Read the latest from Chelsea at TGAHGifts for the Gardener: Happy Homesteading HolidaysOctober 1, 2018**Hi there! Thanks for ending up on my page. I just wanted to let you know that you’ll be finding Amazon affiliate links throughout this page. This means, if you buy an item, I’ll receive a small percentage of compensation from your purchase. These links don’t add any fees or added costs to your purchase. Thanks for supporting The Green Acre Homestead!** Gifts for the Gardener: Happy Homesteading Holidays Hey there gardener, do I have some gifts for you! The holidays are officially upon us! October is here, the stores are presenting their Christmas lights and mistletoe, and my social media feed is filled with pictures of beautifully grown pumpkin patches. You and I both are wondering what we’re getting you, and you, and you for Christmas this year and wondering how we’re already almost through with 2018. As a “new-serious” gardener of 3 years, I have a few items that I truly love and just couldn’t live without on my homestead. They’re not all items you’d immediately think of, but there’s nothing wrong with that. My Wagon I’ve written about my wagon before in a blog about the best tools for a homesteader. I’m adding it to this list because, after 3 years, it is still in my Top 3 tools that I use almost every single day. It turns out it’s the best gift I’ve ever given myself and I use it more assist my “gardener side” than anything else. Living in Florida, the summers get hot, hot, hot and pushing a wheelbarrow full of dirt eventually gets mighty tiring. That’s where my wagon comes in! Or I’ll lug bags of pine chips or big cubes of straw to mulch with. It’s the best money I think I’ve ever spent. My Camelback I discovered the beauty of using this as a gardener, and yard in general, this summer and I’d gift it to any outside worker immediately. As stated before, I live in Florida. It’s pretty easy to get overheated or dehydrated! Pull on a camelback, fill it with ice and top it off with water and you have easy access to cold water while sowing your seeds or mowing the garden area. Best quick water fix EVER. Also, you can use a camelback for so many other uses also, such as running or hiking! My Stainless Steel Water Bottle This comes in as a quick second to the camelback. If I’m doing an evening harvest in the humidity, I fill my stainless steel water bottle up with ice water and carry it on out to the garden. The water stays nice and cold, there’s no condensation to pick up dirt from your hands, and you don’t have to worry about dehydrating. Bonus tip? Fill this bottle up with hot tea or coffee for your morning waters or evening harvests! Pick those thawing carrots with some hot chocolate with the youngins’ and be a star-gardener! An LED Grow Light I grow fodder for my livestock once our Florida grass starts to die back. I keep my fodder in a shed and I needed a grow light to give it a little extra push. This light has been quite wonderful for my purpose and I’ve even used it for vegetable seedlings! Whether your fellow gardener is sprouting seedlings or fodder, this light is a great gift at a great price. I might be buying a second one in order to expand my fodder operation! A Knee Pad A knee pad for kneeling whilst harvesting those delicious vegetables! If you have mulch or pebbles around your gardens, this product is for you! I’m going to be experimenting with sewing some washable, super cute knee pads. These are sold already made at places like Tractor Supply or Amazon. It can be the perfect, cheap “go-to-gift” for your fellow gardener. A Swivel Stool I’ll admit I don’t have this one yet but it’s on my wishlist! I’d use a knee pad for harvesting usually for I’d love a swivel stool for planting! Sowing seeds can be a very enjoyable, tedious task. It’s something I truly have a love-hate relationship with. I love being connected to the Earth, spending time outside and getting my hands dirty. I really just hate the backaches I’m left with from my low-lying garden beds. I’ll be gifting myself a swivel stool with wheels soon to save my back. I can not wait…maybe I’ll just order it now! I hope these ideas serve you well! I’d love to hear what you’ve gotten your gardening gals and guys in the past, or what you plan to gift them this year. Drop a line in the comments below and let’s have a chat. Happy Holidays, my friendly folks. *You can find this post among other wonderful blogs over at the Homestead Blog Hop!*... Four Ways to Have a More Frugal Holiday SeasonSeptember 3, 2018**Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that this page contains affiliate links as I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program: an affiliate program used as a means of a “side hustle” income for us bloggers! By using these links you’re supporting The Green Acre Homestead and all it’s feathered and furred friends. It won’t cost you any extra money and I thank you kindly!*** Four Ways to Have a More Frugal Holiday Season I can’t believe we’re already getting to the time of year where little pumpkin candies are popping up and Christmas lights are on display. The world revolves around money it seems. That’s sad to me and I’d imagine most of us are after the same exact thing – a slower, simpler, maybe more frugal lifestyle. No more frantic, racing hearts and minds while attempting to accomplish the smallest tasks! With the way this world is spinning, we could all benefit from taking it down a notch. For many of us, that starts with money. Spending less money, saving more money, and finding things that do with friends and family that won’t break the bank. During the holidays, having people visit can get pricey! My husband can be one of the most frugal men you’ll ever meet, so here’s how we get by during the holidays by having a frugal holiday season. Cheap Outings Going out to do things can break the bank, Y’all. But that doesn’t mean we don’t go out with our family during the holidays! One of our most favorite things to do is dollar bowling night, and this will come in handy while attempting a frugal holiday season. One of our local bowling allies has Dollar Bowling Night Mondays and Thursday. That means you pay $1 for each pair of shoes and $1 per game, per person. When you have 11 people in town and want something to do, that provides a pretty cheap activity (and kills time!). Look up your local allies and see what promotions they offer. Both of our families have a holiday tradition of going to see a movie. I can’t remember the last time we went to a “regular” theater but I very clearly remember the prices and they were upwards of triple what we pay at the smaller theater we go to. Here’s the pricing on this Touchstar Cinema theater: $4.00 Matinees (before 6 pm) $4.00 Children, Seniors, Students, Military $5.00 Adults (after 6 pm) Art films are an additional $1.00 3D films are an additional $2.50 Cheap, Cheap, CHEAP! These Touchstar Cinema theaters also have electric reclining chairs equipped with a swing-in-front tray for your snack and drink, most have a large food menu (with beer and wine!), and some of them will even deliver the food right to your seat. For a large family movie night at a regular theater, you pay a minimum of $10 per ticket and that adds up mighty quick. I bet you have a Touchstar Cinema in your area or something like it, so I’d definitely say check it out. Buy Used, Gift Used I was recently listening to “The Slow Home Podcast” and there was an episode on buying gifts at Christmas. I don’t need anything and if I put things on a list, it’s usually something I need for my work on the farm or a fruit tree. But, gifts are fun and often people still buy them. Buying gifts for multiple people will break the bank so check these outlets first for a frugal holiday season! Freecycle.org My mom introduced me to Freecycle a long time ago. I live in a more rural county so the options aren’t always plentiful, but larger cities such as Tampa and Ocala are nearby, so I have options. Freecycle is exactly what it sounds like. People are posting items that they’re giving away all for free. You can offer items or post in the “wanted” section. As far as I can tell, every single county in the US has a Freecycle page. It’s free to join and so very worth it. Remember, always donate when you can. It helps to cut down on waste! #savetheEarth You can find some great items on Freecycle to regift or make a DIY gift for someone! Offer Up and Let Go: There’s an app for that… but seriously! These aren’t just ways to live, they’re apps to download. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s so easy to just go and pick up the item you need, brand new, and not have to deal with waiting but money is often something I don’t want to throw around. “Offer Up” and “Let Go” are names of the apps you download to your phone. I’ve bought a beautiful, brand new rain catcher barrel from someone on Let Go and it was handpainted, never used for $30! On both these apps, you can leave feedback so there’s an honest system going so you aren’t concerned about your safety. I bet you could find some affordable Christmas Gifts here! Ebay: Ebay is something I never thought to use. It always seemed so “scammy” for me, for some reason. Since I started aiming to live a more frugal lifestyle, I’ve returned to Ebay multiple times during the holiday season. My favorite item I’ve bought is my Ninja Blender! Originally $100 and I bought it for $40. I use that thing every single day and it’s a trusty piece of equipment. Frugal Win! Don’t strike Ebay off the list, Y’all! Check there first if you’re wanting to buy someone a designer handbag for Christmas. Facebook Marketplace: This is a new one I’ve just started to use. My sister and brother-in-law in California have bought almost every piece of furniture they own from Facebook Marketplace. I finally gave in and took a look and it’s a pretty great resource. There are people who also give away free items there, but a lot of it is selling for a pretty low price. Recently I found a fella who worked in the lumber/landscaping field and was giving away free, fresh cut trees (cut into wood I could use for good lookin’ garden beds!). The next day I went back to that same fella and filled a huge bag up with fresh pine shavings to use as bedding in the hen house. I always bring him a dozen eggs as a “thank you”. This could also be a great way to get to know your neighbors and community. Now, you probably wouldn’t give someone wood for Christmas, but the point is there are quality items to be found here at a cheap price so allow your frugal mind to explore the avenue. It’ll get you one step closer to your best frugal holiday season yet! Family Game Nights Frugal tip #1 is what this should’ve been! Emerson’s family is HUGE on games and I grew up occasionally playing Monopoly or Scrabble but it wasn’t nearly as often as him. Now, I love board games! The usuals in our house are Backgammon, Taboo, and Yahtzee!. We also play Boggle and Pit which are another two of my favorites now. Taboo is an awesome group game, kind of like charades, and we usually force every to play it during the holidays. It brings great belly laughs and just a plain good time. You can pass so many hours just by playing games, so don’t forget about it when your house is crammed full of people, smells of pecan and pumpkin pie, and the best frugal holiday season yet. TIP: Often you can find a lot of these games at a local thrift store! Just check that all the pieces are there, of course. What’s your favorite board game? Tell me below in the comments! Free/Cheap Day Activities Cornhole: Okay, you’d have to build or buy boards for this one but once you have them you never have to buy them again! This game is so great because you just set the boards in your yard and go outside to play whenever you want or can. Cornhole games are a regular occurrence when we have family visiting. Bocce Ball: Emerson asked for this game for Christmas and it’s a hoot. Again, you have to buy the set, but it’s not expensive and it gives allows for a good time at a low price. You can play bocce ball in your yard or a nearby park. Play singles or teams, great for the whole family! +2 BONUS Frugal Tips!: Buy in Bulk: I planned my own wedding celebration for my side of the family and the only way I was able to afford the food was by buying in bulk at Sam’s Club. If you have a lot of family coming into town this holiday season, you can keep it frugal by shopping in bulk. As it is, food becomes one of the main expenses. See if you can find someone who might let you borrow their membership card once a year. Some bulk clubs will allow you a one day pass, too. You can save so much money by buying items such as bacon, vegetables, and fruit in bulk! Audio Books: Okay, this isn’t exactly a seasonal family holiday list but it could be if you all like to listen to books on tape together and want to keep it frugal! Or maybe you’re taking a long road trip and need something to pass the time. We have an audible subscription which I love so much, but I’m wracking up those credits so I’m going to cancel that subscription. It’s only $14.95 a month, but that adds up if you’re on a tight budget. A great alternative I just recently learned of is “Overdrive” (The updated version is now called “Libby”). This is an app that allows access to all the audiobooks that your local library offers. I just finished listening to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and the app works great! You check out the book as you would at the library, listen to it, and return it all from your phone. The best part about this app? You can share library card numbers across counties with friends and family! So if you want to download Libby, let me know, and I’d love to exchange library card numbers! This means we have a larger selection of books. This can be a great feature for homeschoolers and I look forward to using it when I have children. If you’re looking to declutter during this frugal holiday season before all your friends and family gets in town, declutter with my “Declutter Your Home Before the Holidays: Six Weeks to Simplify“! If you’re searching for some more great posts, head over to the Homestead Blog Hop! ... Declutter Your Home Before the Holidays: Six Weeks to SimplifySeptember 17, 2018Declutter Your Home Before the Holidays: Six Weeks to Simplify Have you been meaning to declutter your home? The holidays are coming and I bet stress is already creeping slowly back into your life reminding you of the money to spend and family to prepare for. I recently wrote about reducing your plastics and slowing down a bit. I mentioned Brooke McAlary’s book “Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World” and how it’s one of the main reasons I’ve finally taken the step to slowing down and wanting to declutter my life, mind, and home. For me, it was relatively easy getting rid of my things. I grew up in a house with a whole lotta’ stuff and always promised myself I wouldn’t overindulge in “things”. Well, as we all know, that can be easier said than done. I don’t have children yet but I hope to within the next 5 years. I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow after three years of living in our house my husband and I had acquired a world’s load of “stuff”. I suspected after a while it was becoming the root of my anxiety. I found an article by the Huffingpost giving 12 Surprising Ways Clutter Is Ruining Your Life and it was quite uncomfortable how accurate almost all the 12 points were! We often have around 10-11 family members come into town for Christmas. We live in a comfortable 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom home which is more than enough room for Emerson and I. When there you add 10-11 people to that equation, life gets a little harder. I want to help you declutter and simplify your world in 6 weeks before the holidays hit in full force. It IS doable! If you start today (9/17/2018) and take only 6-weeks, you’ll be done three weeks before Thanksgiving. If your house is ginormous and filled with things, of course, you can take advantage of those few extra weeks and vice versa. Here’s how I decluttered my home. What You’ll Need Boxes or bins for each room for donation/trash Some good music or Netflix Most importantly, patience and the desire to actually declutter your home and spaces. The Rules Once you put an item in the box, it doesn’t leave the box. If you haven’t seen the item in a year or more, part with it. (Some seasonal items are an exception, especially depending on the area you live in. Example: winter coats, summer shorts, boots, etc.) This is optional but take before and after pictures of the spaces you clear. I wish I would’ve done this because it would’ve helped with motivation. Kitchen My first task in trying to declutter my home was to start in my kitchen. I’m in my kitchen the most and truly love kitchen gadgets (I got that from my mama!). My older sister and her husband have almost nothing on their kitchen counters and after visiting them this summer, I envied it. I had almost no space at all on my counters and last Christmas it made my life into what I would think Hell might be. Okay, so that’s an exaggeration but it ended with voices a-shoutin’ and tears a-rollin’…not a pretty sight during the holidays! It wasn’t my proudest moment in life. So this holiday season, I decided I wanted all the counter space I could get. I wanted to declutter my home and I needed to start with this kitchen! Remove the items from your counter that you don’t use often. For me, this was my big food saver machine and multiple fruit baskets that rarely had fruit in them. For now, just set those items aside on your kitchen table and we’ll come back to them. Let’s start on your cabinets! I can’t tell you how much stuff I had crammed in my cabinets that I never used. Broken mugs? Trash them or donate them. 6 spatulas? You only need maybe two or three. Stack your Tupperware neatly and you’ll free up more space than you’ll believe. I also got rid of some margaritas shakers I’ve literally NEVER used, cake pans I didn’t know were there, and some much more. Put them in a box and label it DONATION. Once they go in that box, don’t take them out! And remember, if you gave away the bundt cake pan and then found a bundt cake recipe you’d like to try, you can always borrow one from a friend or family member. Fridge, pantry, and dried goods/spices. I think you’d be surprised at how old some of the items in your kitchen might be! For me, it’s so easy to forget about that jar of jelly or a box of pasta I bought before I started practicing a low-carb lifestyle. Go through these areas and dispose of the old, expired items. After you do that, head over to Clean and Scentsible to check out an awesome post on organizing your fridge with bins and mason jars! This will be my next step in the kitchen on my home! Now that you’ve cleared all that cabinet space, put the big ticket items from earlier in the cabinets! Closets Alright, let’s move on to those cluttered closets. Closets can be a great place to shove things! Opening them later is that reminder to declutter your home (or more of a smack in the face with a basketball). I tackled the closets next because I wasn’t quite ready to go through every bit of the bedrooms. Now, I don’t really mean your clothes closets. I’m more-so referring to your utility closets, storage closets, seasonal decorations, etc. In my hall closet, we had old medications like ibuprofen and such from years ago that we never used. I also got rid of a lot of mini shampoos and mini tubes of toothpaste that weren’t open (donation). We had towels that were ripped that I repurposed as rags for the house or shed (we don’t use paper napkins). Get a bin or a box and put all the things you didn’t know were there in the box. As before, whatever goes in the box stays in the box. Be strong, you’ve got this! Bathrooms The bathrooms were by far the easiest for me when trying to declutter my home. Not because there was nothing there, but because I don’t get attached to hair products, makeup, etc. Get rid of all those empty bottles, expired tubes of mascara, multiple hair shavers and old razors. Unfortunately, a lot of the bathroom stuff was “trash”. Recycle what you can recycle and move on. It feels so nice being able to let my guests get their own towels under the sink because I know it doesn’t look like an explosion happened anymore. Bedroom #1 I first went through the guest bedroom. I did this for two reasons: There’s more stuff in there because the large closet also acts as our storage closet. So this room was visited twice (once with the “closets” and once more to declutter in the bedroom stage). I knew I’d be less attached to the stuff in it. I thought if I started with this room and got rid of a large quantity of these, I’d be more ready for my own bedroom! If I didn’t know what it was and hadn’t seen it in a year or more I got rid of it. Workout/sports equipment nobody knew was there, heavy coats from our days in Tennessee, clothes I wore in tenth grade (not sure how those made it, wishful thinking I guess!). I could barely walk in that closet when I started. There was so much space cleared that I was able to move my large filing cabinet into the closet and the large suitcase that was shoved under my bed. I got 75% of the stuff off the floor from clearing the shelves and it looks so much better now, I wish I could declutter that part of my home over and over again because it felt good! The spare bedroom is also my sewing room so I sorted through all of my fabrics and chose what to keep and not. I also added a medium basket to the room where I put two workout yoga mats, my yoga wheels, and foam rollers. Bedroom #2 – The Master Bedroom I don’t keep particularly nice clothes because, well, I work on a farm and get nasty and sweaty all day. The clothes I do have, though, mean something. I have shirts that were souvenirs from trips or given to me, multiple pairs of pajamas from multiple Christmases, and so many scarves. Most of the shirts I kept unless I had other souvenirs or memorabilia that meant more to me. The pajamas were almost all donated, keeping just my favorite pair…or the pair that still fit. Location, Location, Location! I live in Florida so the scarves just had to go. It was funny because I loved these scarves! I kept some of them to use the fabric for sewing but the others were donated. A few of them were kept for the random chilly winters here in Florida but only enough to fit in a small space, comfortably out of the way. After I was done weeding through my clothes I counted my shirts and still had around 45-50 shirts…which is ridiculous and I’m almost embarrassed to have told you that. I turned all my hangers around the wrong way. Every time I wear a shirt, I turn the hanger back around to the right way. At the end of the year, whatever hangers are still backward are the shirts I’ll be donating or repurposing. You can use this method in other parts of your home you’re trying to declutter, also. I got rid of old sheets, knick-knacks cluttering the nightstands, shoes, jewelry, purses, more shoes (Lord the shoes in this house) etc. All of my jewelry now fits on a handmade grid rack that hangs on my wall. It looks nice and I use all the jewelry. My advice is to keep what you can see. If you have to dig for it, you might have too many clothes..and I’m speaking from experience here. Living Space Our living room is the first room seen when you walk in the front door and it was often the messiest and most in need of a “Declutter Your Home” day. Between this room and my kitchen table, my anxiety was through the roof! I desperately needed a “drop space” for when we came into the door with our wallet/purse. We had shoes all over the place, shoes on the rack that were given to me and never worn, magazines I’d never looked in, etc. I started with space by the door, sorted through the shoes and donated all of them. I added a basket for our most worn shoes such as flip-flops and a small table I repurposed from another room. That table now has my favorite magazines, a box of tissues, and space for my purse. To the left of the table, there’s another medium sized basket with our most used active gear such as helmets, a yoga mat, a camelback, a frisbee, etc. It all fits into that basket and no more. 2. I bought a second bookshelf because we needed it. We have many books, but I also got rid of many books, too. Now all of our reading books fit on one bookshelf and the smaller bookshelf is our “music shelf” where our songbooks, board games, etc. are. No more stacks of unread magazines sitting on the coffee table. The room is starting to look nice! and eventually, I hope to paint the walls, but that’ll be a future project. The Guarantee I can almost guarantee that you’ll feel better after decluttering your home. I used to take my Sundays and use them for cleaning days. There was so much stuff in the house that by the end of the week, it looked like a tornado went off! We don’t even have children! Since I decided to declutter, I’m able to take just 10 minutes every evening and tidy the house/do dishes. On Sundays, I now just vacuum and do laundry. I went from “tidying” every day for at least 20 minutes AND cleaning for 5-6 hours on Sunday to tidying and cleaning a total of maybe 4 hours a week, and that’s exaggerating. Now, I do understand that if you have children the decluttering task will be much more difficult. Sit down with your spouse or children if they’re old enough and talk about decluttering. Notice which toys your kids play with the most and remove the others. If they don’t notice after a couple weeks, donate them. Decluttering can be hard, but it’s so worth it. If you have any questions, I’m just a comment away. NOTE: For any pharmaceutical drug or chemical medication, be sure to properly dispose of it. Look up what the right way is, local to your area. BONUS TIP: Some of these pajamas I’ll be repurposing in my sewing room for Christmas gifts! For ways to have a more frugal holiday season, click here! ***You can find me, as well as other fine blogging folks, over at The Homestead Blog Hop everywhere Wednesday through Sunday. You’ll find some great material there to read and DIY!***... Readers’ Favorites Did you love it? You can spread the love here:TweetEmail
