Life On The Central Coast

Have you guys tried OUI yogurt yet?   OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE TO!! It is DELICIOUS! This isn't the first jar I've had. Last month we discovered this yogurt at our .99 Store in San Luis Obispo and they were selling it 2 for $1. Yes, you read that right and I'm almost scared to state that on here for fear it will cause a run on the store! I know you guys think that if it's in a .99 Store, something must be wrong with it, but that isn't so. These are in date, sealed properly and absolutely perfect. Oui yogurt, made by General Mills and Yoplait, currently comes in  comes in eight flavors:  strawberry ,  blueberry ,  black cherry ,  vanilla ,  coconut ,  lemon ,  peach , and  plain.   The yogurt is  also non-gmo, gluten free and lightly sweetened with cane sugar  in the fruited varieties.   It is made using whole milk rather than reduced or no fat, a long culturing time and two kinds of fermenting cultures; L. Bul...

If you live in the USA, you probably LOVE instant gratification. You're hungry? Plenty of stores and restaurants open at all hours to help you. Love to shop? Even if your local stores are closed, there are plenty on the internet that are open. Want an IPad, coat, purse, golf clubs, gym membership? If you have credit or money in the bank, you can have it today. Instant.... Gratification.  But what would happen if you decided to wait just a bit? Would you still want it in, let's say 30 days? Thats the question posed today at Frugally Sustainable . Daily Goal:  Begin today using the 30-day list for non-essential purchases.  Sometimes I wonder just how much I "need" something. Is it a true NEED or is it just a WANT? So Andrea is having us print out a list, put the item we THINK we want on it, the date we wanted it and the price leave it on the list for 30 days. Put that list in an area where you see it daily. That gives you a chance to really do some thinking,...

Less house space = less stuff! This little place is 107 sq. feet! People actually are living in these around the country. http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/stamper/ Read more about the frugal challenge HERE . Today's Daily Goal: Given your own unique situation and based off of what you have read today…determine your own goal. How would downsizing your home assist you in living frugally? We bought our home in 1995 during a price dip in the market. We were able to secure Cal Vet financing since my husband had military service background. It was a low enough interest rate that we could afford the payments. Mind you, this was a LARGE home, 4 bedrooms and a full bath downstairs and a master bedroom suite upstairs. It was actually known as "Brighton Place" back then. An elderly care home in a residential neighborhood. Our 4 children were between the ages of 10 and 20 and all wanted a room of their own. We had rented in this area for 13 years and watched the...

Here is today's Goal from the Frugally Sustainable Challenge:  Examine  your own unique situation  and challenge yourself to the minimum level. How will seeking the minimum level effect the way you live now? What will you reduce today? What can you work on reducing in the future? Bet you are asking yourself right about now what "minimum level" is. Well, let me give you an example. Let's say you wash your hair every morning by taking a 10 minute shower followed by blow drying and styling. What if you reduce your shower time to 8 minutes, or maybe even 5. Can you get it done in that amount of time? What if you only took a shower every OTHER day for 5 min. You can see that you would save water this way and the gas or electricity of heating that water. If you let your hair dry naturally, that would also cut back on electricity. When you find that point where you HAVE to take a shower at least every other day for 5 minutes and can only let it dry naturally 2 days of t...

So busy in fact that I've been really, REALLY bad about posting here. Some things I've been doing... Sewing ... I've finished nearly 4 crib size quilts since January and I'm working on the 5 th now. (I'll share some pictures when I get them uploaded) Crafting with Paper ... A little (long overdue!) banner for my grand-daughter Hannah's room. Ribbon will be strung through the back, each "flag" will be joined together with a bow and it will be hung on the wall of her little nursery. Hopefully I'll be able to share a picture of that when I'm done. Baking ... Mostly experimenting with bread lately. I love the smell and aroma of fresh baked bread, don't you? Cracked Wheat Sourdough Yummy Pretzels! OK, I need to stop right her or my computer will need to be fixed from all the drooling I'm doing!! Gardening .... A full bed of zuchinni , yellow and pattypan squash and Shelling peas. We also had a bumper year of Ollallieberries , Strawberries...

What I've been working on this past month.... Remember the little rag quilt project I was working on? Finished! With all the rain we've been having my garden beds are THRIVING! We are talking about adding more beds into our yard and planting even more garden veggies. My husband is a whiz with a saw and having home grown fresh produce will save us money at the store! My husband and I have been working on "being prepared". We've taken some steps around the house to organize camping equipment, work on our food storage, build up a emergency water supply and learn a few new skills. We each made 72 hour food packages for our cars and larger bags filled with first aid items, warm clothes and camping type equipment. Better to think ahead and be prepared than to have something happen and be fumbling around not knowing what to do. Wes and I are taking steps to get HAM licenses, hopefully our respective father's old numbers. Its a fun way to communicate with others and i...

The year has gotten off to a rather crazy start. But crazy makes the time go by faster right? My husband and I are putting the finishing touches on our little upstairs "apartment". We donated quite a few items, sold some of the larger things and threw out a lot of useless junk! Now we are debating whether to keep our ugly old TV / entertainment center or just get one of the smaller flatscreen ones that we could even hang on the wall for space purposes. I LIKE this! Looks clean and clutter free! It doesn't even NEED the candle holders or pictures on the wall. Looks like I'll need to downsize even MORE stuff! Our area of California has been unseasonably warm.... in the 70's! We took our scooters out to Lopez Lake and made some reservations to camp this upcoming weekend. Here is a map of the "Blue Jay" section.... we will be in Space 31. We are VERY excited to go on our first campout of the year and are already planning something in April as well. I've ...

"If The Only Prayer You Say In Your Entire Life Is - 'Thank You' - That Is Enough" Meister Eckhart 1260-1328 Christian Writer and Theologian Yesterday I went for a walk on the Beach. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool and it made me feel so relaxed. We take in information about the world around us everyday, without even thinking much about it, through our senses. Today I am Thankful to be able to S ee, Hear, Taste, Feel and Smell all that is around me! Since this is Thanksgiving month, just imagine that feast without senses. The table is set in finery, flowers, a fruit bowl, candles. We gather around with family and friends, laughing and talking, exchanging a hug or handshake, "feeling the love". Then we sit down and in comes the food.... the turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing... all the tantalizing smells of what we are about to eat. Ummmm, and the taste! Then the blessing comes, heartfelt, quiet... we listen and are fille...

Thanks to my son-in-law, Mike, who did all the demolition and construction, my husband who through his long hours at work has made it financially possible and Aby Garvey's closet organization class, My closet dream has become a reality! You remember the before's??? NOT a pretty site. It was dark and cluttered, items all over the floor, mismatched hangers and over stuffed top shelving. It was at this point that I decided to take a closet organizing class offered by Aby Garvey over at www.Simplify101.com . It has made so much difference in the way my closet looks and feels. First, I sat down one afternoon and started mapping out what I DID want in a closet, took some measurements, surfed the internet for ideas and I was on my way! The results?? Ta Da! Here is the finished, empty closet. We built in shelving which I had planned to use for shoes, but since I don't WEAR a lot of shoes, I'm using to hold off season sweaters, rain gear and other items. Before, our lighting c...

"If The Only Prayer You Say In Your Entire Life Is - 'Thank You' - That Is Enough" Meister Eckhart 1260-1328 Christian Writer and Theologian Today, I am Thankful for my HOME . Everyday I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Since I've been married, I've lived in apartments, duplexes and rental homes. By far, home ownership is THE BEST! Back in 1995, we started looking for our current home. Each of us made a request that we put on a larger list. The kids each wanted their own bedroom. My youngest daughter had to have a tree out front to climb. For my husband it was a garage (and economical price tag!) and for me it was a large backyard and a peak of the ocean. We must have looked at 10 places... all either too small or too expensive. Then, after having another offer fall through, our Realtor showed us this house that was JUST put on the market, as is, a foreclosure. We made an offer THAT DAY... my Valentine's gift of 1995! It was accepted and we moved in...