Remodeling This Life

Who am I?
I’m Emily, a 30 year old stay at home mom to 2. I love running, writing, ice cream and fashion – among other things.

What’s my story?

I’ve been deep in consumer debt after years of overspending on stuff that I thought I needed to be happy. After digging myself a hole more than $10,000K deep by the age of 23, I have been debt free for over 5 years now. It has been humbling and freeing to go through that because I have a constant reminder of why living simply and within my means is absolutely necessary for me to feel at peace. I have found my happy.

4 years ago, my husband and I and our then 1 year old daughter sold our big house in cold and gray New York and moved to Florida, where we decided to change our life and our ways. We bought a 60s cottage fixer upper and have spent the last 3 years on our labor of love, gutting and remodeling it into a cozy little home that we love. We’ve done it all with cash (and not a lot of it).  Along the way, we’ve had lots of ups and a few downs. It’s not done yet, and sometimes feels like it will be a forever project, but it’s come a long way from the avocado linoleum, orange and green swirled shag carpet and faux wood paneling that was in EVERY room.

What is this blog about?
This blog is about my life. Mostly I write about simplicity and frugality. I touch on organization, decluttering, and ways to simplify. Sometimes it’s obvious – other times it’s between the lines. As I learn and change and grow and try new things, you’ll find it here. This blog is meant as much as a notebook and inspiration for myself as it is for others. I love that by documenting the progress of my life, that others are finding inspiration somewhere in my fumbling and stumbling toward something wonderful.

To get started here, check out the categories along my right sidebar. Also, the tabs along the top will lead you to my blogroll, where you can find other blogs I love and links I find inspiring. You can also click and see what our home remodel has looked like from day 1. Feel free to contact me anytime with ideas, questions or feedback.

Some posts that give a bit of background and more on our life philosophy are:

My Life, Downsized

Going Without

Not Deprived

Getting Back To Basics

Good Enough

Thanks so much for visiting!

I hope you’ll join me on my journey as I continue discovering myself, keep working on remodeling my home and keep learning about the beauty in life through simplicity and frugality.