vacation time

We ran away from home for a few days last week and went to Nashville, In.  Located about 50 miles south of Indy this tiny town has been an artists colony since the twenties.  It's full of little shops, inns, restaurants and is absolutely beautiful.  Most of the shops with demonstrating craftsmen are gone and they do seem too similar but we still had a great time.  We visited Brown County state park, had lunch at the inn, explored the town of Martinsville and visited a local winery.  Best of all was no nonstop calls from work, no TV, no housework or cooking.  The first night, AH who has been working long hours for weeks, slept for thirteen hours straight.  We had a great time and came home refreshed and ready to tackle his long hours and my upcoming show schedule.

I think he can sleep ahywhere

cabin at park

inn

fall decor

decorating inspiration

Stone Creek winery

living a frugal life

Recently I had someone say to me "I just don't understand how anyone can live on $50,000 a year."  Now this person has a gorgeous McMansion, two fancy new cars and all the latest toys. They work hard for what they have and I don't begrudge them one cent, but of course they couldn't live on $50,00!!  Since the average family income is $51,000 per year in America and a fraction of that in most of the world millions of  people do live at that income level.  The same week someone else made a comment about my new car.  It's in great shape, low mileage and five years old..  It replaced  a twelve year old car with 200000 miles on it,  Chances are high that it will be driven until it has at least that many miles or more before I get a different one.
Both comments got me thinking about how AH and I have lived frugally and well under the $50,000 mark over the past 40+ years.  I have had many comments over the years of our 'rich' life style.  I thought I would share some of our frugal living tips.

1 Live below your means as much as possible  sometimes just paying the bills and feeding everyone are all you can do, been there done that, but do the best you can
2 Fix up, use up, recycle  Almost nothing in our home is new but most of it is really nice
3 If you don't have the skills, learn.  Ask a neighbor, friend or family member to teach you how to do projects and simple repairs.
4 Use credit sparingly a mortgage, a car  cash for everything else except an emergency.
5 Save for what you want
6 Forget what others may think of you.  If they are bothered by what you have, drive or wear that's their problem not yours.
Give back to others.  No matter how bad things look for you, someone else is in much more need.
7 Learn to cook and eat at home.  One of my sons complained about spending over $600 in a month on meals out.  The average family spends at least $300 per month eating out, most of that is fast food.  What could you do with all that extra money if you only ate out once a week and skipped the trips through the drive thru?
8 Trade with neighbors, family and friends.  Whether it's skills, tools, child care or anything else someone you know probably has what you need.
9 Learn the difference between want and need.  We've had many conversations on this subject at our house.  I want what I want when I want it!!!  Most of the time I just am not willing to go into debt to have it.  Usually if you wait one week before buying something  you'll decide it isn't really necessary.
10 Always have your own money if possible.  If I want a rummage treasure or book I pay for it with my own money without having to explain it to AH.  He has the same privileged.  We do ours mostly in cash for the month and when it's gone no more spending.
11 Cheap is not always the best way to go.  Yeah I'm cheap.  I rarely buy things that are not on sale.  What I do look for is quality.  Yes I do have a lot of quantity on some things but I got those things real cheap.

I can see the people who know me well and are sure I could shop for a career laughing at this post.  No I don't like following the ideas all the time and we both mess up occasionally but when we live almost debt free, can pay cash for our next trip, travel  like we do, live like we do, it does make the little sacrifices unimportant.  We have never gone without something we needed for very long.  Most of what we want comes along eventually or those wants change over time.  Now we need to start saving for that trip to Italy we want to take.

mixed media project

I made this little piece to submit to a magazine for publishing.  Hope they like it.  The focus of the entry is suppose to be, use at least three different mediums and pull it together with stitching.  I started with a square of painters tarp, I printed one of my favorite sayings " you are closer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth" all over the fabric using a paint pen.  I mounted that onto a slightly larger square of card stock as a base, which I had stamped.  I then decoupaged part of a floral napkin on top, added a small piece of vintage doily, lace and buttons .  I then stitched around the flowers and edges.  I made a tag from salt dough, painted it with nail polish for shine and hand printed the word bliss.  I tied the tag onto the piece.
Every thing on this speaks of me from the soft colors, flowers and pink to the verses and even the fabric.  That's the best way to do art, make it about what you know.  I've never done a mixed media piece before, so even if it doesn't get published I learned several new things.  Keeping your mind active is always a good thing.

pieces and parts

stamped back ground

Add caption

There is stitching around the flowers you can barely see.  Maybe it needs a few more buttons?

Now all I need to do is photograph it and send in my submission to the magazine next week..

Idea store finds

I made a quick trip to my favorite store yesterday.  It's called the idea store for good reason.  My imagination just takes over every time I go in there.  I spent just $5.00 for all these goodies.  Wood turned legs, maybe a stool or candle sticks.  chop sticks, I'm thinking the beginning of a star burst mirror.  Fabric crayons just because I've never tried them.  Added a pile of wooden spools just because they are cute and you don't see them much anymore.  Now I just need the time to go and create.  How do you find time to create?
The first  picture is because Callie kept telling me to take her pic on her most favorite thing, a freshly folded  basket of warm laundry.  Honest she would not move out of the basket or stop meowing until I took her picture.