living has also meant that we are heading towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Not as sustainably as I would like yet, but we are getting there, one step at a time. It’s a journey that I enjoy sharing on this blog.

At the moment I’ve really cultivated an interest (if you’ll excuse the pun) in permaculture. The permaculture philosophy is one that we are slowly taking on board. I spent some time today planning our next garden crop now that the wet season is drawing to an end – lots of silverbeet, which I love but is often quite expensive in the greengrocers. It’s very easy to grow and grows well in our shady courtyard.

For a long time I felt that to live sustainably, you had to have some ‘land’ on which to grow food and raise chickens; that our townhouse living was just a temporary lifestyle, before we got into the real simple living.

However, I’ve come to realise that was a narrow and inaccurate way of thinking; urban living offers just as much opportunity for sustainable living, and in some ways more so. I’m in walking distance to pretty much everything I need, for instance, reducing our need for transport (actually I live right next door to a major shopping centre). A smaller house requires less energy to run (both in terms of electricity and my energy to clean and maintain it ). I figure: if we can’t thrive with what we have, how are things going to improve by wishing for what we don’t have? My perspective has changed quite a lot over the last few years.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that living sustainably is not about waiting for the ‘right’ circumstances, it’s about embracing life as it is right now: making positive daily choices within the parameters of our current circumstances. The choice not to use chemicals. The choice to reduce waste. The choice to live intentionally. All of those things make a difference.

And it’s important to remember that the small daily choices that each of us make do make a difference.

Imagine the groundswell of change that would happen if every person who thought ‘what’s the point? I’m just one person, what I do doesn’t make a difference‘ made the choice to live to their own higher standards regardless of whether it made a difference in the bigger picture or not. Because that’s the important key: not to be an activist, but to act and act positively. We may feel powerless when faced with all the big issues of the world, but we have a lot of power when it comes to our own lives and the choices we make.

And, if we all make small, positive choices then it does make a very big difference on a global scale.

Have you read these articles?:

coming to an inbox near you–the march / april newsletter

Melissa — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:52:03 +0000

The 2012 edition of the Frugal and Thriving newsletter has been sent this weekend.

This month’s newsletter includes tips for having a healthy body and mind, without it costing money (or the earth).

In this issue you will find:

Four ideas for changing habits that improve health and wellbeing
How to eat wholefoods – information on what are wholefoods, the benefits of a wholefood diet, where to buy them, how to find time to cook them.
Tips on finding balance when life is busy
Articles from the archives
A few links from blogs around the web – how to get your partner to eat wholefoods; how to make oven-dried tomatoes; the difference between healing and curing; and warning signs to look for that may mean you’re too frugal.

If there are things you would like to see in the newsletter, drop me a line and let me know – it’s all about giving you useful information!

If you would like to sign up to the newsletter, find out more or read past editions, check out the newsletter archives page.

Have you read these articles?:

site news: housekeeping, blog sponsorship and wholefood cooking

Melissa — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:27 +0000

You have probably noticed that the website has had a little overhaul (long overdue, particularly the comments section). I started this many, many months ago, and finally finished it this month.

For those who are interested (in the first draft of this article I typed interesting – you can read this if you’re interesting too ), I purchased a professional theme from Organic Themes and then tweaked it myself (for the old theme I taught myself some web programming and wrote it line by line from scratch). This is what I started with for the new theme:

And well, you’re looking at the end result.

I have added a link bar that includes the archives by category rather than date, and listed by title rather than you having to scroll through pages and pages of posts looking for a specific article or topic.

These category archives have been on the to-do list since day one of the website – I can’t tell you how much fiddling with code and technical forum trolling I have done to try and work this one out – one of those things that should have been simple but wasn’t. I got there in the end (after a nap the answer just popped into my head – always the way) and I’m pleased with the result – not too bad for self-taught. I hope that you find the category archives useful!

The whole DIY coding may result in a few bugs – if you notice any please let me know, particularly if you use Internet Explorer as most bugs tend to pop up in there. As a general rule, most internet browsers comply with coding standards except IE, and hacking code (do I sound like I know what I’m talking about?) for IE is an exercise in extreme patience.

The site logo was designed by The Net Men Corp via Elance, and the subscribe buttons etc. I created myself using good old GIMP and Inkscape: two free, open source graphic software alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator respectively.

I’ve also been updating the resources page, although I still have some left to do. You can now find the tutorials and downloadable / printable resources available on the website all in one place.

Content

The aim of the website is to provide useful information (I hope this is the case) and my particular goal this year is to continue to improve the quality of the content (this includes improving the quality of the food photography ).

I received a lot of great ideas in the recent reader survey for improving the content – thank you – and have taken them on board. I really appreciate the feedback!

I’ve joined an online writing group to help me improve the writing and I have quite a few ideas for creating better (I hope) content – baby and toddler willing.

Guest post submissions are welcome, but I have restricted it to other blog writers. In the past I have rejected about 90% of guest post submissions for lack of relevance or due to poor quality. If you have a blog and would like to write an article that readers would find useful and interesting, you’re quite welcome to make a submission. Please see the guidelines for more information.

Website sponsorship / advertising

There has always been some form of advertising on Frugal and Thriving (except Google ads, I’ve never liked those – sorry Google), right from it’s inception nearly three years ago. I am in the process of changing the format and offering direct advertising opportunities.

There are two options available: a small banner spot in the sidebar (maximum 8 spaces available), with a single article introducing your business; or a single banner ad in the newsletter. Advertising acceptance will be based on whether the advertiser is compatible with the theme of the website as well as being relevant to the readers.

In the recent survey I asked you what kinds of businesses you might be interested in and the responses were exactly in line with what I was considering, which is great. There will be no diet pills or get rich schemes, I can promise that.

While I am always first and foremost about reusing and recycling, we still buy stuff at some stage and many of us are looking for more ecological or small business alternatives to big-box, plastic-fantastic buying. Targeted website sponsors are one way to discover some of the different businesses and product alternatives available.

I love looking at the sponsors on other websites: one of my favourite blogs, SouleMama, recently showcased a sponsor who makes woollen clothing that just looks divine, and if it were in my budget at the moment, I would invest in a pair of their comfy groucho pants for winter.

Of course, if you’re not interested in the ads, they won’t be intrusive and can be ignored – content delivery and article structure will still be the same.

In the survey, 99% of you were supportive of ads – thank you. There is a perception across the internet that blog owners should not make any money from their blogs. But bloggers have to pay their bills too. There’s nothing illegitimate about working for an income – most readers, I’m sure, work for an income. And believe me, I put a lot of work into this website and for very little income.

This website is my business, it supplements our income and helps pay the bills. It does cost money to run and maintain a website: domain registration fees and web hosting fees at the very least. Sponsorship ads help pay for the cost of running the website as well as help pay the bills. You still get free content, with no requirement to spend any money or take any action.

I’m sure you understand.

If you are a business owner and would like more information about advertising on Frugal and Thriving, you can find it here.

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That’s it for site news, back to the regular content on Monday. I’ve been experimenting with sugar free baking lately – Monday’s recipe is of my banana, raspberry and yoghurt muffin creation.

On a personal note, I am currently taking an online workshop on wholefood cooking and am learning lots of ways to improve the quality of our diet. This is its first week and I’ve already made almond milk. It’s delicious and we’ve been having nut milk based smoothies (served with sugar free muffins of my own creation) for morning tea all this week.

We also got lovely new carpet in the lounge this week after our little sewage spill, so no more living on cement floors, which I’m very thankful about. And it was my birthday (thought I’d slip that one in there quietly).

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I’d love to know what you think of the new website design. If you’ve noticed any bugs or have any suggestions for improvements, let me know too.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Have you read these articles?:

up poo creek

Melissa — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:00:06 +0000

Unfortunately the title of this piece is more literal than cliche (which should be enough to make you wary. After all, it’s pretty cliche).

So let me begin by saying that if you’re eating, you may want to stop reading.

Now, I’m no plumber, but I know that usually when when the sewer backs up it can mean your loo fills up with water. And that’s about all.

Let’s get out the plunger, call the council and she’ll be right.

The bloke who lives in number number six had assumed his kids had been flushing stuff down the dunny again. So get out the plunger he did (and here I would like to avoid all jokes about plungers, spring to mind though they may).

But when the lady in number two asked to borrow his plunger, he realised the plumbing problem was bigger than his kids’ fascination for flushing and had the nous to call the body corporate plumber.

We live in number one. At the end of the row. Down hill.

And we don’t need plungers, we need gum boots. Grossness has stepped up a notch or two in our house.

Our living room floor and transformed (did I mention carpeted?) garage is flooded with the sewage water of not one, but seven backed-up loos.

I’ve dealt with neighbour’s crap before. This takes things to a whole new level.

While I’m generally a fan of natural cleaners, right now I want to soak in a bathtub of pure bleach. And splash it around our house with reckless abandon.

Unfortunately pregnancy rules out the bourbon solution.

The silver lining part is that as I type this, we are waiting for the insurance people to come and rip up the carpet and they are going to scrub the house for us with disinfectant. They say there’s a possibility that the whole house will get re-carpeted if they can’t match the upstairs stuff. I’ll get a brand new bookshelf, and they will replace the toys we threw out and the towels we used to stem the flow.

Once the house is clean, the new carpet is laid and the furniture is back in place; once the little fella is over his tonsillitis; once my computer is back from the computer-fix-it-man with no more blue screen of death, once the rain, which has created a pond in the yard, stops threatening to flood the house (yes, it’s been one of those weeks) then I will resume my regular posting schedule, answer any emails (which for some reason I can’t access on the web) and stop the whinging.

If you’re an Aussie, happy Australia Day for tomorrow. I hope your day is filled with BBQs and sun and relaxation. We will be visiting relatives for a rest, some unpolluted air and sausages.

the 2012 january / february newsletter edition is out now

Melissa — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:00:25 +0000

The January / February edition of the Frugal and Thriving newsletter is out now.

I had several ideas for this year’s newsletter theme but settled at the last moment on ‘thriving’, so as well as the usual frugal tips, I will focus on the thriving side of life!

I’m excited to say that there are now over 1,200 subscribers to the newsletter and I hope that you find it interesting and beneficial. If you have suggestions for ways of improving it or ideas for content I would love to hear them!

This issue includes:

A link to the 2012 reader survey (if you haven’t seen it yet ).
Links to budgeting and goal setting articles on the blog
12 uses for lemons around the home
10 tips for having more energy
Articles from the archives
Links to blogs around the web
A free kid’s recipe book.

If you haven’t signed up for the Frugal and Thriving newsletter and would like to do so, you can subscribe here. Note: The newsletter gets sent out once every two months (and that’s all – no spammy stuff!) and is separate from the daily blog post email subscription.

Have you read these articles?:

2012 frugal and thriving reader survey

Melissa — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:25:20 +0000

Help make Frugal and Thriving a better website!

I’m busy planning for the coming year on Frugal and Thriving and my top priority is to make this a better website.

To help me achieve this goal, write the articles that you want to read, and cover the topics that are of interest to you, I’ve drawn up a very short (and anonymous) survey to get your feedback.

It would be wonderful if you could take just a minute or two to fill out the survey to let me know how I can improve the blog.

I want to thank you in advance for taking the survey.

You can take the survey here.

Have you read these articles?:

merry christmas from frugal and thriving 2011

Melissa — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:33:54 +0000

The last few days I’ve been silent on the blog but busy at home preparing for Christmas and taking lots of daytime naps. I can’t give too much away, but energetic moments have included sewing and baking and swapping truffle recipes over the fence with a neighbour whose Christmas gift list also includes lots of home-baked goodies.

I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and an enjoyable festive season. I hope that your Christmas celebrations are full of joy for you and your family. If you’re travelling, stay safe on the roads.

I’ve ummed and ahhhed and decided despite having so much time off blogging recently, to take next week off to spend some quality time with the family and to plan and prepare for 2012, which is set to be a busy year for me.

I hope to see you in the new year.

Best Wishes

Have you read these articles?:

tip tuesday–what have you been reading lately?

Melissa — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:00:45 +0000

This isn’t so much a tip as a sharing of some of the really good books I’ve come across lately.

I’ve been making the most of being recumbent (and therefore being less sick) all day long to catch up on some reading. I’ve caught up on quite a bit of fiction reading, getting through some of the books on my shelf that I’ve bought in the past and haven’t yet read, as well as revisiting some old favourites: I read my way through the Harry Potter series again; enjoyed Margaret Gaskell’s North and South for the fourth time; finally got round to reading Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, which has been sitting on my shelf for almost six years and which has to be one of the best books I’ve read in very a long time; revisited Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda and read Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders. It has been such a luxury to be able to read with leisure, despite the uncomfortable circumstances, and the little fella has been quite patient with me, enjoying his playdough and matchbox cars while I’ve had some serious couch time. We have also read The Three Little Pigs about 400 times, I’m sure he will be able to recite it back to me off-by-heart pretty soon.

As for non-fiction, I want to share some excellent books that I’ve read lately. A reader emailed and recommended Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’ve read several of Mr Pollan’s other books, but not this one and I have to say it was a fascinating examination of modern food production as well as more ‘alternative’ agricultural practices. I highly recommend this book (you will probably find it in the library, as I did). My only reservation is that I would like to read a book written by an Australian about Australian food production, because I think our ways aren’t quite as extreme as they are in America.

If you’re looking for some young kid’s gift ideas, I came across this wonderful book from the library (just released) called Hop Skip Jump by Fiona Dalton. This book contains the patterns and instructions for a whole heap of gorgeous stuffed animals all made from recycled or ‘eco’ fabrics. Apart from the super-cute toys, the thing I love about the book is that it explains where to find the different fabric suggestions. For instance, where the book recommends woven wool for toy making, it suggests sourcing it from second hand suits, skirts and trousers. This is great for novices like me, who are unsure about fabric terminology. The other great thing about the book? The author is Australian and has a blog, Hop Skip Jump, where you can find a couple of free patterns and get an idea of how cute these creations are.

Finally, I came across a cookbook (also from the library) called The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. This cookbook gives an overview of how to improvise in the kitchen, some ideas on good flavour combos, and then includes a variety of recipes “deconstructed”, with ideas on how to improvise, change or adjust them or use them as a springboard for creating your own recipes. It’s not often I come across a cookbook that has recipe after recipe that I want to try (and then improvise with). Recipes like flavoured salt and homemade infused oils and vinegars, which it has never occurred to me to make, or semi-dried tomatoes and roast capsicum (to be used as a base for many dished). One idea I love is using a very thick vegetable soup like cauliflower soup or potato soup as a binding agent in chicken pie instead of the usual white sauce. This means a sauce binding without the flour and dairy – great if you’re allergic to both and you’re getting extra ‘hidden’ veg in your meal. I also love that Sally gives a ‘formula’ for making jelly with any kind of liquid like juice or milk, from which you can make an infinite variety of jelly type dishes.

So, while I’ve been inactive in many aspects of day to day life, I’ve been making it up by getting some reading done. What books have you been reading lately?

Have you read these articles?: