Quick Babywoods update: She has yet to make her arrival, but we’ll be sure to share the news when she does :). If we spent money only on the things we actually need and can afford, then no one would have debt or bad credit or an unhealthy relationship with money. So why don’t we do that? How have we cultivated such bizarre associations with money in our culture? Why do we spend? Since half...
I am one of those rare people who delights in sending paper greetings through the postal service every Christmas. It’s an antiquated practice to be sure, but it’s something I greatly enjoy. Of course, it’s far less frugal to mail paper cards than it would be to transmit the modern e-card equivalent, but I find this analogue approach a soothing counter-balance to our otherwise entirely electronic lives. Plus, don’t you think I’m doing the world a favor...
I typically don’t take a militant stance on anything because we all have different goals, circumstances, backgrounds, and financial situations. However, there is one thing about which I am a vehement, diehard evangelist and I’ll rage on if given half the chance. This lightening rod issue that’ll cause me to shed my otherwise accepting, egalitarian self? Leftovers. There is only one appropriate way to deal with leftovers: by eating them. You can freeze them, store them, save them, or...
As the holidays near and I spring around with glee because I love–LOVE–Christmas, the question of gift giving and receiving is in the air. Presents are often a divisive topic amongst the frugal cadre as we, by our inherent frugal weirdo nature, can’t abide seeing money wasted on worthless stuff. However, as people who are equal parts frugal and Christmas adorers, Mr. Frugalwoods and I have staked out a middle ground with holiday gifts. We don’t...
It has been 23 months since I last purchased an item of clothing. Yes indeed, my self-imposed, one-woman, frugal weirdo clothes shopping ban is still going with the strength of a thousand greyhounds (if you want to catch-up on the entire history of my ban, see part 1, part 2, and part 3). This absence of sartorial acquisition has followed me through every season (twice now), a slew of fancy events (including weddings, graduations, conferences, family photos, and the...
Mr. Frugalwoods and I are officially ready for Babywoods. Frugal Hound less so, but only because she’s a dog and has no idea how much her little hound world is about to be rocked. We humans of the household have been engaged in baby prep for months now and, at exactly two weeks to her due date, I believe we can consider ourselves prepared. Over-prepared perhaps. But the crucial thing is, we’re only prepared in the...
Want to guess how much time Mr. Frugalwoods and I spend “managing our money” every month? A whopping 30 minutes. Yes, we are quintessential frugal weirdos and yes, we save over 70% of our income, and yes, we plan to quit our jobs at 33, and yes, we write this “personal finance” blog. But no, we don’t obsess over our finances. Why? There’s nothing to gain by micromanaging our money. Money is happiest as a loner....
“But what if it doesn’t work out?!?!” *panics!* I used to ask myself this on a daily (hourly?) basis about all manner of situations, ranging from the banal (trying a new baking recipe) to the weighty (moving from Kansas to New York City). And you know what? Sometimes it doesn’t work out. And you know what else? That’s completely OK. I’ve come to the realization that I can either: 1) live in constant anxiety over the apocryphal “something...
October was definitely our pre-baby travel and spending blow-out month. We lived it up! Not that we won’t travel after Babywoods is born, but we’re in baby blackout travel mode for the immediate future. In October, we went to New York City to speak at New York University about the benefits of frugality and the awesomeness of being frugal weirdos, then we jetted off to Rockford, IL for my cousin’s beautiful wedding, and the following weekend found us driving around...
