It's been over a year!

Wow, it's been over a year since I wrote this blog.
Alot happened in past year.

Last September, my family uprooted ourselves off the island of Oahu and moved to California!

We LOOOOOOVE Hawaii.
That's where my husband and I love to be.
But after having two kids, my husband always wanted to move back to California to bring our kids closer to family.
(Well, his side of the family, because my family is in Japan)
I was always against this idea... Because I just love Hawaii.
I couldn't imagine my life not being by the Hawaiian beaches.
But when we visited CA in May, I saw how happy the kids were to ge with their cousins, it finally hit me what my husband was talking about.
I felt so selfish for keeping our kids from their happiness just for my preference.
So after weighing the pros and cons, we decided to move.

Just in 3 months, we sold our townhome and packed up and moved.
We had so much hopes and dreams for our future in mainland.

....But the reality wasn't all the dreamy.
Although we were lucky that my husband found a job after few months, we didn't realize that cost of living in CA was actually higher than Hawaii in many situation.
We are charged higher in our medical insurance, and taxes are higher.

Although I was already known to be 'budgety' (cheap?) before, I have to really stay on top in order for us to live within our means.
And here I am to share some of the experience to live comfortably while on budget.
(And my sewing & cooking hobbies...)