February! We’ve made it! One month down in 2022. I’m not sure what we’re counting down to, exactly…. but here’s to hoping that February is better than January? No matter what, the days are getting longer, and having more daylight hours outside always helps me.

I’ve yet to write down my goals for 2022, and I’m okay with that. Number one goal for 2022? (And 2021 and 2020….) Stay alive, be compassionate, and speak up when needed. The rest is negotiable.

Friday’s Frugal Five

1. February also means that Dry January is over. My bubble friend did this with me, and she came over this week and we shared some wine to celebrate. For both of us, it was easier than expected, and we drank a lot more kombucha than normal (I need to get back to making it, because that ish isn’t cheap).

Perhaps I’ll kick off every calendar year this way again? I think I might. It felt like a really good reset to remind myself that alcohol is a thing to enjoy with others and not something to help dull overwhelming feelings. I know we’ve all had that feeling the past couple of years, so keeping it in moderation feels more important than ever.

2. March 1st will be FIVE years of my clothes buying ban. I *really* should write about my experience at this point. It doesn’t feel like a big part of my life anymore, but I do realize it is a huge thing that most people don’t do. So if you have questions for me, let me know! I’m committing to writing a post to commemorate the half decade.

When will I buy clothes again? I’m not sure. Can I say never? Maybe not never, but no time soon.

3. We had homemade pizza again this past week after a hiatus of a few months. I can jars of pizza sauce in the summer/fall with my own tomatoes, so it’s an easy thing to grab a jar when we’re ready for pizza. The dough takes longer to rise, but it’s a simple thing for much tastier (and cheaper) crust than store bought.

Toppings included cowboy candy I’d also canned earlier in the year as well as eggs from our chickens. If you haven’t had an egg cracked on top of a pizza, I highly recommend it. So good. Especially with high quality eggs, of course.

4. And then what happens to food leftovers in our house? Those go to the chickens to make more eggs – and more manure to feed the garden. We might not be a closed loop around here, but we’re getting closer.

Speaking of eggs, the kiddo is selling 1-2 dozen a week, along with some garden produce. I know he’s having fun with it, but so am I. I’m keeping track of the dollars he’s earning as well, so that we can add to his Roth IRA as well. Not huge numbers, but I love the idea of setting him up early.

5. Thursday was a car-free day for me, which was absolutely lovely. I’d love to someday not need a car, and while I’m not there yet, I do try and be intentional about parking it as much as I can, and not just when there’s too much snow or ice to leave our hill.

Part of that car-free time was walking to pick up something off Buy Nothing from a neighbor who lives a little over a mile away from me. A longer walk on a drizzly evening, but picking up something from Buy Nothing / dropping off a jar of canned goods to the same person while running the errand car free is about as perfect as it gets.

Exercise Update

Saturday was our new to us hike at Ring Hill Forest, which was a lovely hike and one we’ll probably go back to, especially since it was very much not busy even on a dry weekend day. Sunday and Tuesday was HIIT run workouts (one minute sprint X walk break X 10).

Wednesday was a walk and a group yoga class with family (masked with windows open). Thursday was getting outside to walk four different times, ending the day north of 20,000 steps. The weather wasn’t great, but my mood was good after being outside so much.

Hope all is well. Hang in there.