Monthly Archive: June 2016

97

This Month On The Homestead: Flowers, Wood, and Gender Roles

Welcome to the first ever installment of “This Month On The Homestead,” a brand-new monthly Frugalwoods series about, uh, this month on the homestead. As you can see, the title is quite descriptive. Our transition from urban city-slickers to rural homesteaders is filled with daily mistakes learning experiences, new friends, us doing stupid things with farm equipment innovating, and more! I’ve shared our greatest hits (in photo form) on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (although sometimes...

113

Frugality Is A Compounding Game

But it only costs $20! Or $10. Or even just 5 measly bucks. So what’s the big deal? It’s remarkably easy to lull myself into thinking that a couple dollars spent here or there won’t amount to a hill of beans (oh but there are so many things one can cook with a hill of beans… ). When I start to think this way, I remind myself that frugality is a compounding game. Or more accurately, money...

79

Smoothing Out The Happiness Curve

In June, Mr. Frugalwoods and I celebrated 8 years of marriage, Frugal Hound turned 7, we marked Mr. FW’s first father’s day, Babywoods hit 7 months old, and we passed the one month anniversary of moving to Vermont! All wonderful things, all reasons to celebrate… and the subtext would typically be: reasons to spend money. I’ve discussed before that Mr. FW and I made the determination not to give gifts to each other on such occasions, but...

119

For the Love of Frugal Hound, Manage Your Money Yourself! (by following The Simple Path to Wealth)

You’ll be shocked to hear this, but before I read JL Collins’ book “The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence And a Rich, Free Life,” I did not 100% understand the rationale behind my own stock market investments. If you tried to click away from this article after reading “stock market investments,” then this post–and this book–are for you. I too used to zone out anytime someone so much as said the word...

57

The Liberation of Breaking Down Barriers and Starting Anywhere

I’ve been practicing yoga at home a fair amount these days and not because I’ve unlocked some sort of amazing interface for transcendental yogic virtue. And not even because I’m particularly motivated to advance my yoga practice. Nope, this uptick in yogic activities is thanks to an embarrassingly facile reason: my yoga mat is always out. Previously, I carefully rolled my mat up at the end of each practice and tucked it back in the...

86

Frugal Hound’s Teeth Cleaning And Other May 2016 Expenditures

May 2016 will be forever enshrined in Frugalwoods lore as the month of THE move. In what was hopefully our last move for many a year to come, we divested ourselves of our city trappings and jetted off to our country homestead. Scratch that–it wasn’t “jetted.” More like slowly drove down the highway in a caravan of me, my mother-in-law, Frugal Hound and Babywoods in the RooBaRoo (oh yeah, we were the exciting car), my...

132

In Praise Of Not Doing It All. At Least Not Right Away.

I’m a person who likes to do everything. All at once. Preferably simultaneously while also eating a snack. And this trait has served me pretty well these past six months, which for my family have been nothing short of a combined marathon, sprint, and biathlon (yes, that’s where you ski and then shoot a gun because obviously those two things go together). Since Babywoods’ birth, we’ve been running nonstop. I’m not complaining, because everything we’re preoccupied with has been...