March 31, 2016
Revenge Of The Appliances: A Tale Of DIY Mishaps And Triumphs
And then there are the times when DIY goes awry. Lest you think we’re some sort of home improvement mavens following our recent self-taught plumbing escapade, let me disabuse you of that notion post haste by telling you the tale of our oven. And our refrigerator. And our closet door… An Oven Obituary Right on the heels…
March 25, 2016
Frugality Is My Hobby
I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to amp up my frugality. It’s easy to get lulled into thinking Mr. Frugalwoods and I have achieved peak frugality, but no sooner do I make that assumption than I’m confronted with a means to save even more! True confessions: I enjoy the challenge of not spending money. It’s legitimately fun…
March 21, 2016
The Gear You Actually Need For Your Baby (Or The Next Baby Shower You Attend)
Exactly what do babies need? A reader, who is expecting baby #1, recently posed this question to me and I’m so glad he did because it got me thinking! As Mr. Frugalwoods and I prepared for the arrival of Babywoods, I frequently came across two diametrically opposed adages: 1) babies don’t need anything, and 2) babies need…
March 16, 2016
The Tyranny of Time Optimism
Life is made up of a million little victories. While I’m all for the big victories too, I think there’s something uniquely divine about celebrating the successes of our daily existence. Rather than view the quotidian chores and paperwork of life as arduous, I’m trying to reframe these tasks as triumphs. After all, every large milestone is the…
March 9, 2016
Treat Yourself: More Like Defeat Yourself
“I’ve had a tough day, so I’ll treat myself to take-out tonight… just this once.” We’ve all been there, we’ve all said this, and we all know it’s never just this once. The “treat yourself” mentality that’s so prevalent right now is all about impermanent balms to soothe our overall frustration or discontent with the trajectory…
March 7, 2016
Extreme Frugal Insourcing: Repairing a Frozen and Burst Pipe with PEX
Have you ever wondered if there’s a surefire way to get your pipes to freeze? Well, wonder no more! You’re in luck because Mr. Frugalwoods and I have uncovered this miraculous and amazingly practical wisdom! All’s you have to do is go out of town on a weekend when the temperatures are predicted to be sub-zero. And…
March 1, 2016
Just Call Us The Spendywoods (aka February 2016 Expenditures)
Just call us the Spendywoods this month. Yes indeed, we blew our $1,000/month spending goal way far away. Like $1,121.68 away. But you know what? It’s all good. We spend less in the months where we can so that we don’t sweat the expensive times. Because unexpected expenses are a routine part of life–much like moles,…