February 27, 2015
Frugal Homestead Series Part 4: Searching For Land
Greetings fellow frugal weirdos, Mr. Frugalwoods here! Welcome to Part 4 of our Frugal Homestead Series, which explores the finer points of how we’re going to reach our version of financial independence and move to a homestead in the woods in 2017 at age 33. Mrs. Frugalwoods and I plan to buy 20+ acres of wooded land, likely with an existing…
February 25, 2015
Our Frugal Grocery List Revealed
We’ve all gotta have it, we’ve all gotta buy it (except for the freegans among us), it’s a necessary part of life, yet the ways to consume it range from five star to down home. I’m speaking, of course, about every frugal weirdo’s favorite topic (second to greyhounds): food. Grocery bills and eating out can wreck a…
February 23, 2015
11 Ways To Be A Frugal Weirdo And Love It
What does it take to be a frugal weirdo? We all have our spending weaknesses. You know, those things we look at every month and say “I know it’s expensive, but…” and then insert some sort of justification/excuse/guttural groan. But what if you didn’t have any of those expenses? What if absolutely everything you paid…
February 20, 2015
Weekly Woot & Grumble: Missing One’s Partner (Plus a Snow Update)
Grumble It’s a rare week that I commence with a grumble. But, Mr. Frugalwoods is on a business trip in San Francisco, which means I’ve been shoveling a lot of snow… I mean, missing him terribly! In between knocking icicles off our roof with a broom, I’ve been thinking about the nature of our relationship and why it’s…
February 18, 2015
Frugal Hound Sniffs: Reach Financial Independence
A note to new readers: while we often delve deeply into financial topics (such as Behind the Scenes of a Happy Frugal Marriage and Well Hot Damn, Frugality Works! Our 2014 Savings Rate Revealed), we also like to keep it irreverent and downright silly. Because hey, who doesn’t need an investigative interview series conducted by a dog?! And…
February 16, 2015
The Privilege Of Pursuing Financial Independence
Achieving early retirement isn’t something everyone can do. I wish I could say that if everyone would just save a little more, and live a bit farther below their means, and avoid buying an SUV, they’d be able to quit their jobs and live the life they crave. But that’s not the reality. There’s structural privilege inherent…
February 13, 2015
Weekly Woot & Grumble: Snow On Snow On Snow
Woot We are undergoing what could only be described as an unprecedentedly gigantic amount of snow here in the Boston area. The total stands at 71″ (aka over 5.5 feet) in the past 19 days with more predicted to fall. In case you were wondering, this quantity of snow yields snowbanks taller than two Frugal Hounds stacked on…
February 11, 2015
Great Trash Finds: Pretty Things Edition
The only problem I have with winter is that it puts a serious cramp in our trash finding endeavors. There’s just no way to locate great trash with 4 feet of snow on the ground. Believe me folks, I’ve tried so you don’t have to (you’re welcome). As I gaze out our back door into…
February 9, 2015
Frugal Homestead Series Part 3: Why Vermont?
Greetings frugal friends! Welcome to Part 3 of our Frugal Homestead Series, which explores the finer points of how we’re going to reach our version of financial independence and move to a homestead in the woods in 2017 at age 33. Mr. Frugalwoods and I plan to buy 20+ acres of wooded land, likely with an existing home and outbuildings,…
February 6, 2015
Final Frontier Of Frugality: My Husband Gave Me A Haircut
Mr. Frugalwoods gave me a haircut last week and, as I shared on Twitter: 1) we’re still married and 2) it looks really good! I’ll admit, we were both a bit nervous and there were a few tense words, but it worked out just dandy. In other news, I’ll be nominating him for husband of the…
February 4, 2015
Frugal Hound Sniffs: DebtFreeJD
A note to new readers: while we often delve deeply into financial topics (such as Behind the Scenes of a Happy Frugal Marriage and Well Hot Damn, Frugality Works! Our 2014 Savings Rate Revealed), we also like to keep it irreverent and downright silly. Because hey, who doesn’t need an investigative interview series conducted by a dog?! And…
February 2, 2015
January 2015 Expenditures
A Classically Frugal Month January was a superbly cheap month for us, which is what we anticipated given our weeklong trip out to California to visit my family. Any month with non-mortgage spending below $1,000 ($989.05 this month), is ideal for us. It balances out slightly pricier months (ahem, looking at you, December 2014). We’ve…