DIY the Frugal Way
This is the post you’ve all been waiting for. This is the answer to your prayers and the deliverer of miracles. That’s right, I’m finally writing about our solar panels. I know you’re thrilled. Actually, I think ten of you are, in fact, thrilled and the rest of you will read along just to see hot panel pics. I know I would. As everyone in the world knows (or at least, everyone who follows along...
I reorganized our house. And by “reorganized,” I mean I went through every single closet, drawer, cabinet, and shelf, and every single t-shirt, shampoo bottle, and Christmas decoration that we own. And by “house,” I mean all of it: from the front hall to the basement to the new baby’s room, I systematically deconstructed every single inch of our living space. Even the guest bathroom, which, as it turned out, was harboring a most random...
Moving into a new house is surrounded by as much consumer fanfare as a new baby. There’s a temptation–and a goading by the likes of HGTV–to buy all new furniture, renovate immediately, and deck every wall in a trendy palette. But this urgent wish for everything to be precisely perfect is detrimental to both budgets and longterm planning. Hard as it might be, the frugal route is to bide your time. Impose A Waiting Period Before we...
We are officially moved into our Vermont homestead at long last! I’m immensely delighted (super delighted? supremely delighted?) to write this from our porch, gazing out on our apple trees–which are just beginning to blossom–listening to the distant sounds of a hooting owl, running streams, and Frugal Hound chasing squirrels in her sleep (some things never change). Although spending weekends here for the past five months gave us a taste of homestead life, being moved in...
And then there are the times when DIY goes awry. Lest you think we’re some sort of home improvement mavens following our recent self-taught plumbing escapade, let me disabuse you of that notion post haste by telling you the tale of our oven. And our refrigerator. And our closet door… An Oven Obituary Right on the heels of our frozen and burst pipe, the Frugalwoods oven decided it was a dandy time to cease operation. Mr. Frugalwoods...
Have you ever wondered if there’s a surefire way to get your pipes to freeze? Well, wonder no more! You’re in luck because Mr. Frugalwoods and I have uncovered this miraculous and amazingly practical wisdom! All’s you have to do is go out of town on a weekend when the temperatures are predicted to be sub-zero. And presto! You’ll return home on Sunday night to the glory that is frozen pipes. As I previewed in our February...
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%...
Sometimes frugality is about giving stuff up. Other times, it’s about being clever. Mr. Frugalwoods and I are known seltzer addicts. Indeed, we can scarcely make it through a day without our bubbly water fix. And we have zero intention of ever giving it up. Pure, unadulterated seltzer (just water and gas, no sugars or flavors) is a luxury we’ve decided to incorporate into our extremely frugal lives. Would it be cheaper for us to...
It’s moving season! No, Mr. Frugalwoods, Frugal Hound and I aren’t moving–yet–but we’ve moved a grand total of 15 times between the two of us (not counting Frugal Hound’s various hound-related moves). All of these moves were between states and, in some cases, across vast swaths of the country. Since most of us are probably either too old or not idealistic enough to move with just a backpack, let’s assume the few of you who can...
Have you turned your heat on yet? After I divulged that Mr. Frugalwoods and I haven’t–and likely won’t until November–I received a number of comments and emails from readers asking that I share our methods for thermostat abstention. We adore the shoulder months of fall and spring when we live totally sans climate control. Heating and air conditioning are money drains and we save a bundle by flat out not turning ours on. Summers are rather mild here in Cambridge, MA...
