I am very happy to introduce LWD readers to Terri Cheney of Blue House Journal. I first became acquainted with Terri back in 2005 when I started reading her newsletter, Penny Ann Poundwise. I don’t think she knows this but I used to print out her newsletters and have them collected in a three-ring binder. In fact, it was this newsletter of hers, as well as “Laine’s Letters” which initially inspired my first newsletter, “Tea With Dee“, which then led to my first blog.
Terri is one of my main inspirations for frugal living so I knew she would be a perfect choice for an interview this month.
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LWD INTERVIEW: TERRI CHENEY, BLUE HOUSE JOURNAL
Note: I’ve added a few personal comments. One of these days perhaps I’ll be set up to do actual audio interviews and have a genuine conversation with my interviewees. But I didn’t want to allow the lack of that setup to hold me back now.
1. Please tell LWD readers a bit about yourself, your blog – Blue House Journal – and your history of blogging.
About 11 years ago I started blogging under the name Penny Ann Poundwise, at the urging of my 12 year old daughter. I’d been writing an email newsletter under the same name and blogging was new at that point. My daughter has always been a little more aware of current trends than I. I’m glad I listened to her!
Eventually I evolved from Penny Ann Poundwise to Blue House Journal. I wanted to be free to express more of who I am beyond just the things I do to save money. I wanted to incorporate many of the things that I felt made my life rich and full, those things that went beyond being frugal. As we have neared retirement age, the blog has evolved yet again, but the ultimate fact of living well on a budget is still the same.
Deanna: As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’ve been a reader since the old Penny Ann Poundwise newsletter days. I can’t recall how I initially found it. I wonder if we might have been in a Yahoo Group together. Terri, do you recall?
2. You blog about frugal living. Have you always been frugal?
No. I grew up with some frugal concepts surrounding me but no understanding about WHY being frugal could benefit my life. I lived poor for many years, despite having plenty of money at my disposal because I’d never learned to handle money properly. My parents managed money poorly. I grew up with the idea that more money was the answer. If you don’t know how to manage what you have, then MORE is not the answer.
When I became a single parent and had no child support coming in I learned to manage my finances better. Later, when I’d met my second husband and I had to leave a job situation that had grown far too stressful, I had to learn to manage on less. When there was NO money to spare I began to truly live in a frugal way and the more it was necessary the better we lived, which sounds crazy but it’s the truth! Eventually I was back at work. At one point I sat down and figured out what I made and what it cost us for me to work. That was very eye opening and I was making a decent wage at that time.
My husband and I talked it over and I came home. I have been a stay at home mom and wife now for over 20 years. We’ve lived on one income for all those years. John and I figured with the cost of living increases and the lack of raises in his position that we’re probably making about the same income we began on 20 years ago. And yet, we’ve managed to become debt free. We enjoy a vacation most years. We’ve had to replace a roof and air conditioner, buy new appliances and furniture. We’ve bought cars. We don’t finance through big finance companies. We finance ourselves and we pay it back as quickly as we can.
3. Where do you get your ideas and inspiration for living a frugal life? Can you recommend some resources for LWD readers (ie. books, websites, etc.)?
Inspiration can be as simple as having the desire to do something fresh and new in my home and then figuring out how I might use what I have to accomplish it. Sometimes a quote will inspire me, sometimes a situation that arises in another’s life. I find inspiration from my Bible readings some mornings. It’s amazing where inspiration for a frugal life can be found!
I don’t know very many frugal folks who haven’t read The Tightwad Gazette Books (note from Dee: Initially these were printed as a series of three books and those are what I have. Now they are available all-in-one). Those really started me on my frugal journey. Many of Amy’s essays helped me rethink some of the ideas about money I grew up with, and I learned to view finances differently. I also incorporated some of the things I’d watched senior family members employ as a result of living in the Depression Era. Jonni McCoy’s books were also inspiring and helpful. I love the vintage Heloise books because she really had some great ideas for both saving money and time. But I’d have to say that Tracey McBride’s book, Frugal Luxuries, was the transforming book of my frugal life. Suddenly I realized that living in a frugal way did not mean a life of deprivation but a life that could be lovely. I simply had to look at new ways to acquire the things that made my heart sing.
When I began writing my newsletter there were just a few forums online for people who needed and wanted to really save money in every way possible. I’ve discovered some really wonderful seasoned frugal bloggers. I loved reading an email forum from Laine of Laine’s Letters. Those are archived online now. Annabel Smith of The Bluebirds Are Nesting, Patsy at The Working Pantry, Brandy of The Prudent Homemaker all come to mind right away as inspiring bloggers who pursue frugal lives and live beautifully. I’ve been friends with you online for many years and follow along with your blog and your daughter’s. I have followed Rhonda of If You Do Stuff for many years and we’ve become close friends over that time.
Deanna: Laine’s Letters are a treasure trove of frugal inspiration. Like Terri’s newsletters, I also printed Laine’s and have a huge amount of them. I was disappointed when she quit writing them and then when her site disappeared I was deeply saddened. Fortunately they are now archived online.
4. What would you consider your greatest asset in living frugally? What is your biggest challenge?
My greatest asset in living frugally has been being debt free. When my husband first broached the idea of paying off all our debts, I didn’t see how we possibly could do it. It took all he was earning and all I could do to stretch it to meet our needs. But gradually, with lots of prayer and seeking wisdom, we managed to pay off one big debt after another. We discovered that $3 saved here and $2 saved there could add up to a nice extra payment by month’s end. It meant making some sacrifices. We gave up little things and saved those sums and eventually we paid off our first debt. Then we snowballed that amount over to the next debt, continuing to add in those small savings all through the month.
Within three years we’d paid off $20,000 in debt and then we began to tackle our mortgage. We had a windfall amount come in that was substantial following the sale of a piece of inherited property. We didn’t think twice about using that money to pay off the house, even though many financial experts advise against it.
Deanna: We received an inheritance which allowed us to buy our current home, mortgage-free. We, too, received advice from “experts” not to do that. However, we have never regretted than decision
It’s an incredible feeling to know that the home I live in and everything within these four walls are mine. For someone whose earliest memory is watching the household goods being loaded onto a truck because they were being repossessed, followed by moving from our home, which we’d also lost…That was a huge thing!
My biggest challenge is to not to let poor thinking intrude. We do have a small income. We do have a limited amount of resources. It’s easy to lose perspective and focus too hard on those things. In fact, we are blessed. I have a skill set that will see us through the hardest seasons. And they are just seasons. I have to remember seasons have a limited amount of time to run.
5. What advice would you give to a young bride (or anyone else, for that matter) regarding setting up and adhering to a budget?
For a newbie, I suggest taking it one step at a time. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with information. And once you’ve done one thing, then add one more. Living frugally is really about acquiring a new set of skills. You can’t learn it all at once, but you can gradually build up those skills, just as you build muscle by exercising.
And I think it’s important to emphasize that it’s not easy. It takes a lot of work sometimes, when it’s far easier to just pay for the service or buy the product. If you fail, just go right back to what you were doing. I found a quote the other day about being in debt that just seemed to cover frugal endeavors very well:
“Getting out of debt is hard. Staying in debt is hard. Choose your hard.” — Jessica Garbarino
It isn’t easy but it’s worth it.
6. What is your current blogging routine? Do you have certain types of posts on particular days of the week? Are you doing any type of challenge right now or in the near future?
I guess am a creative type in some ways in that I don’t stick to the same routines ad infinitum. I get restless and shake things up but the essentials of my blog don’t change: I write about how I save money, about my home life, about God, about the things that I find enjoyable in life.
What is working for me at the moment is a sort of schedule. I start my week with “This Week In My Home” where I’ll list menus, goals for the weeks and my plans for my leisure time. I find sharing my plans keeps me focused on what I want to accomplish and holds me accountable. On Friday’s I have “Frugal Friday”. I give a daily account of things I did that week to save money as well as ways I enjoyed the week. About every other week I have a Coffee Chat where I ‘talk’ about things I’ve pondered or special things I’ve encountered during my week. For the rest of my posts during each week I tend to focus on some inspiration area and try to carry that theme through the week but I also will do random posts about things I’ve learned about.
Currently I am working on a monthly challenge called Eating on a Tight Budget. A blog reader lost her home in a fire the day before Thanksgiving and I pondered on how it would be if I lost my home. I realized that my pantry and freezer would be gone, which I’ve always considered an emergency fund. How would I manage without those? How would I rebuild? What if my husband lost his job or couldn’t work? What if our savings were wiped out? How would we manage then? I began to look at various bloggers online who claimed they fed their family for small amounts per week but to a woman each relied upon a deep pantry and deep freezers. So that led to the current series of posts I’m working upon.
In January I posed the question of a $20 a week budget for two. It was tough! In February I allowed $30 a week and it was still hard but to put together three meals a day for two on that. To flesh out the posts I actually used some of the menu plans, made some foods from scratch, and shared my experiences. I also encouraged readers to participate and share their experiences.
Deanna: Do check out this “Eating on a Tight Budget” series. It is truly inspiring!
7. What are your future plans for Blue House Journal?
I see Blue House Journal as a ministry to reach and teach others. I want to share my personal testimony of my faith walk but also to encourage and inspire anyone who must live on a tight budget. It’s so easy to believe the hype that you can’t own a home or be debt free on a single low income but it can be done! There are a lot of financial folks who tell us we need a couple of million to retire. Well it’s not going to happen here. The fact is we started over from scratch in our late 30’s and raised five kids. We bought a home, paid for cars. We’ve a savings account but reality is that at any moment that could be gone. So that’s why I keep sharing. We’ll retire on a low income. We’ll make a life on what we have. I will keep sharing to encourage others to get up every day and do what they can.
I also enjoy the community we as bloggers are able to build between ourselves and other bloggers, with our readers. I want my blog to continue to foster that. Many people want a feeling of neighborliness that once permeated real life. They still seek that. It’s important to build that sense of community online, I think.
And to have fun along the way. It’s all about balance. So that’s really my future plans for Blue House Journal. It may evolve into something more at any point. I’ve discovered that blogs grow with us if we let them.
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Thank you so much, Terri, for taking the time for this interview. For LWD readers who don’t already follow Terri, she has a brand new grandson who has needed a little time in the NICU. Meanwhile, Terri has been helping with the baby’s older brother. I truly appreciate her making time to share her frugal story here in the midst of a busy time. Please join me in sending prayers and good thoughts for baby Isaac.
If you’d like to read Terri’s series, Eating on a Tight Budget, here is the link to the first post in the series:
Eating on a Tight Budget: Challenge #1 Mother Hubbard
Terri’s Bio:
- For years now I’ve shared my frugal skills while raising a family. Now we’re empty nesters and are looking ahead to those retirement years. These days I’m honing my old frugal skills, learning new things and doing my best to live well today while saving for tomorrow.
Terri’s links:
Note: The “Tea With Dee” newsletters I mentioned above are still available to read if you are interested. When I started this blog I changed the name of the newsletters to “Life With Dee”, thinking I would use that same format for blog newsletters. I ended up starting my current email newsletter (sign up available at the end of this and every blog post) instead but if you’d like to see where it all began, here is the link:
I’ve been online friends with Teri for many years – she’s a wonderful, inspiring woman! I haven’t visited her blog in awhile. Need to do so. You really triggered some memories with Laine’s Letters. I loved reading those and hearing about her family. I would love to know how they are all doing. Do you know if she’s anywhere else online now?
I am not very good about keeping up with blog reading (I have several of yours saved to read) but I’ve been reading Terri’s so long it’s a habit. As far as I know, Laine isn’t writing anywhere online but I sure do miss her letters. If I ever run across something from her I’ll definitely share it.
Great interview.
I hope baby Isaac is home and well soon.
I hope so, too. The latest update I read said he is off oxygen and eating well.
Great! Hope he continues to improve.
Hi Deanna,
I’m so happy to have found your blog through Terri’s Blue House Journal!
Like you, I’ve been a fan of Terri’s work since Penny Ann Poundwise.
There is something about Terri’s writing that resonates with me. In our sometimes chaotic world it’s a comfort to me as I read about her daily rhythms of life. As well, I am intrigued and motivated by her creative experiments, such as the $20 and $30 per week challenges for example. We can all count ourselves blessed in that she so generously shares her wisdom and knowledge with us!
Warmly,
Tracey
(McBride)
Hi Tracey! Happy to have you here. Yes, Terri’s writing is indeed comforting and I never miss a post. I have learned a lot from her over the years.