Hey! I made it to two consecutive weeks of the Woot and Grumble! As I relished my boxed wine last night, I reflected on the stunning longevity of the Woot and Grumble–I mean, two weeks you guys. Amazing.

Alright, alright now this week…I give you a Woot of love and a Grumble of flatness.

Woot!

Mr. Frugalwoods and I have been married for SIX YEARS! We celebrated our anniversary earlier this week (with a lovely dinner at home) and said, WOW, this is the longest we’ve ever been married! We got married pretty young, actually. At 24 we said “I do” and I think most people thought, dang they are really young. Well, they were right. But I’m glad we got hitched so early on–it gave us the opportunity to mold and create our lives. We were able to grow up together and navigate our transition into adulthood as a team.

Here comes the Hound...
Here comes the Hound…

We met our freshman year of college in a lecture hall class of 500 students. I was scanning the rows for an empty seat, spotted Mr. Frugalwoods, thought he was cute, and sat next to him. Mr. F. later proposed in the very seats where we met and we visited those seats on our 5th anniversary. It’s a pretty lofty aggrandizement for some lecture hall seats, I’d say.

We discovered early on in our relationship that we were both tightwads with an uncontrollable penchant for sniffing out good deals. During undergrad we joined every club that offered free food. We dined with the Indian Student Association, Hillel, the Environmentalists, the Vegan Consortium, the African Student Union, the Art History Club–basically anyone who offered a free dinner. In addition to snagging excellent free grub, we cultivated a lifelong passion for learning. We enjoyed hearing what each organization was talking about on a given week and our horizons were broadened. To this day we’ll go to anything that’s free–why not? We always learn something.

We had basically $0 when we got married and so had no choice but to start saving and living frugally and, we never stopped. As our salaries have increased, our lifestyle has remained pretty much the same. We do live in a nicer place (destined to become a rental), which is by far our largest monthly expense. Our first apartment was in a basement and we saved wicked money by living there for 3 years. It became a struggle towards the end though–something about living without sunlight or the ability to open a window is bad for the psyche after awhile, but we’re glad we toughed it out down there underground.

Bride Hound Losing Interest in Posing w/Veil
Bride Hound losing interest in posing w/veil

All that to say, I’m thankful every single day to traverse life with Mr. Frugalwoods. We’re partners in every sense and he makes me a better person by challenging and encouraging me. Actually, I wouldn’t be writing this without him–he prompted me to start blogging and I gotta say, it’s such a wonderful outlet for all the words I want to write!

My parents celebrated their 47th (yes, FORTY-SEVENTH) anniversary this month and their advice is to always respect your partner, have a sense of humor, and encourage each other in all things. Congrats to everyone celebrating an anniversary this month!

Grumble

This week’s grumble is brought to you by: The Bicycle of Mr. Frugalwoods. The Bicycle of Mr. Frugalwoods is a noble steed that has served him well for years. He rides it many miles each week to and fro work, errands, and play. This week, however, it decided to incur not one, but two, flat tires. A bummer to be sure. My dear husband handled it with his usual aplomb (I probs would’ve cried and torn my hair in the street; he just walked the rest of the way to work without comment).

Bike is now restored to its original, inflated self and life will continue. Rather ironic, says Mr. F., to go several years with nary a flat only to encounter two in one week. I concur. However, I am most grateful that the bike is restored as we must continue my “biking to work” training regime. As previously confessed, I drive the 4 miles to my office instead of biking. I am embarrassed and deeply ashamed, but also terrified of biking through Boston rush hour traffic.

However, I would like to reduce the $40/month currently spent on gas and so will continue “bike training,” which involves me following Mr. F on bike whilst trying not to scream in terror while he turns around every 2 seconds to make sure I’m still alive. I know we look ridiculous, not least of all because my bike is a Huffy girl’s bike in magenta and teal–purchased on Craigslist for stupid cheap. More soon on my biking boot camp.

And we're done
And we’re done

OK that got a litttttllle rambly, so I’m impressed if you’ve made it thus far! Happy weekend!

Oh and I wanted to ask: How long have you been married/with your partner? What advice would you give?

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15 Comments

  1. Congrats on your wedding anniversary! We too met in our first term at Uni, but it was (ahem) a few years further back… Would love to hear about your wedding, was it über-frugal? Ours certainly was!

    It is an indisputable fact of physics that punctures hunt in packs. Earlier this year Clara had FOUR punctures in less than two months, all on the back tyre. Last one she threw in the towel and took it to the bike mechanic (not very frugal but after all those stressy repairs on cold dark roadsides, she was getting desperate). For the princely sum of £10 he changed the inner, and confirmed that there was no underlying reason, no dodgy spoke or whatever, just bad luck 🙁

    We look forward to hearing about cycling boot camp, Eddie needs to sign up to one of those!

    1. Four punctures! That’s adding insult to injury! I biked to the grocery store yesterday, so I’m feeling increasingly confident, but there’s just so very much fast car traffic around here…eek!

  2. “We met our freshman year of college in a lecture hall class of 500 students. I was scanning the rows for an empty seat, spotted Mr. Frugalwoods, thought he was cute, and sat next to him. Mr. F. later proposed in the very seats where we met and we visited those seats on our 5th anniversary. It’s a pretty lofty aggrandizement for some lecture hall seats, I’d say.’

    Oh wow, this is just great! What an awesome story.

    Congratulations!

    1. Thanks! We feel so lucky to have found each other! As for those lecture hall seats, well, we like to think we’re the best thing that’s ever happened to them 😉

  3. You two are adorable. I love how you’ve kept those two lecture hall seats in your relationship.
    Hubs and I met at a bar, which I find hilarious because I didn’t drink at the time and neither of us drink all that much now. We go back every year on the day we met to celebrate our world’s colliding. It will be 6 years next month!

  4. You think you guys were young? Hubby and I started dating at 16 and married at 21. We’ll be celebrating 20 amazing years together. We are always together (glued at the hips). We really never do anything separately..seriously always together. I think that’s key. I’ve found that most of my friends that would go out without their spouses are the ones are aren’t together anymore.

  5. New reader here – I discovered you via Root of Good and have been reading obsessively for the last week! Have not come across any posts re: engagement/wedding expenses yet and was curious if you have any insight there! Planning to get hitched next summer as frugally as we can (while still enjoying the company of and feeding/providing beverages for loved ones).

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