About

Hello, friends! Welcome to How to Be Awesome on $20 a Day. Here you’ll find achievable, affordable, and totally awesome recipes and lifestyle tips. I hope you find some inspiration both in and out of the kitchen no matter what your budget because life should be awesome, even if your paycheck isn’t.

I’m a self-taught (well, Food Network taught) home cook and baker, and money has always been tight. I absolutely adore watching cooking shows and looking at gorgeous food photography on Instagram. While I’ve definitely dreamed of living that Ina Garten life, I firmly believe you can live and eat well without having a pantry the size of Kentucky or an entire room full of fancy dishes.

Awesome on 20 is all about working with what you’ve got, embracing joy in everyday life, and appreciating the many gifts life has given you, even, or most especially, when they’re not as shiny as what other people have.

When I first started this blog in 2013, I was working a low-paying temp job with a local food bank, and my husband was between jobs. We had just had our wedding, and it felt like we would never get out from under the financial strain. We lived in one of the most expensive cities in America, Honolulu, Hawaii. Every day, we would watch wealthy tourists enjoying their carefree vacations. It was definitely discouraging.

So I began writing How to Be Awesome on $20 a Day as my form of rebellion. I was determined to find happiness, despite what was happening in my bank account. I wanted to share the things that brought me joy, mostly through the food that was coming out of my kitchen.

Since then we’ve come a long way, literally and figuratively. We’ve settled in Glasgow, Scotland, bought a modest flat in a humble neighborhood, and acquired a hyper dog and an aloof cat. We both have stable jobs and a decent income. But a lifetime of financial uncertainty has instilled some habits that will never leave me. I’m a cheapskate at heart, and that will never change.

And of course, the pressure from social media to appear to have a perfect life has never been stronger. We’ve all got to #liveyourbestlife by following the latest trends, so we don’t get called a #basicbitch by people who probably don’t matter. 

I hope you’ll hang out here with me where you can just be real for a minute, eat cheese and cake, stay in your pajamas all day if you want sometimes, and smile because you know your life is truly awesome. Let’s do it.