When people ask why we moved to Vermont, I always answer “the woods!” And it’s true, we love our woods. We love looking at them, thinking about them, discussing them, photographing them and, most of all, being in them. However, as you might’ve noticed from my recent photos on Facebook and Instagram, we are currently in the depths of a typical Vermont winter–in other words, we won’t see our grass again until sometime in late...
On the heels of our mega Uber Frugal Month download on Monday (you can still sign-up to join the Challenge!), I thought we could use a bit of festive frivolity and cheer. Plus, you all know I’m a rampant holiday lover, so really I just wanted an excuse to wax about the season. I firmly believe that celebrating frugally isn’t merely possible, it’s preferable. It removes stress over gift giving, highlights the actual reason for...
You can sign-up for the Uber Frugal Month Challenge anytime! We take the Challenge as a group every January and July, but you can start it on your own whenever you’d like. Sign-up in the box below and you’ll receive an email a day for 31 days: By taking the UFM, you’re joining over 90,000 fellow frugal sojourners who’ve already taken the Challenge and committed to taking control of their finances. We’ve had Challenge participants...
In the spirit of the holiday season, today I’m discussing how and why Mr. Frugalwoods and I make charitable donations. First, permit me to set the scene. Mr. FW and I consider ourselves to be very fortunate. And among our many, many blessings (which I enumerate here) is our wealth. Although we’re not rich by the standards of Wall Street or corporate CEOs, we’re well off. We’ve grown our wealth by saving exceedingly high percentages (circa 70-82%)...
Welcome to this month’s Reader Case Study in which we’ll address Grace’s dilemma of her in-laws showering her kiddos with WAY too much stuff. Case studies are financial questions that a reader of Frugalwoods sends to me requesting that Frugalwoods nation weigh in. Then, Frugalwoods nation (that’d be you), reads through their situation and provides advice, encouragement, insight, and feedback in the comments section (for an example, check out last month’s Case Study). P.S. Another way to support each other on...
November was a month of merriment. From hosting Thanksgiving to lots of snow, we’re loving winter (ok technically late fall) on the homestead. Date Night! Since my fabulous in-laws were here for the whole Thanksgiving week, they graciously offered to babysit Babywoods one evening. And so, Mr. Frugalwoods and I went out for our very first date since before Babywoods was born! Considering she’s a year old, we were pretty excited. We–gasp–went out to dinner,...
Note: You can sign-up for the Uber Frugal Month Challenge at any time! Although we take the Challenge as a group every January and July, you can start it on your own whenever you’d like. Just sign-up in the box below and you’ll receive an email a day for 31 days. Do you want to save more money in 2017? Ok, Ok I fully realize we just got over Thanksgiving and that Christmas is weeks away yet. And...
If you’re just tuning in, this is a recurring series in which I document each month of our lives out here on our 66-acre Vermont homestead. After leaving urban Cambridge, MA in May 2016 to chart this wholly different life, we’re experiencing a constant learning curve of exploration (and plenty of stupid novice moments). Check out last month’s installment here. November scuttled in with brisk wind, lost leaves, and a semi-frozen pond. We said goodbye to fall...
