It’s appropriate that I spent $34.25 on a 20lb tank of C02 because quite a few of you are participating in my bi-annual Uber Frugal Month Group Challenge (UFM) this month. And this tank of C02 is the perfect illustration of an overarching theme of the UFM: Frugality isn’t about depriving yourself, it’s about being strategic with your resources. I am not into hardship or deprivation. Not my thing. What I am into is saving...
Our November 2018 is best summed up by the following: Lots of celebrations Loads of snow I hope you enjoyed this detailed explanation of our month. Fiestas x 2 As I shared in This Month On The Homestead, in November we hosted Mr. FW’s parents and sister for Thanksgiving week and also had a little birthday party for Kidwoods’ third circle around the sun. The primary cost category for these two events: groceries!! Mr. FW...
We’re just relieved that title isn’t “New Kitchen Sink.” Our kitchen faucet developed a resonant drip, drip…. drip, driiiiiip… you get the idea… and so handyman Mr. Frugalwoods set about fixing it. I had mixed feelings about this fix. On one hand, it’s always better (and cheaper) to fix what you already own. But on the other hand, neither of us likes this sink. It’s a porcelain situation prone to chipping and, most offensive of...
We’re getting older. Or at least, Mr. Frugalwoods is getting older (I’m forever, uh, 30 right? 32? 33? Let’s stop there). My previously 20/20-visioned mountain man/computer engineer capitulated to needing corrective lenses (more commonly known as glasses) about three years ago. Then this summer, he started having daily headaches and I, being a model of not overreacting, knew he had a brain tumor. Mr. FW–being a more rational individual (but it COULD be a brain...
August 2018 Expenses All other line items were dwarfed by our annual property tax bill, which we paid in full in August. It’s a whopper since it covers our 66 acres along with our house and barn. However, it’s a bill we’re happy to pay because property taxes are what fund crucial public services such as schools! Vermont has high income tax, a fact that many folks cited when Mr. Frugalwoods and I announced our...
Water heater mania! Well, not really a mania since we only bought ONE water heater, but more of a mania than if we hadn’t bought any water heaters. As eagle-eyed devotees of my Instagram account know–thanks to incriminating photos –we installed solar panels on our barn roof at the end of 2017. I will, at some point, write a full post on our solar decision (complete with lots of math!! I promise!), but in the...
I write to you from the depths of an epic heatwave here in Vermont. With temperatures cresting 90 most days, we are officially on swelter alert, which is highly aberrational for us–our summers are usually much more temperate with only sporadic forays into the 80s or, at worst, 90s. Given this sustained heat, our two very small children (not to mention our own hatred of hot), and our absence of central air, we bought two...
We bought blueberry bushes! And cherry and currant and Saskatoon and honeyberry bushes! Lots and lots of perennial berry bushes found a home on our homestead this month, as you’ll see in the below expense report. Garden fencing, fertilizer, the notorious flame weeder, and soil test kits rounded out our garden-palooza of spending. I’m going to give the full rundown on how all of these berry beasts were planted in my next installment of This...
Well, if you’ve ever wanted to feel good about your spending vis-a-vis my spending, then THIS is your month!!! April was absurdly expensive around here. ABSURD, I tell you. As I shared the other week, Mr. Frugalwoods and I finally broke down and bought a used truck in April, and since we paid cash for the full amount of the truck, that accounts for the vast majority of our spending. I have several posts detailing why...
March makes very clear that we had a baby! Our co-payment for Littlewoods’ birth as well as a few doctor’s appointments and her birth certificates are all reflected in March’s spending. While we frugalize nearly every aspect of child-rearing–from sourcing all used clothing, furniture, and baby accoutrements to creating simple, inexpensive holiday celebrations–there are some immutable costs of having a baby (such as buying copies of their birth certificates!). I love that most of Littlewoods’...
