I know, I know, Black Friday is dumb; but since it exists, I figured I’d offer a coupon code for 10% off:

• An hourlong phone call with me (that’s $25 off)
• A basic financial consultation with me (that’s $150 off)
• A premium financial consultation with me (that’s $300 off)
• A spot in an Uber Frugal Month Mastermind group (that’s $30 off)

You can purchase any of the above for yourself OR as a gift certificate to give to anyone in your life who needs some Frugalwoodsy financial help. The coupon codes, which you enter at check-out, are:

• FRUGAL-FRIDAY-GC if you’d like to purchase a gift certificate
• FRUGAL-FRIDAY-AP if you’d like to purchase this for your own self

Move fast because these things expire on Monday, November 28th at midnight (12:00am Eastern Standard Time).

Continue reading Yes, I Actually Have a Black Friday Sale for You at Frugalwoods.

Give the gift of financial freedom this holiday season! Do you have a person in your life you keep recommending Frugalwoods to? Do you continually send them links to personal finance articles that they seem to ignore? Does this same person  bemoan that their money is a mess? Do you wish you could stage a financial intervention? Now you can!! I am here for all of your financial intervention needs with…

Gift Certificates for Private Financial Consultations!

Yes indeed, you can wrap me up and put me under your tree. Wondering what my private financial consultations entail? Read all about them here, sign-up for a consultation yourself here, or read on for the Cliff Notes:

I work one-on-one with clients to demystify personal finance and break money management down into easy-to-follow steps.

I explain where to start with organizing your finances and where to go for the longterm in a holistic, straightforward, anti-jargon, anti-judgment way, which means…

This Gift is Perfect For…

1) Your Adult Children/Grandchildren!

Continue reading Give The Gift of Financial Freedom! at Frugalwoods.

One of the easiest and best ways to save money is to switch your cell phone provider to an MVNO. Cell phone service is one of those things most of us skip over when we’re trying to reduce our spending. We figure it’s a fixed amount, the same no matter what provider we use.

Today we dispel that myth with the wonderful world of MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). MVNOs are re-sellers of name brand cell service. They’re basically the TJ Maxx of the cell phone world–the same product being resold for WAY cheaper.

Important to know: MNVOs use the same towers as name brand cell providers, so you get the same coverage!

MVNOs resell different networks and offer different month-to-month plans, so I made the below handy and dandy chart breaking down ten different MVNOs, the network(s) they resell and their base monthly costs.

Continue reading How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill with an MVNO: I Pay $12 a Month at Frugalwoods.

Did you know you can buy prescription glasses online? You can! And did you know they are WAY cheaper than glasses bought in a store? They are! Buying glasses (and sunglasses) online is one of those super easy to implement frugal substitutions I love talking about.

A frugal substitution is when you find the same product (or service) for a drastically reduced price. This is my favorite type of frugality because you don’t have to give anything up or change your behavior–you just have to shop smart (smartly? smarter?). Point I’m trying to make: be smart and save money.

There we go, that pretty sums up Frugalwoods. We can all go home now. Wait! Don’t go anywhere, I have at least 800 more words to say about discount online glasses.

Note: this post contains affiliate links. Here’s an explanation of what those are.

Continue reading How We Buy Cheap Prescription Glasses Online That Fit at Frugalwoods.

Content warning: I am talking about some EXPLICIT credit card rewards today. There will be actual numbers, real percentages and even specific cards discussed. If you’re a person who doesn’t do well with credit cards, if cards encourage you to spend more than you can afford and go into debt, I want you to stop reading this article and instead go look at this panda who traded her baby for an apple… I mean, maybe it was a really good apple?

If you are like, YES, I too like apples and am a responsible credit card person, and I too want to earn money for using a credit card the right way, then read on! Your road to riches is below. Actually not riches, but perhaps $486.

My 2020 Cash Back Total

I made $486.36 in 2020 by using my cash back credit card.

Continue reading The Easiest $486 I’ve Ever Made: How To Use Cash Back Credit Cards To Your Advantage at Frugalwoods.

I reached the limit of my desire to re-enact Little House On The Prairie every time our power goes out. So, we bought a generator. Today I’ll discuss why, what type of generator we got, how to assess a range of price points for the same product, and perhaps most importantly, why we waited four years to make this purchase.

The 1870’s: Not For Me

I’ve tried living a la the 1870’s and, I’ll be honest, it’s not for me. I can get behind the dresses and bonnets, not to mention the quilts, but that’s where my interest stops. Modern conveniences were invented for a reason.

The biggest issue for us–here on our rural Vermont homestead–is that when the power goes out, we have no running water. I can live without electricity for a week. Candles and flashlights are fine, we cook with gas, we heat with a wood stove, and perishable foods can go in coolers outside in snow banks.

Continue reading How We Evaluate Expensive Purchases: Why We Bought A Generator at Frugalwoods.

There you are, frugaling through the year, with your money on your mind and your mind on your money when, BAM, it’s the holidays and all the cash you saved and scraped is siphoned off into an endless swirl of gift buying, wrapping paper, holiday party hosting, and Christmas tree be-decking.

Ahh well, better luck next year, you think as you start January broke, deflated, and feeling ever-more Grinch-like.

BUT NOT THIS YEAR! The Frugalwoods gang (law enforcement take note: we are not actually a gang) is coming to your rescue today!!! We celebrate the holidays, we give gifts, we party it up, but we don’t lose our frugal cool.

Welcome to my monthly Reader Suggestions feature! Every month I post a question to our Frugalwoods Facebook group and share the best responses here. The questions are topics I’ve received multiple queries on and my hope is that by leveraging the braintrust of Frugalwoods nation, you’ll find helpful advice and insight.

Continue reading Reader Suggestions Of A Frugal Holiday Gift Guide (aka Staying on Budget the Non-Grinchy Way) at Frugalwoods.

“You know you’ve made it when someone sends you a free vacuum.” -said no one ever. Until now. Now, I’m saying it, you guys. Because by this calculation, I’ve made it. I am someone in this world. I am someone who receives free vacuums (well, one free vacuum to be precise). The Dyson V7 Motorhead to be even more precise, which is a cordless, lightweight, super powerful stick vacuum.

How This Free Vacuum Came To Be

Following my dissertation about my adoration of our robot vacuum (the Roomba 690), Dyson Vacuums emailed me. Yep. THE Dyson Vacuum People were in my inbox asking me to try out their cordless Dyson V7 Motorhead vacuum (those are affiliate links).

I looked over my shoulder, I checked that the email had, in fact, been sent to me, and I realized that all my hard work was finally paying off.

Continue reading How Many Vacuums Should One Person Own? I Endeavor To Find Out at Frugalwoods.

I’m a known thrifter. Unlike known grifters, this is a good thing. Since becoming Mrs. Frugalwoods, I’ve tried to buy everything second-hand. This doesn’t always work out and sometimes I choose to buy things new (such as my mattress), but on the whole, my household is awash in used goods.

Today, I want to talk about three aspects of my buying used strategy (oh yes, it’s a strategy):

1. Focus on things that make the most sense to buy used (using depreciation to your advantage)
2. Why I plan ahead and buy ahead (even though I might not end up using the stuff)
3. The non-monetary benefits of buying used (I started buying second-hand because it saves tons of money; I’ve continued for that reason and all the non-monetary benefits I’ve discovered)

If you’d like a primer on where and how to find used stuff (which I won’t be covering today), check out: How To Find Anything and Everything Used: A Compendium Of Frugal Treasure Hunting.

Continue reading How to Thrift Like a Rockstar: Plan Ahead, Buy Ahead and Focus on Depreciation at Frugalwoods.

October 29, 2021 update: It’s been NINE years and we still love this mattress. We bought this thing in September 2012 and it’s still going strong! Note: this post contains affiliate links.

And now, please enjoy my original 2019 post:

Oh yes, it’s Internet Mattress time. I bought this king-sized mattress from Amazon for $279 back in September 2012 and on this, the month of its seventh anniversary, I bring you a progress report.

In summary:

• Internet Mattress is still going strong
• I would buy it again, which means I recommend it
• It’s still under $300 (currently $289 for the king size)

Before buying this thing, I assumed that mattresses are expensive. That there’s no way to circumvent paying five figures for a bed that’ll last longer than a year or two.

Continue reading How My $279 Amazon Mattress Is Holding Up After Seven Years at Frugalwoods.