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.
32 Frugal and Fantastic Fourth of July Party Ideas

32 Ways to Save on Your Fourth of July Party

It’s almost Independence Day. That means it’s time for your Fourth of July party! Celebrating the independence day of our country brings to mind fireworks, food, fun in the sun, and red-white-and-blue everything! And you’re reading this post because you care about sticking to your budget for this holiday. Big thumbs up to you, fellow frugal thumb! Good on you for doing what it takes to get and keep your family out of debt! So how do you have an awesome…

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Make an outdoor bench for less than $10

Make a bench for less than $10 and transform your porch space into a reading nook

Is your porch space underutilized? Would a bench transform it into an area where family could sit and enjoy the scenery or read a book-or even just make it nicer on the eyes? But you don’t want to spend the upwards of $100 for a new bench (that may or may not even fit the space perfectly)? Well, I have a solution for you! In this post, I am going to show you how you can make your own bench-…

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Skip the straw blankets and use your ornamental grass to spread over grass seed

I left my ornamental grass tall and uncut all winter for these 7 beneficial reasons. If I’m being totally honest, the main reason was there was plenty of other yard work to do in the fall without adding this to the list! So when we hit spring, and I couldn’t put off cutting down that huge mound of ornamental grass any longer, I seized the opportunity to use it as straw to protect the grass seed that I needed to plant…

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Save Thousands By Fixing Existing Patio Pavers Yourself

Save Thousands and Fix Your Patio Pavers Yourself

Do you have patio pavers that are sinking and becoming uneven?

Maybe you’ve checked with a few landscaping companies and realized that they cost thousands of dollars to fix it for you?

If that sounds like you, I’m here to tell you that this is a project that you can take on yourself. Save that money and give it a try first. I decided to do just that because I figured, if it doesn’t work out, then I’ll hire the experts. And if it does work out, #winning!

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Save Your Sensitive Skin - and Wallet - with Homemade Deodorant

Save Your Sensitive Skin – and Wallet – with Homemade Deodorant

Here’s my little secret that I don’t often share with people- I’ve been making my own deodorant for years. I’m not sure why that doesn’t come up in everyday conversations. LOL, homemade deodorant discussions are exciting! But the truth is, I have very sensitive skin and I’m allergic to many store-bought deodorants. They make my armpits itchy! Yeah, that’s not a fun feeling when you’re going about your day in public places around people. In my adolescent years, I didn’t…

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Just Add Curtains for DIY Patio Oasis - Easy - Customizable - So Affordable

Just Add Curtains for DIY Patio Oasis

I love the look of gazebos and pergolas. In all those home and garden magazines, they always make the outdoor space something special. And I wanted that for my backyard! For me, it turns out that patio curtains are a viable and waaay more affordable alternative. I’d stare out the window at our patio and daydream about how it would look with some kind of wall or roof. Our patio overlooks the backyards of about 5 of our neighbors’ backyards,…

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Make Your Own Tall Planters

Make your own tall planters and save over $100 on each

Since moving into our home nearly four years ago, I had a plan to put some nice tall planters on our front stoop. But I just never got around to it. Whenever I saw them for sale in the store or online, the tall planters (nearly 3 feet high) would go for more than $150 EACH! So I resolved to figure out how to make my own. Luckily, Pinterest came to my rescue and I found this wonderful tutorial on…

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Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

Easy and Cheap (and Delicious!) Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

I forgot that it was my week to bring the snack to the girl scout troop meeting until the day before. Has that ever happened to you? You’re supposed to bring food to an event and it somehow doesn’t make it to your to-do list or the grocery list. Whoops. I was scrambling trying to come up with something that I could bring that wouldn’t break our food budget, that most kids would like, and was gluten -free (so my…

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