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Archives for October 2012

0October 31, 2012Productive Home by Erica

6 Simple Steps To A Life-Changing Financial Goal

Today is the last day of No Spend Month October and I am happy to be able to open up the wallet a little more tomorrow. My son needs bigger pajamas, both cars need gas and I would really like to start implementing our plan to phase our light bulbs to LEDs. In a more…

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0October 30, 2012Productive Home by Erica

The Zombies Are Here. Are You Ready?

Someone has to say it: the zombie apocalypse is upon us. The electrical grid is blowing up, the Eastern Seaboard is underwater, the Appalachia’s are under snow, freeways have turned into waterways and, just so the West Coast can get in on the action, earthquakes rock the coast of British Columbia roughly every two hours….

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1October 29, 2012Productive Home by Erica

Mini-Money Challenge: What's Important To You, Really?

Throughout this No Spend Month I’ve talked (and talked…and talked) about financial values. Well, now I have a confession to make. There really aren’t any financial values. There are just your values. Financial management and financial goals are big tools to help you live in accordance with your values, but they are not the same as values. If…

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2October 26, 2012Productive Home by Erica

No Spend Month: Week 4 Wrap Up and Unexpected Expenses

Ah, Hubris Last time this week I was feeling pretty rocking about our No Spend Month Prospects. With over a hundred bucks of our alloted $250 left, stretching the pennies to November seemed a pretty simple task. I was sure that if I could just stay away from the sushi we’d have this challenge in…

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1October 25, 2012Productive Home by Erica

Mini-Money Challenge: How Handy Are You?

My friend had a leak under her sink. Big puddle of water. They called the plumber, who quoted her $800 to pull and remove the leaking faucet and replace it with a new one. She related the story to me: “$800?! Are you kidding? That’s a lot of money! That’s almost a thousand dollars!” “So…

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2October 23, 2012Productive Home by Erica

Mini-Money Challenge: Assessing Your Clothes Drying Habits

Your clothes dryer sucks your money away. After your basic HVAC, fridge and freezer it is the biggest and most expensive energy hogging appliance in your house. You are a NW Edible reader, so of course you know a clothes dryer is totally optional. People have, can and do line-dry their clothes 100% of the…

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0October 22, 2012Cooking by Erica

Cinnamon Spiced Apple Fritters

My counter was full of good but not perfect apples from the espaliers. Each had a little scab or a bruise or a small wormhole, so they weren’t going into storage in the refrigerator. Over the course of the day the whisper in my brain: “apple fritters…apple fritters….” rang louder and louder until finally I…

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0October 19, 2012Productive Home by Erica

No Spend Month: Week 3 Wrap Up and At-Home Coffee Analysis

The giant canister of coffee beans we keep on the counter clinked empty early this week. Out. Of. Coffee. This is how most conversations before 10 am start in Seattle: “I’m not really up and moving yet. Haven’t had my coffee!” “Hey, do ya wanna go get a coffee?” “Um, could we talk about this…after…

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17October 18, 2012Productive Home by Erica

Mini-Money Challenge: Occupy Your Brain (Why You Don't Really Want What You Want)

I had a dream the other night. I was working some corporate job and my boss lent me his car to run errands over the weekend. In the dream, I didn’t know what kind of car it was, and somehow Homebrew Husband ended up driving it to pick me up from this job. This was…

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47October 17, 2012Motherhood by Erica

Dear Busy Person: An Open Letter To You

Dear Busy Person, I love you and I’m worried about you. I have noticed that you are spending a lot of time trying to keep up with things. It looks like you are working very hard all the time just to keep everything afloat. I can tell from all the way over here that you…

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0October 16, 2012Productive Home by Erica

Mini-Money Challenge: Sell Some Books

I’m of the Erasmus school of spending: When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes. As an example, these are some of – but not all of, you understand – my cookbooks: I have an equivalent number of gardening and house-maintenance books, quite a few big, heavy collections of…

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52October 15, 2012Gardening by Erica

Those Kooky Permaculture People: An Avocado Tree Grows in Seattle

Look, I’ll be honest: sometimes the Permaculture community makes claims that seem….well, kooky. Grow pineapples in Seattle? With enough heat-sink big rocks, we can do that! Plant invasive weeds all over your garden? Heck ya, that’s nature’s own deep mineral mining company, right there! Build weird snake-shaped ponds that act as giant solar reflectors to increase…

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Hi! I'm Erica, the founder of NWEdible and the author of The Hands-On Home. I garden, keep chickens and ducks, homeschool my two kids and generally run around making messes on my one-third of an acre in suburban Seattle. Thanks for reading!

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