You didn’t think I’d let a holiday sneak by without weighing in, did you?! Impossible! I am a known lover of holidays and above all, the trifecta of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I live all year for these three. I moved to Vermont so that we could have picturesque fall leaves and snowy white Christmases. I have a giant fir tree in my yard and, the other day, my older daughter looked out at it–covered...
October 2018 Transition visits in October. We’re caught balancing between two extremes, tentative and uncertain, unable to find sure footing in either fall or winter. There’s a riot of color on every leaf and the trees look fake with saturation. The oranges and reds and yellows all cluster around, pushing into our faces, swarming at our feet, demanding we notice their brilliance. And then, it snowed. A demure snow, doing a trial run to see...
Former travel writer Juliana and her husband Nicolas, formerly an ecotourism guide in Central America, now live in the suburbs of DC along with their baby daughter and Juliana’s parents. They’d like our help in charting the next chapter of their lives and figuring out how to balance debt repayment with building an emergency fund and investments. Case Studies are financial and life dilemmas that a reader of Frugalwoods sends to me requesting that Frugalwoods nation weigh...
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 the other hand, neither of us likes this sink. It’s a porcelain situation prone to chipping and, most offensive of...
This is the post you’ve all been waiting for. This is the answer to your prayers and the deliverer of miracles. That’s right, I’m finally writing about our solar panels. I know you’re thrilled. Actually, I think ten of you are, in fact, thrilled and the rest of you will read along just to see hot panel pics. I know I would. As everyone in the world knows (or at least, everyone who follows along...
Rose and David are expecting twins and, as a result, are questioning their long (and short!) term plans. Today we’re going to help them decide if one of them should quit their job in order to stay home with the kids AND whether or not they should sell their home and move. Read quickly, everybody! We have a lot to figure out before these two babies are born :)! Case Studies are financial and life...
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 we met in college–at ages 18 and 19–when frugal dating was the norm. I didn’t personally navigate the trenches of...
We’re getting older. Or at least, Mr. Frugalwoods is getting older (I’m forever, uh, 30 right? 32? 33? Let’s stop there). My previously 20/20-visioned mountain man/computer engineer capitulated to needing corrective lenses (more commonly known as glasses) about three years ago. Then this summer, he started having daily headaches and I, being a model of not overreacting, knew he had a brain tumor. Mr. FW–being a more rational individual (but it COULD be a brain...
Today we’re going to learn about making maple syrup! But first, I must regale you with a story (far be it for me to get to the point quickly… ): One of the reasons my husband and I chose to move to a 66 acre homestead in Vermont three years ago is that we knew nothing about homesteading. Yep. We both felt conversant in city life–to the point of boredom–and wanted a new challenge. I...
September 2018 Early September carries the whiff of summer. It’s warm, the trees are lush and green, and the vegetable garden still pushes out reams of produce. We hop around bound up in our summer lives: mowing fields and grasses, harvesting and preserving vegetables, playing in the creek, and picking late blackberries. But mid-September begins to portend a change. Temperatures dip and we find ourselves closing the windows and reaching for sweaters and socks, long...
