It’s rare to be a beginner as an adult. As kids, “beginner” described our lives. Everything a kid does is new. They’re inexperienced and unafraid of grabbing a sweet potato and peeler for the first time ever and skimming the blade over the peel without hesitation.

But as adults, we almost never put ourselves in the position of not knowing how to do something. We drive our cars via muscle memory, we do the laundry out of habit, we’re confident in our careers and we know how to peel sweet potatoes without impaling ourselves. This makes our lives stable, secure, predictable and perhaps a tad too rote.

Earlier this year, I made myself a beginner. A complete and total beginner.

I Learned To Ski

My husband, two of our friends and I took an adult learn-to-ski class starting in early January. At the first class, I didn’t know how to put on my skis.

Continue reading How I Gave Myself the Gift of Being a Beginner at Frugalwoods.

I don’t think I’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution. Ever.

In my frittered youth, I made impossible, vague and numerous resolutions. I’d resolve to “lose weight, achieve inner peace and volunteer more,” all in the same year, with no specifics, no action plan and no accountability. I think we can all see why this approach failed. And it didn’t fail just once. It failed every single one of my resolution-making years, which was probably a contiguous 20 years.

Based on this enviable track record, I decided to be ultra-specific and action-oriented for 2021. Will this work? I HAVE NO IDEA. But the opposite never did.

Here are my two goals for 2021:

1. I will hike every single day.
   • I know I’ll miss days here or there, but saying ‘every day’ makes it WAY more likely I’ll get out on the trail on the regular.

Continue reading We’re Spending 1,000 Hours Outside in 2021 (maybe, we’ll see how it goes) at Frugalwoods.

You: walking around town wearing hand-me-downs, sipping coffee from a thermos you brought from home, running a debt-free hand through your home haircut, wondering if there are others like you in this world of seemingly endless consumption.

Me: other frugal person, catching your eye, noting your home-sourced thermos, digging your not-off-the-rack outfit, wondering if you’re a kindred spirit.

The dilemma: how to spot a fellow frugal in the wild without being horrifically awkward? How to become best garage sale gal pals without seeming like a total weirdo?

Plenty of us blend into the dominant consumer culture with our used cars and packed lunches. We nod along as co-workers lament their credit card debt and extol their brand new kitchen cabinets in the same breath. We don’t contribute to these conversations because we don’t want to isolate, we don’t want to be rude.

Continue reading 10 Ways to Spot a Frugal Friend. #4 Involves Dryer Lint. at Frugalwoods.

What’s not to love about a potluck? You make food, other people make food, you bring that food together and then you eat! Potlucks are a bedrock of frugal living, of community-centered living, of family-oriented living, of social living, and of living for people who like to eat. How could something so inherently frugal–so inherently about food–not be talked about on Frugalwoods until now? We cite the oversight and seek to remedy.

To all you Frugalites out there, keeping the frugal real while detoxing from the overconsumption and commercialism of the holidays and trying to forget about your uncle asking you for the fourth time at Christmas dinner why you drive a car that’s ten years old, know that you are not alone.

Kick back on your Craigslist couch (yes, I know you washed the removable cushion covers before you brought it home), cozy up with that afghan you knitted (no one notices the dropped stitches, I promise), put your feet up on the coffee table your friend handed down when they moved to California, pour some boxed Malbec into the wine glass you found for free on the side of the road, and scroll on down.

Continue reading Potlucks: They’re Great at Frugalwoods.

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. Join the Frugalwoods Facebook group to participate in next month’s Reader Suggestions!

Here in Vermont we are finally and firmly entrenched in a lovely, snowy, cold winter season. Living out here on 66 acres in the middle of the woods, our lives are increasingly dictated by the seasonal shifts we experience. Given these weather-related imperatives, I try to appreciate and embrace each season’s nuanced joys. I want to wholeheartedly consume whatever’s on offer and not compare one season to the last.

There are remarkable opportunities provided by nature every month of the year and I find it liberating to delight in each new weather pattern.

Continue reading Reader Suggestions Of Frugal And Fun Winter Activities at Frugalwoods.

When people ask why we moved to Vermont, I always answer “the woods!” And it’s true, we love our woods. We love looking at them, thinking about them, discussing them, photographing them and, most of all, being in them. However, as you might’ve noticed from my recent photos on Facebook and Instagram, we are currently in the depths of a typical Vermont winter–in other words, we won’t see our grass again until sometime in late spring/summer (TBD) on account of the prodigious snow cover .

But that hasn’t stopped us from frolicking in our woods. For wintertime sports, it’s all about the gear and the mindset. And I use “sports” very loosely because I am not a “sport” person–anyone who has ever had the misfortune of playing on a team with me will attest–I’m terrible at actual sports. But pursuits? Activities? Frolics? I like those.

Don’t Let The Cold Stop You: Get The Gear And Get Going

I used to have a serious aversion to going outside in the winter for any extended period of time.

Continue reading How We Recreate In Winter: The Gear, The Mindset, and The Baby Sled at Frugalwoods.

My fabulous, and fairly frugal, parents visited us here on the homestead last month and, while they were here, I put them to work brainstorming ideas to share on Frugalwoods. A few topics that did not make the cut:

1. Why you should/should not water down your hand-soap. Very polarizing. Possibly marriage-ending. People have wildly divergent views about whether or not this leads to more soap use/more water use. For the sake of family unity, best to leave this topic alone.
2. Whether or not cream cheese is frugal and if you can/should make your own. Not sure how we got on this topic, but it ranged for awhile.
3. Types of toilet paper. If you use thin, you’re going to use more; conversely, with thick, you might spend more at the outset but use fewer squares per sitting (of course since we’re on septic here on the homestead, we use thin, septic-safe TP).

Continue reading Frugal Hosting Ideas For Hanging Out With Friends at Frugalwoods.

Last year I wrote a post for my friends, The Frugalwoods, called Frugal Friends and Where to Find Them. Today’s post is the sequel.

A couple months ago, a new neighbor came over to chat. He had noticed that Mrs. 1500 and I were out of town and asked us where we’d been. I told him that we were at a financial blogging conference (FinCon). I explained that we write articles about money and that one of our interests is teaching young people about personal finance. I couldn’t stop myself and went down the rabbit hole. Eventually, I mentioned something about compound interest. It was at that time that I noticed my neighbor’s eyes glazing over. I stopped talking and he quickly steered the conversation to his Harley Davidson.

While Mr. Frugalwoods and I enjoy/attempt to survive our very first month as parents to our daughter, Babywoods, I have a delightful slate of guest posts from my friends lined up for your reading pleasure.

Continue reading Why Frugal Friends Are The Best Friends at Frugalwoods.

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 some of you frugal bosses have in fact done this before, but this was news to us. As soon as we were in possession of the knowledge that we could pay for a single day of car rental for a 901-mile journey, we were possessed with the idea of doing it. Ever the opportunists for money-saving hacks, we smelled a grand adventure.

Tools: The Need For The Drive

Before I delve into the gory details of our road travails, allow me to first explain exactly why we felt the need to embark on this car-fueled jaunt.

Continue reading Behind the Scenes of our 901-mile, 1-day Frugal Road Trip at Frugalwoods.

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 it is between the glare of summer and the contrition of winter–deserves adulation for the noble atmospheric shift it brings about.

My adoration for the trappings of fall–pumpkins, orange things, Halloween, nutmeg–is without bounds. Anything even remotely resembling autumn is sure to be met with high praise from me. Would you fancy a list of all the reasons why? Oh good, because I made one for you!

Why Fall Gets An A+ As A Season

1) I consider autumn a harbinger of the past. 

Continue reading Frolicking Through Fall With The Frugalwoods at Frugalwoods.

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 entails spending money. To this I cry “false!” I think it’s true that the default, conformist mechanisms of socializing include the outlay of cash (going to a bar, restaurant, or coffee haus), but there’s a whole host of free friend activities that Mr. Frugalwoods and I partake in.

Far from being reclusive hermits, we’re actually more socially engaged now than we were before we began our extreme frugality junket.

Continue reading Maintaining Friendships And Frugality at Frugalwoods.

Greeting fair Frugalwoods friends! It’s Mr. Frugalwoods here, making a rare appearance as author. I’m usually your trusty behind-the-scenes tech guy, but today I want to share our strategies for securing gratis TV.

“Hold on, you don’t have cable?!?”

Yep. Don’t have it. Never have and probably never will. We’re a cable TV executive’s worst nightmare.

But fear not, fair tube viewer, Mrs. FW and I do watch TV. It’s just that it’s the free kind that’s delivered over the internet. And no, we’re not sailing the frightful and dangerous pirate seas (unwise since Frugal Hound is afraid of boats).

This is the totally legal, totally free kind of internet video content. And, it’s also the $0 per month plan after the initial start-up costs, which are minimal.

They key to making this work comes in two parts: personal philosophy and good old-fashioned electronics.

Continue reading How We Avoid Cable And Watch Free TV Online at Frugalwoods.