Last week, Frugal Hound had her annual doggie wellness exam and vaccinations, which set us back $116. Far from bemoaning this expense, Mr. Frugalwoods and I were delighted to fork over the funds because it means Frugal Hound is a healthy and happy creature. Plus, we had the ever-entertaining experience of trying to get her to step up onto the scale at the vet’s. Mind you, this dog is very tall and this scale is very small–it’s a raised...
“You know, Mrs. Frugalwoods, a lot of people think you really have your stuff together but the truth is, you don’t and none of us do.” My good friend Shannon of Financially Blonde said this to me last week while we were shooting the breeze about life and I thought: wow, yes! Shannon always keeps it real, which I deeply appreciate. And she’s completely right, none of us is 100%, totally, completely, and entirely in control of...
Yet again, Mr. Frugalwoods and I have engaged in frugal weirdo behavior of relatively epic proportion. This time, it was in the form of a road trip. A very long road trip. Did you know you can rent a car at 10pm on a Tuesday night in Charlotte, NC and return it the very next night at 10pm in Boston, MA and only be charged for a single day? Well, you can. And I’m certain...
The first hesitant tendrils of fall are filtering through the air. Frugal Hound is sniffing the cool breeze expectantly and thus far, one leaf hath crunched underfoot–it was either premature in its falling or just a dead leaf, but I’ll take it! Autumn is, without contest, the most favored of seasons for the Frugalwoods. It’s a time rife with frugal opportunity and its natural beauty is unparalleled. Fall, though an unassuming calendar event at first blush–nestled as...
We want your recipes! As I shared a few weeks ago, Mr. Frugalwoods and I recently came into possession of one chest freezer and are ready to fill ‘er up. Many a new parent has regaled us with tales of struggling to feed selves and baby during the disorienting early months post-birth, and with the arrival of our first child fast approaching, we’re aiming to be prepared. Since take-out and restaurants don’t fit with our extreme frugality...
Everybody likes hanging out with their friends! This is true for human beings aged toddler to grandparent (and hounds too!). We all enjoy carousing, playing, and fraternizing with our buddies. But what happens when you’re a devout frugal weirdo (à la moi) and you still want to spend quality time with your chums? Brace yourselves because the answer is pretty simple: you still do. I’ve caught wind of a common misconception in our consumption-focused culture that socializing always...
I wasted years talking about how much I wanted to be a writer, but not actually writing anything. Even though I felt compelled to write, I had a litany of excuses for why I wasn’t: I was too busy, I didn’t have any story ideas, I had nowhere to publish, it’d be a waste of my time, no one would want to read it, and on and on and on… I created a narrative for...
I’m currently experiencing a simultaneous nest and de-clutter phase. While half of me is wholly dedicated to arranging, assembling, and acquiring hand-me-downs for Babywoods, the other half of my manic pregnant brain recently declared war on junk. I’ve become a one-woman chaos annihilator. Let’s preface this with the fact that I’m admittedly the worst minimalist out there. This has become increasingly obvious as I befriend actual, real-life minimalists like Cait from Blonde On A Budget, who got rid of 75%...
Quick sidenote: I was on Farnoosh Torabi’s So Money podcast yesterday chatting about our uber frugal life. If you’re interested, you can give it a listen here! It’s not just about the money. Although the most obvious destination of frugality is having a bunch-o-money saved up, this is by no means the only benefit frugality yields. In fact, Mr. Frugalwoods and I find that some of the tertiary results of our extreme frugality are as...
Last month, Mr. Frugalwoods and I made a startling discovery: we’ve been harboring an energy hog in our basement. When we bought our home three years ago, it came outfitted with a behemoth, aged refrigerator in the basement in addition to the newer, smaller fridge on the main floor. Huh, we thought at the time, a second fridge! Not a looker to be sure, but it was already there and we figured we could put...
