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?”
Ahhh decadent December! Filled with food, wine, life-sized penguin stuffies and dog booties. December always promises to be a high-spend month, but that doesn’t have to spell crisis. If you plan for expensive months, if you calculate what you spend on something like Christmas and save up over the course of a year, you can conclude a month like December with satisfaction as opposed to regret. The goal in all of this–all of this money...
November is always a month of celebrations in our family! We hosted Thanksgiving for what we think is the 10th year–although there were a few years off for Covid–and Kidwoods turned seven! Our expenses are always higher in November on account of these festivities and I don’t mind at all. Having the ability to spend on things that matter deeply to me is why I’m frugal. It’s why I track my spending. It’s why I...
We Adopted A Dog! I’m thrilled to introduce Genevieve the dog (aka Gigi)!! Frugal Hound 2.0, Gigiwoods, G-dog McHound Face! She’s a rescue so we’re not sure of her exact age or breed, but our vet estimates she’s 6 months old and likely to be 60-70lbs (she’s currently 40lbs). We think she’s a Plott Hound/Black & Tan Coonhound cross, but again, can’t be certain. She has snuggled right into our pack and the girls are...
Last month we took the kids on their very first vacation! To the beach! We didn’t travel during Covid and, pre-Covid, the only trips they went on were to visit family (which is also a vacation, but you know what I mean). Our dear friends have a family beach house on the New Jersey shore in Mantoloking and we drove down with them for a five-day, four-night stay. It was glorious. Magical. Perfect. Are We...
Birthday Brewery Bash! Mr. FW celebrated his 39th birthday in August and my in-laws graciously kept our children for three days (and two nights!!!!)! We decided against traveling this year–last year we went kid-free to Cambridge, MA–and instead stay-cationed it up. When I asked my husband what kind of cake he wanted me to bake, he replied, “beer.” Excellent. We made a reservation at Hill Farmstead (ranked the best brewery in the world) and spent...
After nine years of pandemic isolation, we decided this would be the summer of family day trips! Our kids hadn’t been to any of the area museums or towns or restaurants or libraries due to: a) pandemic; b) being babies before the pandemic. We’ve made up for that dearth of activity in force. Swimming, beaches, paddle boarding, museums, hiking, breweries, ice cream shops, mini summer camps–we’ve done it all! And paid for it all. Remember...
June was a month of celebrations! My husband and I marked FOURTEEN years of marriage, Kidwoods “graduated” from Kindergarten, Littlewoods finished her first year of preschool, we went to a town-wide end-of-school party with a food truck and BOUNCE HOUSE. And, we bought the folding wagon of my dreams. The Folding Wagon of my Dreams We’ve reached the stage with our kids where, when on outings, we either bring: Nothing Everything we own I adore...
My May expenses are a great illustration of why it’s so important to track your spending every single month: this was a month rife with unexpected, aberrational, one-time expenses. But by tracking, I’ll have a clear picture at the end of the year of our actual annual spending. Because weird expenses happen all the time. Dentist Now that Mr. FW is early retired, we no longer have the dental insurance his employer provided. When we...
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...
