One of my favorite things about fall is the warm, yummy drinks.  Some apple cider, hot chocolate, or especially a Starbucks Chai Tea make me swoon.  Unfortunately, we all know how expensive Starbucks is, so I don’t get it all the time.  When I was really craving it this afternoon, I decided I would try my hand at making it this afternoon.  OMG it was AMAZING.  If you like chai tea, please try out this recipe!  I think it’s better than Starbucks chai tea. 3 cups milk (I used organic 2% milk but next time will try soy) 3 cups water 7 black tea bags (you can use decaf too) 1/2 cup honey 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cloves (I grated mine from whole ones) 1/2 tsp ground ginger Mix all spices in a bowl. Mix the water and milk in a pot, put it on the stove, and heat to just below boiling.  Add in the honey, made sure it dissolves, and let it incorporate for a minute.  Next, [...]

Today is Blog Action Day, and this year’s topic is Climate Change. Whether or not you believe in climate change, I think that when you are living a frugal life, you are also usually living a little greener. You may shop at thrift stores, make your own laundry detergent, skip the shampoo, and make your own rain barrels. Ultimately, any little thing you do to help the environment is a positive one. Sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about all the negative things in this world and think that we’re doomed anyway, so why even bother?  Then I realize that no one knows exactly what will happen.  Every thing that I do to save the environment, I do because I enjoy doing it. Today I’m going to encourage you to make one change in your life that will help benefit the environment.  Maybe you’ll start composting. Maybe you’ll switch to alternative menstrual products. Maybe you will sit in the dark and blog. Whatever it is, do something. Every little bit counts! What steps are you taking to help prevent climate change [...]

While I was in Michigan last week, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my 20 year old sister. It was awesome, because we really don’t get to spend much time together with me living so far away from her. We were talking about things, and she asked me a question that threw me for a loop. “What do you do with all the money you save? You’ve mentioned quite a bit that you do certain things to save money, but what exactly is is that you do with all the money you save? Why not just spend and live life?” Wow. Keep in mind that we grew up with the same thrifty mama. I think what made her so curious was that I told her to pull into the parking lot that had all the rvs for sale. I told her that if we lived in an rv, we would save so much money.  I guess she didn’t think it was as cool as I did. I basically told her that it’s essential to keep [...]