Each month we tally up how much we spent and discuss where we spent it. We hope it provides an answer to the question “what do the Frugalwoods spend money on?”
Home Improvement This month marks our sixth anniversary of moving to our homestead in Vermont and, coincidentally, the month we start renovation projects! When we first saw this house seven years ago, we knew there were a number of things we’d like to eventually change. But, we waited. First we waited because we’d just moved in and I think it’s smart to live in a space for awhile before embarking on renovations. I wanted several...
After my enthusiastic foray into beginner ski lessons earlier this year, I’ve now signed up for SOMETHING EVEN MORE DANGEROUS: a beginner chainsaw safety class. I can’t say I’m excited about it, but I am looking forward to developing this skill. We live in a place where a chainsaw is a necessity and using one safely is paramount (assuming, you know, you want to retain all your limbs). We’ve gotten by these past six years...
February was a boring month from the perspective of the old expense report. Not much was purchased aside from the ordinary, which was a kindness to our savings account. No one’s expenses are the same month to month, and I relish a relatively cheap month. I see it as an opportunity to sock more into savings for the inevitable expensive month you just know looms on the horizon. As I’m fond of saying: No one...
Halfway through the winter and our gear began to give out. We play hard outside year-round and the snow and ice have a tendency to be unkind to clothing (particularly when you draaaggggg your mittens through craggy ice in search of sticks for snowman arms… ). Between snowshoeing, ice skating, sledding and skiing, last month necessitating purchasing: New insulated snow bibs for Nate, aka Mr. Frugalwoods (affiliate link). We join our kids in preferring the full...
We’re building a garage! Well, we’re planning on building a garage. Longtime readers know that one of the downsides of our Vermont homestead is its lack of a garage. Why this place has no garage is a mystery for the ages. My family in California all have garages. My family in North Carolina all have garages. People in Florida have garages! But people in Vermont? Nope. It’s more common to NOT have a garage than...
November 2021 was the Month of Cars and Carving I am confident our cars are in a covert coven requiring them to break down in synchronization. Far be it for one car to have an issue and the other car to be fine. Nope. We must have parity in all things and we, the cars, remain unsympathetic to your transportation needs. In the most spectacular break-down I’ve ever experienced, the Prius began emitting an ear-splitting,...
October 2021 I dub thee “The Month of Winter Preparations,” for reasons made obvious below. The Ski Odyssey We’ve decided to do the world’s most expensive winter sport. Barring purchasing our own personal hockey rink, I cannot imagine anything being as expensive as skiing. Even the word looks pricey, what with its double i’s. When we moved to Vermont five years ago people asked us three questions, all related to winter: What kind of tires...
September 2021 Our chickens graced us with their first egg, which made us realize that if we don’t want to go on a daily Easter egg hunt, we needed a way to kindly suggest where they might like to deposit. Enter these wooden eggs (affiliate link). Much like real eggs, they are oval and brown and nestled into the nesting box of our chicken coop, in the hopes of encouraging their factual counterparts to join...
August transitioned us to fall, to school, to a more sedate pace. The guests all went home, the kids are back to their regular and rightful bedtime and I pulled out my tacky fall decor. Don’t Forget about Property Taxes! Last week I shared the details of our mortgage pay-off and this week brings our annual property tax expense. For truly, the gifts of home ownership never end ;). Property tax is one of those...
July 2021 Well, this is it. This is the month I transform from Frugalwoods to Spendywoods. The post-pandemic celebration of being alive continued in July and WOW can you tell from our expense report. I’m embarrassed to publish our expenses on spendy months because I feel like I’m supposed to always show up with the lowest expenses, the best frugal tips and an espousal of the joys of never spending money. But that’d be disingenuous....
