Welcome!
I'm Frugal Trenches (no, not my real name!) a lover of natural, simple and frugal living! I use this space and my camera to document a beautiful, purposeful, downshifted and abundant life! Life is not always simple (oh how I wish it was!) but it is always rich and I hope this space demonstrates beauty and joy!
If you have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments! I read and appreciate every comment and will reply to questions within the comment section, even if it takes a day or two (or three, but whose counting!).
Archives
Money Spent On Groceries in 2013
January $198.39
February $231.88
March $248.71
April $Books Read in 2013
Myself
Fiction:
1.The Help
2. Away
3. Flowers For Algernon
4. Animal Farm
5. Room
6. The Secret DaughterNon-Fiction:
1.The Two Nazanins
2.Confessions Of A Bad Beekeeper
3.The Encouraging Parent
4.Freakonomics
5.Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?
6.Raising A Right Brained Child In A Left Brained World
7.How To Make Your Child A Reader For Life
8.The Bookseller of Kabul
9.The Sane Woman's Guide To Raising A Large FamilyDaughter Grade 3 (Chapter Books)
Stanley's Christmas Adventure
George's Marvelous Medicine
Sarah Plain and Tall
Ramona Books x 5
Road To Avonlea Chapter Books x 3
Junie B Jones Chapter Books x 6
James and The Giant Peach
Freckle Juice
Reader Level 4 Books x 9Son Grade 1 (Picture Books)
January: 62 books
February: 73 books
March: 95 books
April: 89 books
Category Archives: Budget
At Our Table – $40 (£25) Week Grocery Budget
Looking at some of our goals for this year and beyond, I’m really trying to reign in expenses for our family. After sifting through our favourite recipes and finding ways to cut back, I’m confident the $40 a week budget … Continue reading
Back To The Budget
I’ve been feeling a tad low lately. It would be easy to blame the pneumonia, but I think it is more likely a culmination of things, some of which I mentioned here. I sat down this afternoon and listed the … Continue reading
Day Three: Month of Nothing
Well, all my hopes for an early night went out the window last night when one particular cat knocked the frog tank down {for the second time, I might add} and there was dirty water, rocks and frogs everywhere. Thankfully … Continue reading
31 Days Of Nothing (Excess)
I mentioned one of my major goals for 2013 was for my family to be involved in a 31 days of nothing project (though personally, I think it isn’t right to call it “nothing” because if you have food you … Continue reading
School Costs – Those “Optional” Extras
I wrote about this sometime last year, it was one of the biggest surprises as a parent to a children in primary/elementary school. And now we have now reached the 1 month mark since the new school year began and … Continue reading
Current Financial Goals
Lately my mind is filled with thoughts about the importance of emergency funds. It is partly because of the slow job market (not that I’m looking for a new job) and partly because through the blog world I know many (mostly adoptive … Continue reading
Letting In The Light & August Goals
It has taken being away, to help me see my focus and direction over the last few months has been off. While I could ramble off stressful things like new special needs diagnoses for my children, a huge amount of … Continue reading
Finding Gratitude On A Hard Day
Today was one of those days, in fact I sat crying at my desk (totally ridiculous, I know). And instead of focusing on trying to find something good, my mind was on: The difficult morning I had with my daughter … Continue reading
Having A House Guest
Over the last three weeks we had our first house guest since we became a family. I’ve mentioned a bit about the impact on the food spending, but I thought I’d share what I’ve learned, both to help myself understand … Continue reading

