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?”
The pandemic, the election, rising Covid cases and deaths, intonations of entering a dark winter… shall we talk about that today? Nah. In a world that’s (potentially) spiraling out of control, let’s focus on the things we can control. I can’t control politics, I can’t control the coronavirus, I can’t control what other people do or don’t do. All I can control is myself (and my success rate there is only about 60%). I’ve known...
I’m convinced that large appliances are in league against humans. This month we had to replace our dishwasher and our TV and this is not the first time we’ve had a confluence of such events. Revenge of the Appliances hit back in 2016 when our oven, refrigerator and closet door all broke in the same month. Are these coincidences? Or are they evidence of the tenuous hold we have on our modern world? Whatever the...
I dub August “leaning into the pandemic.” No longer in denial, no longer hoping for a swift conclusion, no longer deluding myself that school and daycare will resume anytime soon, I am leaning in baby. Leaning In Actually Looks Really Boring. Sorry About That. Me leaning in primarily manifests as really, really boring expenses, but since you’re already reading this, I’ll do my best: 1) Educational Posters. In acknowledgment of our new role as “homeschoolers,”...
Buying Household Supplies In The Time Of A Pandemic We’ve started ordering all of our household supplies online to limit our exposure to stores. Unfortunately, this seems to be more expensive due to the lack of generic options online. In non-pandemic times, we buy the generic Walmart brand of almost all household supplies, but the generics aren’t always (or ever) available online, so we’ve had to buy name brand laundry detergent, baby wash, floss, hand...
I can feel the pandemic vibes coming through in last month’s spending. Notable is the line item “Beer, marshmallows, graham crackers, and Cheetos.” I regret nothing. The Truck This month’s “more expensive than our mortgage” award goes to our 2010 Toyota Tundra truck. A dubious honor, to be sure. The truck needed a lot of mechanic-related intervention, including: new rotors, calipers, a state inspection, an oil change and an ABS diagnosis. Cool. The upside is...
Boatloads of Dirt May was the month of the raised bed. Mr. Frugalwoods designed, built, and installed four enormous raised beds to serve as our kitchen garden. I’ll give the full rundown in my next This Month On The Homestead installment, but for today’s purposes, know that these beds required dirt. A lot of dirt. 5.5 yards of dirt, to be precise. And as I learned, dirt is not just dirt. At least, not when...
Household Supplies Line Item Revealed If you’ve ever wanted to see our “household supplies” line item illuminated item by mundane item, then this is the month for you! Due to the pandemic, we’ve curtailed our in-store shopping and now buy everything we possibly can via cyber space. If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “wow, Mrs. Frugalwoods lives a life of glamour,” this month’s expenses back that up. 100%. Thanks to the specificity of online shopping,...
March 2020 Ahh, March 2020. You will live forever in our minds as the month of both the Before Times and the After Times. We started the month celebrating my birthday with dinners out AT RESTAURANTS and ended March ensconced in our home, regarding restaurants as dangerous, forbidden places of the past. It was the longest month on record–proven by data–and combing through our expenses felt akin to the excavation of a past civilization. Advertiser...
Despite the fact that February brought us immense snow and even though it’s sleeting as I write these words… spring is, according to our spending, somewhere on the horizon. Advertiser Disclosure: Frugalwoods partners with CardRatings for coverage of credit card products. Frugalwoods and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers at no extra cost to you. Here’s a boring (but important) explanation of how Frugalwoods makes money. Maple Sugaring Last spring, we made our own maple syrup...
Due to our excessive snow situation here in Vermont, we are a family in need of multiple methods of clearing snow. Due to our quarter-mile long dirt driveway, we need both a snowblower and a snow plow. Due to the excessive expense of a new plow, we’ve been plow-less since moving here. But we are plow-less no more, thanks to a saved Craigslist search. Advertiser Disclosure: Frugalwoods partners with CardRatings for coverage of credit card products. Frugalwoods...
