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…
How Insourcing Strengthened Our Marriage
Do you fight with your partner over who’ll do the laundry? Mr. Frugalwoods and I used to. But fear not, our consumer culture has created a way for us to resolve just about any marital spat: pay someone to do it for you! Don’t Fight, Hire Out! Arguing over who’s going to clean the house? There’s an…
Childcare: Controversial, Expensive, Complicated, Necessary
People ask me about childcare all the time. How to pay for it, how to find it, what I do with my kids. Other than what to eat for lunch, which credit cards to use, and how to buy used cars, I think childcare is the most asked question I get from readers. And it’s…
A Chainsaw And Other September 2019 Expenditures
Winter is coming and every year, we spend a boatload (an actual, entire boat) of money in preparation. It might cost us less to just burn dollar bills to keep warm. This September was particularly expensive because quite a few non-annual expenses all hit at once. Expenses we incur every two years, every three years, every…
Sunk Costs, Paralysis By Analysis, And Why I Finally Cut My Hair Short
I cut my hair. A lot of my hair. Most of my hair, in fact. Yes indeed, today I am writing about hair. I will cover other thrilling topics such as the sunk cost fallacy and paralysis by analysis. But mostly, this is a post about my hair. With more pictures of my hair than…
Kitchen Sink Faucet Valves And Other October 2018 Expenditures
We’re just relieved that title isn’t “New Kitchen Sink.” Our kitchen faucet developed a resonant drip, drip…. drip, driiiiiip… you get the idea… and so handyman Mr. Frugalwoods set about fixing it. I had mixed feelings about this fix. On one hand, it’s always better (and cheaper) to fix what you already own. But on…
Reader Suggestions Of Frugal Date Ideas
How on earth do you meet a partner and date frugally? This is a timeless question of love and finance that I’m asked as predictably–and nearly as often–as the sun rises and sets. Seriously, it comes up a lot. But the problem is that I’ve been married to Mr. Frugalwoods for over 10 years and…
8 Money Questions To Ask Your Partner This Valentine’s Day
“My spatula broke and I need to buy a new one (pauses; frowns). Is that OK with you?” -Mr. Frugalwoods “Oh the blue spatula? Sad (pauses; frowns for empathy)! Yes of course, get yourself a new one.” -Mrs. Frugalwoods This is a verbatim transcript of a conversation I had with my husband a few weeks…
This Month On The Homestead: Hermit-Making Temperatures Followed By Snow
If you’re just tuning in, this is a recurring series in which I document each month of our lives out here on our 66-acre Vermont homestead. After leaving urban Cambridge, MA in May 2016 to chart this wholly different life, we’re experiencing a constant learning curve of exploration (and plenty of stupid novice moments). Check out last…
This Month On The Homestead: Splittin’ Wood, Orderin’ Fuel, Eatin’ Greens
If you’re just tuning in, this is a recurring series in which I document each month of our lives out here on our 66-acre Vermont homestead. After leaving urban Cambridge, MA in May 2016 to chart this wholly different life, we’re experiencing a constant learning curve of exploration (and plenty of stupid novice moments). Check out last…
Shelves And Other July 2017 Expenditures
Our basement, as previously disclosed, is undergoing a vast improvement plan. Our Cambridge, MA home (the one that’s now a rental) has a delightful panoply of built-in shelves in its basement, which suited our needs just fine. Here in our Vermont home, however, the basement is a huge, empty, concrete-floored cavern. A cavern I’m very thankful…
The Best And Worst Moments Of Our First Year On The Homestead
We celebrated our first full year of life on our homestead in May! We left urban Cambridge, MA to chart a wholly different life out here on 66 acres in rural Vermont and the change this represents for us is nothing short of transformational, radical, and miraculous. Neither Mr. Frugalwoods nor I grew up–or ever lived–in a rural…