Author: Mrs. Frugalwoods

23 Apr, 2019

My Healthy Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars Recipe + How I Get My Kids To Eat Kale

Try not to faint. Today I bring you a RECIPE. That’s right. Your pleas, your emails, your notes, your requests have not gone (entirely) ignored. You all want frugal food. Specially, you want MY frugal food. The last time I shared a recipe was January 2015, which was, uh, over four years ago… So apparently I’m on the one-recipe-every-four-years schedule. I have good reason for this, people! I am not our household’s–nor anyone else’s household’s–cook....

140

Reader Case Studies

15 Apr, 2019

Reader Case Study: Salud, Dinero, Amor!

Caroline and her husband Rodrigo are living a rent-free life as house-sitters in the Southwestern United States. However, Rodrigo is from Argentina and the couple would love to live closer to his family–and perhaps run a hostel or bed and breakfast. Come offer your advice to help them along their journey! Case Studies are financial (and life) dilemmas that a reader of Frugalwoods sends to me requesting that Frugalwoods nation weigh in. Then, Frugalwoods nation (that’s you!),...

101

Health and Beauty / Reader Suggestions

12 Apr, 2019

Reader Suggestions: Beauty Routines Of The Frugal And Fabulous

Today, I’ve gathered sage advice from Frugalwoods readers about frugal beauty routines because I’ve always been stumped by beauty routines. When I turned thirteen, I felt like I should do something to my body in the area of beauty routines using beauty products. What that was exactly remained a mystery. I was overwhelmed by the beauty section at Walmart, which was the only store we went to that sold such things. It was off in a...

Frugal Homestead Series / This Month On The Homestead

5 Apr, 2019

This Month On The Homestead: Maple Trees, Maple Sap, Maple…

March 2019 The sap is flowing, the sap is flowing! Maple sap, that is. Welcome to a special maple-flavored edition of my This Month On The Homestead series. Today I’ll cover the process of tapping our maple trees, running tubes between the trees, and collecting maple sap. Since I used a lot of words to write about all that, I’ll dedicate a future post to the actual boiling of the sap to make the actual...

223

Featured / Frugalwoods Philosophy / Health and Beauty

2 Apr, 2019

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 is reasonable. Mr. Frugalwoods told me I should tell you this at the outset because he felt that people should...

Monthly Expense Reports

27 Mar, 2019

An Electric Blanket And Other February 2019 Expenditures

February’s spending reflects the endless wintertime we find ourselves mired in. Nearly everything we bought is in some way seasonal, which is a lovely way of reminding myself that this snow, this winter, this cold is temporal. It’ll melt, it’ll move on, and spring will rush in, making us question if there ever really was snow piled so high that it partially covered our first floor windows? How could that be? Well, it could be...

182

Featured / Frugalwoods Philosophy / Smart Buys

22 Mar, 2019

When Spending Money Equals Happiness: Why I Bought A Roomba

I bought a Roomba. Yes indeed, I am the owner of a $259.98 robot vacuum (affiliate link). And I’m pretty happy about it. Let me tell you why. I have competing passions in my life: 1) I like to save money; 2) I love a clean house; 3) I love to write about money MORE than I love to clean my house; 4) I have two kids (who I love!). Lots of love here. I’ve balanced these...

Credit Cards / Featured

18 Mar, 2019

The Frugalwoods Guide to a Simple, Yet Rewarding, Credit Card Experience

My credit card strategy has been, heretofore, unoptimized. Woefully unoptimized. It’s been less of a “strategy” and more of a “doing what we’ve always done because it’s easy.” Mr. Frugalwoods and I decided to (finally) do some research and–wonder of all wonders–sign-up for the credit cards that make the most sense for us. We landed on: The Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card (more here) The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (more here) The Marriott...

303

Featured / Reader Case Studies

11 Mar, 2019

Reader Case Study: An American In France

Georgia and her husband Seb live in a French village along with their darling baby daughter. All is wonderful, except that they’re not quite sure what to do next! Case Studies are financial and life dilemmas that a reader of Frugalwoods sends to me requesting that Frugalwoods nation weigh in. Then, Frugalwoods nation (that’s you!), reads through their situation and provides advice, encouragement, insight, and feedback in the comments section. For an example, check out last month’s case study....

Pets / Reader Suggestions

8 Mar, 2019

Reader Suggestions: How To Save Money On Pet Care

Our beloved greyhound, Gracie (better known as Frugal Hound), passed away a year ago and I thought it would be a fitting tribute to devote a Reader Suggestions to the topic of frugal pet care. I miss everything about Frugal Hound. Compiling your advice and seeing your adorable pet photos was a wonderful way to celebrate the integral, loving role that pets play in our families. Over the years, Frugal Hound inspired a series of...