Mrs. Peasant's Diary Monday, July 29, 2019

THE TEA DRAWER CHALLENGE

I'm not a make up or shoe collecting type of girl. But I do have an INSANE amount of herbal tea. I've seen people do pantry challenges which is a way to use up what they have. I am going on a tea buying freeze, and I am finally using up the amazing teas I have in this drawer. There is even more tea in the closet. Yep, I told you it's bad. What am I saving these teas for? Lunch with the queen?  In an attempt to use what I have, I've been icing teas that I wouldn't have thought could be iced. I'm putting Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Roobios, Chai and Chrysanthemum on ice. Crazy right? But you wanna know something? They are delicious! Go ahead and live on the wild side.

Think about something you have way too much of and try to mindfully use it up. It can be small. Maybe you have a collection of half used body lotions, multipurpose cleaners, or nail polish. Maybe try a challenge where you to use it up before buying anything new. What are we waiting for? Use it.

PLAIN SAVES MONEY

I was shocked when I saw the figures for how much people spent on categories that barely even exist for us. The poll states the following averages and I've added in parenthesis what we typically spend.

Average annual expenses per household:

Category                                   

Car loan/Lease...........$5,096 (0)  

Leisure Travel............$2,211 (0)

Dining/Takeout..........$2,186 ($30)

Clothing, shoes 

and accessories...........$1,892 ($100)

Cellphone services/

Upgrades....................$1,629 ($600 After 7 yrs, we did upgrade our flip phones this year to 4Gs.)

Out-of-home 

entertainment..............$1,538 (0)

Fitness........................$1,385 (0)

Subscription services..$1,198 (0)

Personal care/beauty...$1,146 ($500-Includes toothpaste, mouthwash, xylitol, deodorant, shampoo)

Totals:                         $18,281  vs.   $1,230       

$17,051 dollar difference. Wow, that's almost a years salary worth of expenses. I had no idea living plain, staying home, and reading books for fun saved us so much money.  

PLAIN SAVES TIME

I was watching this video about quickly wiping down your bathroom everyday from a sweet Danish lady. I couldn't help but admire her lovely simple bathroom. I immediately realized that the way we do bathrooms in America is VERY inefficient to clean. All the tile, grout, sink fixtures, base board trims and cabinet trims creates more work. In our apartment, we have an old school toilet with the tubular shapes on the sides, and it's a pain to clean. We waste so much time scrubbing clean each grime catching detail and decorative element. She's converted me to using the timer to motivate bursts of cleaning and the skirted style toilet. For more bathroom ideas to make cleaning a breeze (like wall mounted faucets, but of course!) click here.




GARDEN UPDATE: STILL NO ZUCCHINI.

But my Jiaogulan is finally taking off.

Coleus flower, sage, zinnia bouquet.

WORTH A LISTEN

Durand Jones & The Indications

This soul group has two incredible singers. You can skip the first song. It's about heroin. Start at minute 8:30 and get ready to melt. The last song begins at minute 16:08. Enjoy the sweetness.

Thank you so much for reading. God bless you!