• Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • Wardrobe Capsules
    • What I Wore
    • How To Wear It
    • Casual Work Wear
    • Mom Style
    • Travel
    • Holidays
    • Trends To Try
    • Maternity Style
    • Thrifty Tips
    • Shopping
    • Beauty
  • Shop my outfits
  • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Settling into a New Life

March 7, 2015 by Katie Haller


It’s been a while since my last post.  I don’t like going that long in between posts, but I’m sure you all understand that my life has been a little busy this past month.  So here’s a catch-up!

Kevin and I are settling very nicely into our new life here in Nevada.  When I last posted, I was living out of my suitcase, stuck in the rainy northwest, waiting for my new life to start.  A lot has changed since then!  

I was fortunate enough to get a new job right away.  This was the first job I applied to, the first and only one I interviewed for, and luckily it was my first choice.  I’m back in a classroom teaching preschool.  I couldn’t be happier about that!  It was a bit stressful at first starting my new job because I started working only a few days after we returned from Washington, leaving us very little time to get our lives together here.  We needed to find 2 cars and a place to live and we only had a week to do it.  We learned that Vegas is different than Michigan, and we were going to have to re-evaluate the way we live our lives on a budget.  In Michigan, we had it down. We lived in an older apartment with cheap rent, in a nice safe community.  We drove older used cars with no car payments and cheap car insurance.  Once we started our search here in Las Vegas, we quickly learned that we would have to change our ways in order to save money in the long run.  The apartments were not what we were looking for and were overpriced.  The used cars were junk and Craigslist took us to some pretty shady parts of town. 

After 2 days of being extremely let down with our findings, we had to seriously re-think our plan, or at least Kevin did, I just supported him.  We ended up getting pretty lucky.  After a fire alarm at the, oh so lovely airport hotel we were staying at, (I could not wait to get out of that place) woke us up at 3 in the morning, Kevin did some major searching online for places to live.  He ended up finding the perfect condo for us, in a great area, right in our price range.  We ended up getting the place and moving in only a few days later.  (The landlord was extremely impressed with Kevin’s great credit.) As for our cars, we ended up doing something we never thought we would do.  We went to the Ford dealership and leased 2 of the cheapest, most practical cars they had.  Now we have monthly car payments, but after our horrible car repairs back in Michigan, (we were way to close of friends with our local mechanic) it’s worth it to have the peace of mind of a full factory warranty on our vehicles.  

In no way is moving cheap.  It’s the most money that we have ever spent all at once, besides paying off my student loans.  The thing is that we wouldn’t have been able to do this entire move without our saving these past few years.  We lived small, spent small and saved big.  Now we are finally getting to feel the benefits of our savings. I’m grateful to be married to an over-planner.  

I have to say that our move has had it’s ups and downs, but in the end it’s been a great experience.  It definitely has brought Kevin and I closer together and made us a stronger couple. 



Kevin and I on Valentine’s Day at Red Rock Canyon


As for Thrifty Wife, Happy Life, I’m searching everyday for new ways to save money in my new life.  My wardrobe post will be changing a bit, due to the weather and the casual dress code at my new job, but I still plan to make the weekly post…. once I adjust to my new job of course.  I’ve been really into cooking in my new kitchen, so look for some recipes soon.  Of course, I’ll be shopping soon and looking for some fabulous deals (once I recover a little from the expensive of my move).  There are 3 thrift stores down the road that I can’t wait to check out and  I have all my favorite stores close by, including Target!  I can’t wait to do some shopping  at new stores like Ross and Nordstrom Rack, which I didn’t have back home.  I should have plenty of things to blog about. I can’t wait to share!   

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailMy Thoughts on a New Life and Blogging Default ThumbnailA Day in the Life: My Stay-At-Home-Mom Schedule Default ThumbnailMarried to a Pilot

Filed in: Family, Living Life • by Katie Haller • 1 Comment

Comments

  1. ignatiuslab

    April 7, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    Amazing! I know nothing about traveling all over the country, what a wonderful looking place to explore.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Thrifty Wife Happy Life Profile picture

Hi I'm Katie! Welcome to my blog! I am on a mission to help women build a wardrobe that they love without spending a lot of money doing it. I believe that everyone has the right to feel good in their outfit, no matter what your budget is! I am excited to have you here!
About me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Follow me

Amazon favorites

Search

Archives

Disclosure

This blog contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link I earn a small commission.  For more information click HERE!  Thank you for your support!

Follow

@thriftywifehappylife

thriftywifehappylife

Affordable everyday petite (5’1) mom style
A mix of affordable retailers + thrifted fashion
👨‍✈️Wife + Mom of 2 💙💗
💌 katie@thriftywifehappylife.com

Are you looking for some cute affordable workwear Are you looking for some cute affordable workwear pieces? I have have covered! I’m loving these looks from @amazon! 

✨Check out my stories for discount codes!! 

🛍️ Comment WORKWEAR and I will send you the shopping link to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5iXy1

c/o @gracekarin_brand 
#amazonfashion #amazonfinds #founditonamazon 
#outfitideas #workwear #workwearstyle #summerworkwear #affordablefashion
👗Wearing a dress is an easy way to make it look 👗Wearing a dress is an easy way to make it look like you put a lot of effort into your outfit, but the truth is it’s the easiest way to get dressed! You don’t even need to put on pants! 😂 Not to mention they are super comfortable! 

🛍️Comment DRESS and I will send you the shopping link to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5iYbp

#amazondress #amazonfinds #summerstyle #effortlessstyle #outfitideas #momstyle
How to wear a linen vest this summer! I’ve bee How to wear a linen vest this summer! 

I’ve been waiting for the right linen vest to come along to try. I found this one at @walmart and I’m not going to lie, I’m loving this trend! 

This vest definitely can elevate your style this summer!! Here’s some ways I styled it with the clothes in my wardrobe! 

🛍️Comment VEST and I will send you the shopping link to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5iRSR

#walmartfinds #walmartfashion #outfitideas #howtowearit #affordablefashion #outfitideas #summeroutfits
Healthy (and easy) summer meal ideas! Part 2! Tod Healthy (and easy) summer meal ideas! Part 2!

Today I’m sharing sweet potato taco bowls. This is a great week night meal and easy to modify for picky kids! (My kids eat this one on flour tortillas instead of the sweet potatoes. 🌮) 

Sweet Potato Taco Bowl Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes 
Garlic powder 
Salt and pepper 
1 lb ground chicken or turkey 
3 Tbs taco seasoning 
2/3 water
Tomatoes 
Avocado 
Cilantro 
Lime juice

#summermeals #cleaneating #easymeal #summerrecipes #summermealideas
What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! What I wore this week as a 40-year old mom of 2! 

Summer life is in full swing! Here’s what I wore this week! 

🛍️Comment OUTFITS and I will send you the shopping links to all my daily outfits! 

#wiwtw #dailyoutfits #momstyleblogger #momoutfits #momootd #momoutfitideas
I don’t share my husband much on here, but this I don’t share my husband much on here, but this trend felt like a fun way to look back at our story! I had to dig deep on Facebook for some of these photos! 💕

He was the one who told me that shopping wasn’t a hobby and I needed to find a free hobby to keep me busy when we were first married. 😅 So I started a blog about living life to the fullest and dressing my best on a super tight budget.

Little did we know that “free hobby” would not only one day turn into my job, but it would also be a way to fund my shopping habit. Even helping me become a smarter shopper along the way! 😉

Fun fact: The name “Thrifty Wife, Happy Life” came from him. When making big decisions, Kevin always said “happy wife happy life”. So when I was brainstorming a name for my blog that popped into my head and I decided to do a little play on words. The original name I was going to pick was “Katie’s Closet”. I’m glad I went with the name I did!
I’m loving this beautiful blue floral dress from I’m loving this beautiful blue floral dress from @amazon! Here are 6 ways to wear it and yes it is on sale for Prime Day!! 🙌🏻

🛍️Comment DRESS and I will send you the shopping link to this post! 🔗https://liketk.it/5ircc

#amazonfashion #amazondress #founditonamazonfashion #howtowearit #howtostyle #amazonfinds
I finally posted all my outfits I wore on my cruis I finally posted all my outfits I wore on my cruise vacations and realized that most of them are from @amazon and on sale for prime day!!

🛍️Comment VACATION and I will send you the link to my blog post with all my cruise outfits! 🔗https://thriftywifehappylife.com/2025/07/what-i-wore-on-my-caribbean-cruise-family-vacation/

#amazonfinds #amazondress #vacationoutfitideas #cruisevacation #cruiseoutfits #momstyle #outfitideas #amazonbathingsuit
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Thrifty Wife Happy Life