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?”
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...
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...
