Category: Monthly Expense Reports

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...

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...

Mini Mittens One clothing item I’ve failed to find used, or receive as a hand-me-down, are winter hand coverings for my children. These are also known as mittens. There seems to be one–and only one–brand of mittens that’s truly warm enough and truly stays on enough for toddlers: SnowStoppers. We bought a pair for Kidwoods a few years ago and she’s still rocking them (I got her the size medium). Here’s a boring (but important) explanation...

November 2019 Pants, a kettle, brake parts, and 150 trash bags: a sampling of what we purchased this month. Let’s start with the kettle, which is something of a woeful tale. 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 The Frugalwoods Electric Kettle Longtime...

October 2019 When October rolls around, I know it’s time for one thing and one thing only: purchasing an entire pound of Allspice (affiliate link). I know I’m not alone in this. Perhaps you favor ginger or nutmeg in such quantities, but I adore the versatile, flavorful zest of Allspice. 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...

Winter is coming and every year, we spend a boatload (an actual, entire boat) of money in preparation. It might cost us less to just burn dollar bills to keep warm. This September was particularly expensive because quite a few non-annual expenses all hit at once. Expenses we incur every two years, every three years, every five years–somehow they all aligned in September 2019. So let’s get to it! Read my disclosures here. Winter Preparations = $$$$$$$ and...