A Trip to the Library

Oh boy friends- I've just gone half crazy requesting books from our fabulous public library. In anticipation of my summer vacation (t-minus 7.5 hours!!!), during which I plan to while away the hot days under the shade of my porch with my nose in a book. And a cold glass of iced tea. Here's what I've got so far: 


Carrots N' Cake by Tina Haupert. 

Tina is a Boston food/fitness blogger who rocks my world. Hers was one of the first "healthy" blogs I started reading, and she's been a huge inspiration to help me see that healthy does equal boring. She has loads of great recipes and tips on her blog, Carrots N Cake to help you along your journey to your Feel Great Weight!


Growing a Farmer by Kurt Timmermeister

So I already started this book, but I think it's going to add fuel to my deep-rooted desire to move out of the city and buy a farm. Mike is not so enthusiastic about this plan, but maybe after reading this charming tale of a accidental farmer, he'll reconsider. 


Plate to Pixel by Hélène Dujardin

The photos in this book look absolutely beautiful! In the process of learning how to correctly use my DSLR, I'd like to learn the basics of great food styling and photography. I'm excited to dig into this book full of gorgeousness.


My Last Duchess by Daisy Goodwin

Mike and I love historical dramas. We just got really into the BBC Masterpiece Classic "Downton Abbey". So, of course I am eager to read this Gilded Age tale of a Newport debutante who goes to England in search of a suitor. Ooh la la, I do declare. 


And like...15 back issues of This Old House, Bon Appetit, Ready Made and Real Simple magazines. Ahh the good life. 

Summer Saving Challenge!

We're so excited to share with you our Summer Saving Challenge! During the month of July, we are challenging ourselves to find creative ways to save even more cashola. We like seeing the number on our savings account creep up each month- don't you??

Each week, we will share with you a money saving tip and ask for yours in return! I'm thinking about making it into a linky party- would you guys join in our money saving adventure?? 

We are also hoping to have a few great guest posts for even more thrifty inspiration! Do you have any thrifty ideas that you could share in a guest post? We would love for you to hang out with us here at Tiny Wallet Style! Email us at tiny wallet style at gmail dot com (no spaces) and let us know what you would like to share with our awesome readers!

How to Cook Dry Black Beans

I mentioned a while back that we're trying to reduce our consumption of processed foods and overly packaged goods. Part of how we are trying to accomplish this is by buying in bulk. We have a local food co-op that is fantastic, and I've been shopping there about once a month. Additionally, I'm trying to save jars and containers to bring home the foods instead of grabbing a plastic one. So far, so good.

Here is how I make the equivalent of 3 cans cooked black beans ($.99/each, usually) for $.89!!

Before you go to sleep, rinse the beans in a colander and pick out any broken or icky looking ones. Throw into the slow cooker and add enough water to cover the beans, plus a few inches. Cover and let soak in a cool place (we put it in the stove- turned off of course) overnight.

In the morning, drain the beans into a colander. 

If you want some extra flavor, chop up a few cloves of garlic and some onion and saute it for a few minutes while your beans are draining. *Important note*- don't add salt until your beans are completely tender or they'll get super tough!

Add your beans back into the pot and re-fill with enough water to cover plus a few inches.  Put the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce down to a simmer and cook for about an hour.  Beans should be tender, but not mushy.

At this point, season the beans to taste. I add salt, lime juice and zest, chipotle powder and some chopped cilantro. Yum. 


I learned from A Year of Slow Cooking that 1 2/3 c. cooked beans is the equivalent of 1 can (minus the can water). After the beans cool, put them into a container (we use freezer-safe 2 c. reusable containers) and freeze up to 6 months (or keep in the fridge up to a week).


There you go- thrifty and super easy!

Summer!

We're in the midst of planning our annual camping trip to the Boston Harbor Islands, so I'm putting spring on hold for some summer dreaming. Here are some photos from last year's camping trip. Oh, and if you live near Boston this is amazingly thrifty get-away! It comes out to $20 for two night's of camping plus a few bucks for the harbor ferry. Not bad at all!

Eating dinner around an open campfire. Gazing at the city skyline across the water. Falling asleep to the sound of crickets, not city busses. It's wonderful.

REALLY Tiny Wallet Style- inside of our tent!

Don't you feel better just looking at this?

On the ferry

Mike hanging out by the water

Camp fire! 

Ahhhhh. 

Planning a Vegetable Garden

It's a super sunny, gorgeously blue-sky kind of day here in Boston. Although the thermometer still says "winter", we're feeling pretty springy. We have the seed catalogues out, and are in the middle of reading two awesome books: 

Find it here

Find it here

We're getting excited about expanding our vegetable garden. As we mentioned, we're planning to nix the flowers this year (sniffle, sniffle), opting instead to just spend our pennies growing things we can actually eat! We're doing lots of reading to figure out how to grow a thriving garden on a tiny budget!

Here's a preview of what we've got up our sleeve! Next week, we'll show you our garden plan and talk specifics.

Photos via Territorial Seed (they are awesome- check 'em out!)

Tiny Improvements

*This is one part in a series of posts about what I’m doing to improve our lives this year. Not New Year’s Resolutions, just a few Tiny Improvements!


Hey there! Hope this finds you well- I can't believe it's already Thursday! We had a dusting of SNOW last night here in New England. Guess Mama Nature missed the memo that it's spring time. I'm cool with it, for another week or so. Still time to sneak in some hearty, winter stews and such.


It is, however, already three (nearly four!) months into this lovely year. I realized that I didn't really share with you some of the things I decided to try and accomplish this year. So, in the interest of keeping myself accountable, here goes!


1) Take care of my body

I've never been super concerned with how I look in the mirror. Of course, I like to look nice but I've never been obsessed. This all changed for me this year at a recent doctor's appointment. She mentioned that my weight has been nudging up and that losing a few pounds would do wonders for regulating my PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome). 


So, dear and darling friends and readers, it is ON. It’s time that I took control of my body and not the other way around. I’m doing lots of reading, and if any of you have suggestions on how to go about doing this let me know!

• I’m starting out with a high-protein/low-carb/tons of fresh veggies approach and seeing how my body responds.
• Mike and I are scheduling in cardio workouts 3x a week and yoga twice a week. We’re going to add in bike rides, walks and hiking once the weather gets nice.
• I’m challenging myself to drink 8+glasses of water a day. I’ll do this by bringing my 24 oz. water bottle to work- I’ll be more likely to guzzle it if I have it with me!
• I’ll start taking a multi-vitamin and a probiotic regularly. I’m hoping this will also help boost my immune system (thanks to the kids I work with, I get tons of colds).
• Switch my eating style to mini-meals- a good breakfast followed by little, protein-packed meals throughout the day (5 total meals).

What do you do to stay healthy? Comment and let us know!!!

Mike and Ally Sitting in a Tree...

S-A-V-I-N-G! I know, I know we're the worst. Grayfeet does not approve.

In The Mood For Love..

 

(Check out the Valentine's Day Challenge!!!! Lot's of awesome project ideas- just click the button!)

Howdy! Can you believe that today is February??? Now, we're not huge fans of going Valentine's Day loco, but we decided that our place needed a little decoration to fill the post-Christmas void. Specifically, our shantle. What is a shantle, you ask? It's the top of our all-purpose hold-it-all shelf in the living room that we decorate as if it were a fireplace mantle! You may recognize it from this little DIY gem:

Mike's Bookshelf Re-Do was so fun and awesome! It left us with a nice open shelf (heretofore referred to as our shantle) to decorate!

So here's what we did to spruce it up for Valentine's day!

We swung by our local Dollar Tree (endless resources for cheap DIY-ers like us!! For under $20 smackers, this is what we came up with: (oh and check back for the terrarium how-to!)



And on top of our long bookshelf, a sweet little framed photo from our engagement portrait session and another "snow" candle.



We plan to add a few more decorative elements- maybe some fancy teacups that are just hanging out in our cabinet filled with candy? Or some smaller tea light holders?

What about you??? Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Thrifty Tips- Cleaning House

Oh housecleaning. While we wish we could just call a cleaning service or have a robot-maid ala The Jetsons, it's just not in the cards at Tiny Wallet Headquarters. So, we're doing the dirty work all by our lonesome.

The problem is, I'm slightly addicted to cleaning products (I blame my mom- hi Mom!). I buy anything with a brightly colored label that promises to make my job as easy as possible. Now, I know it's all marketing, but I'm a sucker. So, one of my new year's resolutions last year was to green our clean. Cut out the chemically heavy (and expensive!!!) cleaning products and figure out how to do it ourselves to save some bucks and live more green! Here's how our little experiment went down in 2010.

Tiny Wallet Style's Thrifty Kitchen Essentials

It's no secret that we love to be in the kitchen, preferably with the stove full of bubbling pots and something delicious in the oven. If you're NOT cooking crazy like us, you may be resolving to figure it out this year and we're here to help!!

One major hurdle to getting your dinner on is the lack of proper cooking equipment. Fear not, frugal friends, because you can hook up your kitchen for mere pennies (well, not really, but still...).  Here's what we consider to be the bare essentials of cooking a great meal. If you're curious about specs/prices, follow the "Found Here" link to the website. We aren't endorsing any of these products nor are we being paid to advertise for them. We just think they would work well in a beginner's kitchen! Do you have any favorite thrifty kitchen items?? Comment and let us know!

1) 2-quart Saucepan

Get one big enough for making pasta or rice. This doesn't have to be super fancy since you're mostly using it for boiling and simmering.



(Found here)

2) Saute Pan with lid

Heavy bottom, skip the non-stick and make sure it has a tight-fitting lid. This will be your biggest investment, but you'll definitely use it the most. Oh, and we like one with a handle that can go into the oven!

(Found Here)

3) Pyrex Bowls Set

This isn't an absolute necessity, but we have found that a good set of serveware/storage bowls can save you a ton of cash otherwise spent on disposable plastic containers.



(Found here)

A Good Spoon and Spatula

You need a good (non-metal) spoon!! A study bamboo one will take you from scraping the bottom of a sauce pan to stirring up a thick batter with no problem. For a spatula, we recommend something non-metal (silicon or heat-proof plastic). Make sure it's relatively thin and strong.




(Found Here)

Measuring Spoon/Cup Set

We recommend both a measuring cup set (for dry ingredients) and a measuring cup (like the one Pyrex makes) for liquid measures.




(Found Here)

Cutting Board Set

It's a good idea to have one cutting board set aside specifically for meat/fish so you don't have to worry about cross-contamination. With this color-coded set, it's easy!

(Found Here)

Mixing/Serving Bowls

Get a few sizes of mixing bowls- you won't regret it. I love these glass ones because they're sturdy and durable. They also are great to go into the fridge with leftovers.

(Found Here)

Chef Knife and Paring Knife

A good knife will change your life in the kitchen. You can spend $15 or $150 on a chef's knife, but regardless you're looking for it to be comfortable in your hand. I like a knife with some weight to it, as well as a firm connection between handle and blade. You should also invest in a paring knife for peeling, de-seeding and other small tasks.

(Found Here)

Headboard Dilemma

Good morning, Tiny people! So, I'd like to start off with a little confession/celebration. When we started this blog, part of the reason was that Mike was laid off, so we had tons of time on our hands. BUT we didn't want to bring down the tone of our posts, so we decided not to tell you. Well..that part is over, because he started a new (and AWESOME) job this morning. For the sake of privacy, I won't tell you what company he's working for, but suffice it to say that it's in an eco-friendly field (which delights us to no end) and should be really interesting and useful for our future home.



Yay! Party party! Mike and Grayfeet are both very excited.

Anyway. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

We want to make a headboard. Our bed is anchored on the longest uniterrupted wall of our bedroom and we haven't found the art/wall sculpture/decoration to make it pop. It's so blahhh and white and boring. (We thought about painting, but since we're not planning to stay here we don't want to invest in it and then have to re-paint)



So...we're thinking headboard! An easy way to inject a little personality into the place, right? We're going to make it, using Young House Love's awesome tutorial. Not sure on a fabric yet, but I'm loving the blue-green in option #2.

This is where you come in. We've narrowed down the shape to these three. Let us know which is your favorite in the comments!!!!

1) (From Amazon.com)

2)

(The Draper's Bed From L.A. Times)

3)

(From West Elm)

Little Closet of Horrors

This blog is causing us to do things we've never done before. Like...show you the horrifying insides of our disorganized closets and drawers. You've already seen our spice drawer, which was an easy fix.

This next thing we're going to show you- not so much. In our apartment, we have TWO closets. One in the bedroom and one for the entire rest of the place. This entryway closet has to serve approximately 33,000 purposes- storage for craft, tool, photo, office, decoration, gift wrapping, sewing machine/supply, tech component, etc. etc. etc. Might I add that this cave of wonders measures in at just 30 inches wide by 21 inches deep? Oh yeah. Roomy.

Deep breath. Here goes:

Gahhhhhh.

It's not that we haven't made attempts at organizing.

Not good enough. We still have tons of this to deal with:

This is our "to be filed" file. Which is constantly overflowing because...we don't have anywhere to file it! Go figure.

Our solution???

Be scared, closet. Be very, very scared.

We scored a bunch of these nifty Kassett boxes at IKEA for...wait for it...$.75/each!!!! Bargain!!!

Our plan is to use these babies to stash our design magazines, receipts for taxes and various other things to be filed. We also picked up a few other boxes with lids in hopes of corralling all of the things that don't have homes, yet.

We're feeling super daunted by this project, but excited at the same time. Of course, we'll keep you posted with the progress! We're hoping to tackle it over the weekend, so keep your eyes peeled on Monday.

What about you? Are there any organizing nightmares that you're hoping to tackle this year?? Comment and let us know!

Thrifty Tips- Becoming a Cheapskate

Truth time: Early on in our lives, we cultivated a nasty little habit of living beyond our means. Dinners out, bucket loads of shopping and a taste for high-end electronics ate through gobs and gobs of cash. Thankfully, we grew up and realized that the only way we can hope to live a happy and fulfilling life is to eliminate the spending.

Easier said than done, for sure. I still get that urge to pop into Target or Homegoods "just to browse" and end up walking out with a bag of stuff. So...our challenge to ourselves is to break the spending habit. How? Here is what we are thinking for 2011:

1) Write down all of your financial goals and post them everywhere. By the computer, so you think twice about online shopping, in your wallet, etc. If you see the goals in black and white, you'll be reminded to think twice before whipping out the Visa.

2)  Make a list and stick to it. No shopping unless we need it, its budgeted for and we cannot live without it.

3) Give things away/sell things. I think that once we get the ball rolling on this we will feel rewarded by the act of minimizing and decluttering.

4)  Cultivate a roster of cheap but delicious dinners to save cash! Dinners out are a weakness and if we don't have something on the menu, we tend to slip back into our old ways.

5) Budget and stick to it. Hold ourselves accountable for our spending. Its way too easy to let ourselves slip and overspend, so we need to figure out a way to stay on track. Hmmm.

Now it's your turn! How do you guys save cash?? We're always looking for new ways to become even thriftier!

Thrifty Tips: How We Save Cash Around the Holidays

The holidays are approaching quickly and we have been doing quite a bit of thinking about Christmas shopping lately. Our families are both huge, so buying gifts for everyone is quite the task! With the new budget in place, our holiday spending has starting shrinking which makes shopping for lots of people even harder. We love giving gifts, so not shopping at all is out of the question. We have, however, come up with some sneaky strategies to save cash AND still play Santa to our family and friends.

1) Make a list and stick to it! Seriously. Estimate how much you will spend and budget for your gifts as far in advance as you can -we budget in January and then split the total between 12 months. Every month, we contribute to our Christmas gift fund. This really takes the financial burden off of you when December comes rolling around.

How We Meal Plan on a Budget

During the holidays, things get very hectic around Tiny Wallet HQ so naturally we slide on some normal household duties. The first thing, in past years, was cooking dinner. Instead, we'd opt for take out and going out to restaurants. Well, since the budget has gone into place, we realize that takeout and going out for dinner is a thing of the past. We had to change. Enter...the internet!

Tiny Holidays: Man's Best Friend Edition

You give gifts to your pets to celebrate various holidays and birthday...don't you? No? We're just weird? Well...that's hurtful.

Anyway!

We thought that we would round up a few ideas for gifting the pets in your life. After all, they are snuggly, loyal and never complain that your turkey is too dry.

1) Jazz up a run of the mill collar with these nifty little ID tags. At $10 (cheaper than the personalized ones at our local pet store), BowWowzerz has tons of cute options for your pooch (or cat, for that  matter!).

Tiny Holidays: Get In the Kitchen

Here at TWS Headquarters, the second that the thermometer drops below 60°, the oven goes on and the baking commences. I dream about what I'll bake through the entire summer. But, for me, there is no greater time to bake then for the holidays. It's become a tradition that we will deliver freshly baked treats to friends and neighbors instead of giving gifts. With an adorable box or bow, some homemade treats make a perfect (and cheap) holiday gift! Let's check out what goodies are in the running for Tiny Wallet Christmas Gift Boxes 2010:

Tiny Holidays: Art Gifts

Mike and I started a tradition after we got married that we would buy each other art for birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. That way, we will be able to fill our house with unique art and not accumulate lots of stuff that we don't have room for. Most of the time, the art we buy are prints that are super reasonably priced (think under $25)!!!

Some that we love from Etsy:

Tiny Holidays: For the Kids

Shopping for kids can easily become a mad dash into the Mega Toy Emporium to grab whatever plastic gizmo is flashing from the endcap. We believe in giving gifts that are nurturing and creative, not destined for the trash bin a few weeks after Christmas. Here are a few ideas for fun and engaging holiday gifts for the little ones in your life.

1. Art

How-To: Get Out of the House!!

When you're living in Tiny Wallet land, it's easy to focus on the “can't” factor. I can't spend money= I can't do anything. We get around this by using a few thrifty tips to save us from a never-ending cycle of can't.

(The Riverway- Part of Boston's Emerald Necklace)