The immensely popular blogger behind Little House Living provides a timeless and “heartwarming guide to modern homesteading” (BookPage) that will inspire you to live your life simply and frugally—perfect for fans of The Pioneer Woman and The Hands-On Home. Shortly after getting married, Merissa Alink and her husband found themselves with nothing in their pantry but a package of spaghetti and some breadcrumbs. Their life had seemingly hit rock bottom, and it was only after a touching act of charity that they were able to get back on their feet again. Inspired by this gesture of kindness as well as the beloved Little House on the Prairie books, Merissa was determined to live an entirely made-from-scratch life, and as a result, she rescued her household budget—saving thousands of dollars a year. Now, she reveals the powerful and moving lessons she’s learned after years of homesteading, homemaking, and cooking from scratch. Filled with charm, practical advice, and gorgeous full-color photographs, Merissa shares everything from tips on budgeting to natural, easy-to-make recipes for taco seasoning mix, sunscreen, lemon poppy hand scrub, furniture polish, and much more. Inviting and charming, Little House Living is the epitome of heartland warmth and prairie inspiration.

Bestselling author and national columnist Marjorie Harris offers a timely and entertaining guide to living the thrifty life. Here are solid tips on how to haggle, how to find fashion deals, maintaining home and hearth on a budget, and money-saving ideas on gardening, travel, and entertainment. Thrifty is full of savvy advice drawn from harris's own experiences, and those of frugal friends such as literary legend Margaret Atwood, actor R. H. Thompson, and travel writer Sylvia Fraser. Written in her witty and engaging trademark style, Harris gives us an essential guide to living a quality life on less.

ABOUT THE BOOK So you want to live on less. Perhaps youd like to save for a downpayment on your first home or send your kids to private school. Maybe you have decided to quit your job to pursue a dream of starting your own small business. It could just be that you are seriously contemplating a simpler life, in which you drastically limit consumption and learn to rely on your own skills to survive. These days, you are not alone. The global recession has given rise to a growing number of frugalistas who are committed to getting the best deals on everything from toilet paper to funeral expenses. Websites like Fabulously Broke, Moolanomy, and Deal Seeking Mom prove that there is an approach for every thrift-seeking demographic. Thanks to hundreds of committed frugal bloggers, you can learn how to travel the world, decorate your home, entertain your children, and retire early, all for pennies on the dollar. The good news is that it has never been easier to learn how other people save their money. Unfortunately, this wealth of information can be intimidating for the novice thrift seeker, who doesnt know where to start or what specific advice to trust. How do you arrive at a plan that works for you? MEET THE AUTHOR Valerie Fulton is an award winning writer with experience in a wide variety of genres, from poetry to screenplays to academic and grant writing. A graduate of Colby College, she holds an M.A. in English from the University of Virginia. She lives in Austin, Texas. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Know the difference between a good deal and a thrifty purchase. How many of us have purchased fruit or vegetables from the local warehouse store at a fantastic price, only to have much of that produce eventually spoil in the refrigerator? No matter how low the unit price is, if we are buying more than we can use, the reality is that we are paying the bulk price for a much smaller amount of food and would have been better off buying the same item at a higher per unit price at the grocery store. This principle applies to many things. We may enjoy building a bookshelf by hand, but if the materials cost more than a similar bookshelf advertised on Craigslist or available through your local freecycle, it is not a frugal activity; we have wasted both raw materials and our time. We may purchase a deeply discounted gym membership that goes unused, or a dress from the sales rack that goes unworn. True thrift involves not only knowing the market value of things, and learning how to obtain them for less; it involves the ability to buy only those items we will use, regardless of how hard it can be to resist a good sale or bargain price. CHAPTER OUTLINE Thrifty Living: Frugal Tips for Living on Less + Introduction + Approaching and Adapting a Frugal Lifestyle + Incorporating Thrifty Practices into Daily Life + When Thrift Ends Up Costing You + ...and much more

Encourages thrift behaviors including planting a garden, cooking at home, cutting one's own hair, exercising with a gym membership, and avoiding or repaying credit card debt.

As the recession deepens, with a downturn in spending, rise in defaulting mortgages and throttling of credit, a Go-Go economy has transitioned to a Uh-Oh economy. How did we get here and what does it mean for individuals and families? The New Frugality lays out how Americans have overspent-and offers a way out through consuming less and saving more-showing that living simply is not just living "cheaply." What is required is a paradigm shift. We need to learn to live more modestly by cutting back on spending, actually attempting to live within our means and increasing savings. Farrell outlines creative new ways of thinking that can help us to accomplish this, not just by reverting to earlier financial models, but by innovating new solutions that are appropriate to the times we live in. In some ways, The New Frugality is the fiscal equivalent of the green movement; and indeed, going green is also part of the project. In The New Frugality Farrell will show where the economy is going, how it will affect regular families, and how they can weather the storm.

Don’t Just Plant Your Garden…Plan It Fifth-generation homesteader Melissa K. Norris has found gardening to be one of the easiest and most complex things there is. It really is as simple as plopping a seed into the soil, giving it adequate light and water, and watching it grow. But if you want to get the most out of your garden and produce more food each year, you need a plan to help you stay on track. This indispensable guide includes everything you need to plan your garden, execute your plan, and record your results, saving you time and hassle—and allowing you to have fun with the process. You’ll discover a series of charts and worksheets to identify which gardening zone you are in, which crops make sense for your family, and how much you’ll need to plant. Then you’ll refer to a set of monthly instructions based on your gardening zone and put together a customized plan using yearly, monthly, and weekly charts to help you stay on track. The more you use this planner, the more you will get out of your garden, and the more you’ll enjoy providing your family with healthy, organic fruits and vegetables all year long.

The universal lament about money is that there is never enough. We spend endless hours trying to figure out ways to stretch every dollar and kicking ourselves whenever we spend too much or save too little. For all the stress and effort we put into every choice, why are most of us unhappy about our finances? According to Laura Vanderkam, the key is to change your perspective. Instead of looking at money as a scarce resource, consider it a tool that you can use creatively to build a better life for yourself and the people you care about. Drawing on the latest happiness research as well as the stories of dozens of real people, Vanderkam offers a contrarian approach that forces us to examine our own beliefs, goals, and values.