Joni Smith

Joni Smith

Joni is a 40-year-old wife and mother in Kansas City, MO. She started budgeting in 2013 and was able to quit her job as a computer programmer in 2017. Her family now has financial freedom, living comfortably on only her husband's teaching salary. (This includes 3 humans and 3 cats living under one roof.) These days, Joni enjoys finding simple ways to live the good life while saving money and the planet at the same time. Her hobbies include DIY projects, gardening, quilting, making self-improvement goals, and brainstorming ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Make a whimsical wind chime out of tin can lids

We are a three-cat household, so we go through many cans of wet cat food each week. All these tin cans and tin can lids were just going in the recycle bin. And it got me wondering if there was a way I could reuse them. I love it when people find ways to turn what most would consider trash into something useful or beautiful. So, as usual, Pinterest got my creativity going and I decided to try making a…

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Make Your Own Squirrel Picnic Table with Scrap Wood

Apparently, squirrel picnic tables are popular right now. I had no idea until my sister introduced me to the concept. Have you seen these adorable mini picnic tables? When I saw one, I thought it was the cutest thing! With the little squirrels sitting on the little benches and nibbling on seeds or corn on the cob. Aww! But when I saw the price for a squirrel picnic table, I decided to try to make my own. Prices ranged from…

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How to get rid of dandelions without chemicals quickly and easily

Believe it or not- there is a simple and natural way to get rid of dandelions. In this post, I will share the one thing I do to get rid of dandelions without chemicals. In this case, that also means no soap or salt or any other mixtures or liquids you might find in other posts online. I’m talking completely natural here! Dandelions are the cockroaches of wildflowers. They’ll flourish anywhere and are really hard to eradicate. They spread at…

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Simple and affordable composting for beginners

Simple and affordable composting for beginners

In this post, I will teach you how to compost in the simplest and and most affordable way possible. No expensive composting bins or intimidating and complex rules–we’re going to uncomplicate composting. You’ll see that there are only a few easy-to-follow must-do steps involved to get started. It doesn’t have to be hard. So read on, stop throwing compostable materials out with the trash, and start composting with confidence!

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Our Family Budget Results on My Third Quitting Anniversary

Our Family Budget Results on my Third Quitting Anniversary

On my one-year quitting anniversary, I reviewed our family budget, and the results proved that my efforts to budget within our new one-salary income every month was working! We didn’t dip into our savings, and we actually still saved money that first year.

Then I was able to replicate those successes in year two, despite even bigger unexpected expenses! Across those two years, we saved about $750/month.

So, in keeping with this tradition, I’m reflecting on the past year’s budgeting for our family and sharing it with you for the third time.

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Make a wood patio table top for your old patio table frame

This project was inspired by my own unfortunate patio table accident. I was setting up our old patio table furniture outside in the spring. When I tried to put the patio umbrella through the hole in the middle of the table, I lost my footing. Because the umbrella pole was only partway in, it fell sideways. The glass top couldn’t handle the pressure and, as a result, shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

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