Five Ways We Save on Groceries
Did you know the USDA publishes the average cost of eating at home for a variety of family sizes? Based on this data, Mr. Vine and I spend right around the “thrifty plan” amount when our annual grocery costs are averaged on a monthly basis. At home, we eat plenty of locally grown, organic, seasonal... Read More
Destination Ambivalence: How we are traveling now
Our travel planning process has evolved over the years, and we imagine that will be the case for years to come. Neither what we hope to get from travel, nor what we can afford to spend on travel has been constant. It probably won’t be in the future, either.  We knew from the beginning that... Read More
October 2019 Progress Update
The first half of October whizzed by before we even knew what happened. We had more social activities planned than ever it seemed. For some reason, October always seems like an exceptionally busy month for us. We had a football tailgate--this one that we planned. Like camping, tailgating is a lot more work when you’re... Read More
The Vines Go Camping
Over the summer, we tried out a short camping trip. This was an item on my 101 tasks list. We also wanted to see if camping could be a frugal form of vacationing in the future for us. We had a great time, but I’m not sure if it’s all that frugal for us. We... Read More
A real-life perfect day / The Vines see Hamilton
The title is a mischaracterization because this day felt almost perfect and our career jobs kept it from being true perfection. We frequently experience this kind of almost-perfect day. Rather than bring us down, this encourages us. We love that we haven’t let great be the enemy of perfect. We love that we aren’t letting... Read More