Monthly Archive: September 2019

27 Sep, 2019

Toxic Positivity and What I Thought Having Kids Would Be Like (versus what it’s actually like)

Before having kids, I knew a lot about parenting. I’d look at tantruming toddlers in grocery stores and scoff to my husband, “how can they LET their child scream like that? In public?” Now that I have kids, I don’t even notice when other people’s kids are ripping ears of corn off the produce section display like feral raccoons. I’m thankful it’s not my kids and I’m also in solidarity that it could be/has been/will...

Featured / Smart Buys

25 Sep, 2019

How My $279 Amazon Mattress Is Holding Up After Seven Years

Oh yes, it’s Internet Mattress time. I bought this king-sized mattress from Amazon for $279 back in September 2012 and on this, the month of its seventh anniversary, I bring you a progress report. In summary: Internet Mattress is still going strong I would buy it again, which means I recommend it It’s still under $300 (currently $289 for the king size) Before buying this thing, I assumed that mattresses are expensive. That there’s no...

This Month On The Homestead

20 Sep, 2019

This Month On The Homestead: Vegetables, Turkeys, a Ground Hog, and Tractor Maintenance

August 2019 This series has been on hiatus the last few months because I’ve struggled with what to write. I am not a real homesteader. At least, not in the sense that folks expect when they hear the word “homesteader.” It evokes an antebellum existence of no electricity or running water, of growing and raising all of one’s food, of an internet-less, canning jar-laden life. I want to tell you about our month on our homestead,...

Health and Beauty / Reader Suggestions

18 Sep, 2019

Reader Suggestions On How To Fight the Pink Tax from Birth Control to Bras

Oh yes, we’re going there today. The “pink tax” refers to the fact that women often pay more for goods and services marketed to them. A 2018 study found that, “…women pay as much as 13 percent more for some categories of products (source: NPR).” Not cool, ladies, not cool at all. This insidious increase in price has been documented in everything from women’s razors to women’s clothing. In some instances, we can just buy...

Monthly Expense Reports

13 Sep, 2019

Property Tax And Other August 2019 Expenditures

August 2019 Every August, the tax gender neutral person cometh. We paid our annual property tax bill in full last month, which accounts for $8,634.29 of our August spending. This covers our 66 acre property, including the house and barn. And I have to say, while it’s a lot of money, it’s money I’m happy to spend because property taxes fund crucial public services such as schools. Vermont has high taxes, a fact many folks pointed out when...

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Reader Case Studies

11 Sep, 2019

Reader Case Study: A Baby, A Freelancer, And A Marketing Manager

Mary and John live in a coastal town in northern Massachusetts with their one-year-old daughter. Mary wants a more flexible career that would allow her to spend more time with their daughter. John recently transitioned to freelancing and the couple is trying to figure out how to account for his variable income. Additionally, they’d love to get out of the one-bedroom apartment they rent and into their own home. Read my disclosures here. Case Studies are financial...

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Clothes / Featured / Frugalwoods Philosophy / Smart Buys

5 Sep, 2019

How I’m Learning To Love My Body, Find A Middle Ground, And Buy Clothes Without Regret

I was pregnant or breastfeeding for four years. Starting in March 2015, when I got pregnant with Kidwoods, straight through to April 2019, when I weaned a 14-month-old Littlewoods. There was a one-month hiatus in 2017 after I weaned Kidwoods and before I got pregnant with Littlewoods. Other than that, my body’s been in full-time mama territory. Today is an exploration of how my relationship with my body–and by extension, with clothes–evolved as a result...