Knowing where your money’s at is the first step in financial planning. Before you can set goals, panic about having no money, or compliment yourself on your ability to buy a new back scratcher, you’ve got to know:

1. What you earn
2. What you spend
3. Your debts
4. Your assets
5. In other words, your overall net worth!

Lucky for us, there’s a FREE service that’ll do all of this for us. It’s called Empower. I talk about it all the time. I use it all the time. Today I’ll explain why.

Everything In One Place

When folks do a Reader Case Study here on Frugalwoods, the most time consuming–and critical–aspect is compiling all their financial information. It’s basically Marie Kondo-ing your money:

• Where are those college t-shirts you received for winning beer ping pong?

Continue reading How to Know Everything About Your Money: Why I Use and Recommend Empower at Frugalwoods.

Inflation is here: it’s large, it’s in charge, it’s up 8.5% as of March 2022, which is the biggest 12-month increase since 1981. Woohoo! Aren’t we lucky! But all is not (totally) lost because inflation doesn’t impact all prices equally. As we’ll explore together today, this is an uneven inflationary period: almost everything is more expensive, but some things are hit harder than others.

What Exactly IS Inflation???!!!

Before we dive into how inflation affects us on an individual level, let’s spend some time in Liz’s Definition Corner. Inflation is one of those terms everyone thinks they should know and assumes everyone else knows, but in reality a lot of us are not sure but afraid to ask because we assume everyone else knows… 

I kind of knew what inflation was before this year–like in very general terms–but now I’m deeply curious about what it really is.

Continue reading How to Survive Inflation and Make it Work for You at Frugalwoods.

Q: What’s the easiest way to earn extra money?

A: A cash back credit card!

I made $712.59 last year by using my cash back credit card. Not bad for buying stuff I was going to buy anyway! A cash back credit card gives you a predetermined percentage of money back on purchases you make with that card. Some cards offer a flat percentage whereby they give you the same percentage back on every single thing you buy. Others have rotating percentages or different percentages for different categories of purchases. Both options are super simple ways to make money while spending money. The percentages are typically pretty low (my card gives a flat 2% cash back), so you’re not going to make a million dollars. But hey, it’s one of the easiest ways to make a couple hundred bucks!

Come Hear Me Talk this Friday, April 8th!

Continue reading How I Made $712.59 With My Cash Back Credit Card at Frugalwoods.

Healthcare is no longer tied to your job in the United States. Anyone can get healthcare in our country and you don’t have to go through an employer to do so. This hasn’t always been the case and I, for one, rejoice in the system that makes this possible.

This is a system that goes by many names: the Affordable Care Act, the ACA, Obamacare, the Health Insurance Marketplace, a dream come true, etc. I’m going to use the acronym ACA throughout this article, but know that all those other names mean the same thing. Prior to the passage of the ACA, folks in the US were pretty much out of luck if their employer didn’t offer health insurance.

Now, folks are very much in luck if their employer doesn’t offer health insurance: they can sign-up for affordable heath care through the ACA. Hooray!!!! The ACA is/was a boon to the FIRE (financial independence/early retirement) movement as it enables many of us frugal weirdos to leave our jobs and venture out on our own: to full early retirement or part-time work or meaningful, independent ventures.

Continue reading How We Signed Up for Health Insurance through the Affordable Care Act at Frugalwoods.

I have a kid old enough to start learning about money! Of all the parenting milestones we’ve marked over the years, I think I’m the most excited about this one. 

You all have been asking me for advice on teaching kids about money for eight years and I’ve demurred because I didn’t know how I was going to teach my own kids about money. Until today!

Our oldest child, six-year-old Kidwoods, started asking about money this fall and her curiosity reached an inflection point earlier this week thanks to a school book sale flier advertising a $7 unicorn book. So here’s my non-expert, imperfect tale of how we’re teaching money management to our children. Well, really just to Kidwoods since Littlewoods (age almost four) remains unimpressed and uninterested.

Wait Until They Indicate Readiness

This is the approach we’ve followed with pretty much every aspect of our parenting.

Continue reading How We’re Establishing a Family Money Philosophy with Our Kids at Frugalwoods.

Two sizable pieces of Frugalwoods-relevant news occurred this past spring:

1. We paid off the mortgage on our primary residence in Vermont!
2. Mr. Frugalwoods retired!

These both happened amidst the flurry of the pandemic, our stint as unintentional homeschoolers and, of course, maple sugaring season.

I promised to share the details once the sap stopped flowing, we got vaccinated and the kids went to in-person school (PRAISE BE). These two events are correlated since we didn’t want to carry a mortgage once Mr. FW retired early.

Does Liz Still Work?

Well, kinda. I continue to work part-time as a writer, but my income pales in comparison to what Mr. FW was pulling down, which makes his retirement the more seismic change for our overall household finances. I left my full-time office job back in 2015 and have been freelance writing (including writing a book) ever since.

Continue reading Mr. FW Retired and We Paid off Our Mortgage: Frugalwoods FIRE is Complete at Frugalwoods.

I hadn’t planned on writing about the Coronavius again, but when I sat down to write what I’d previously planned on my editorial calendar (don’t be impressed, it’s just my regular calendar, but “editorial” sounds so, well, editorial), I realized I had no enthusiasm or energy for “regular” topics. We’re all feeling the impact of the Coronavirus in some way, or we will soon, and we should all be preparing for what’s almost certain to be a recession. And not a short, easy recession either. So, I’ll sink into what’s on all of our minds. I’ll write what feels natural during this most unnatural time.

My first article on the Coronavirus dealt primarily with the immediate financial and health ramifications of a pandemic. Now that I’ve had a few days to settle into isolation with my husband and children, I want to discuss the ways in which we can offer help to others.

Continue reading How We Can Help Out During A Global Pandemic: Resources, Ideas, and Encouragement at Frugalwoods.

As COVID-19–the disease caused by the novel Coronavirus–ravages the world, I feel fear and helplessness. My children’s school–and every school in our state–is closed until April 6th (or later). Bars and restaurants are closed. In neighboring states, everything save grocery stores and pharmacies is shuttered. The NBA, NHL, MLS and MLB all cancelled their seasons. Broadway is closed. Disneyland shut its doors. The stock market is spiraling down. Things are not looking good, folks. So what can we do other than stress out and inhale our quarantine snacks while refreshing our news feeds? We can do frugality. Our spending is something we can control in a world that feels out of control.

Choosing To Stay Home

Starting on Monday, my family and I decided to put ourselves in self-imposed isolation. We’re not going anywhere or inviting anyone over. We’re not going to the grocery store, we’re not going to the library, we’re not going to the pharmacy.

Continue reading How We’re Managing Our Money During the Coronavirus Pandemic at Frugalwoods.

Today, by popular demand, I bring you a comprehensive rundown of how my husband and I manage our money.

Before we dive in, I want to point out that your money management strategy will likely differ from mine, and that’s ok! Your financial situation will also likely differ from mine, and that’s ok too! There’s no one right way to do money, although there are definitely some wrong ways. What I hope is that by sharing how I manage my money, you’ll be enfranchised to organize, manage, and set goals around your money too.

A disclaimer that I am not a trained financial professional and I encourage people not to make serious financial decisions based solely on what one person on the internet advises.

I encourage everyone to do their own research to determine the best course of action for their finances.

Continue reading How We Manage Our Money: Behind The Scenes of The Frugalwoods Family Accounts at Frugalwoods.

My credit card strategy has been, heretofore, unoptimized. Woefully unoptimized. It’s been less of a “strategy” and more of a “doing what we’ve always done because it’s easy.” Mr. Frugalwoods and I decided to (finally) do some research and–wonder of all wonders–sign-up for the credit cards that make the most sense for us. We landed on:

1. The Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card (more here)
2. The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card (more here)
3. The Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

Wondering what on earth a “credit card strategy” is? Wondering what “rewards card” even means? Well, my friend, you’ve come to the right place. I’m doing a deep dive into the world of credit cards today, which I promise won’t be horrible, boring, or complicated.

While I’m all for judicious and mindful spending, I’m also all for leveraging that spending when it makes sense.

Continue reading The Frugalwoods Guide to a Simple, Yet Rewarding, Credit Card Experience at Frugalwoods.

Think strategic philanthropy is just for billionaires? Heck no! It’s for everyone who gives away money. We’re all some strategic bosses with our spending, savings, and investments–charitable giving is absolutely no different. Today we’re going to discuss opportunities to maximize your philanthropic impact, support charities you believe in, and ultimately, make wise financial decisions that’ll benefit others–in other words, how to donate like a billionaire! What could be better? Cookies maybe, although I did eat a lot of cookies while writing this, so maybe that brings it full circle?

Philanthropic giving is something Mr. Frugalwoods and I consider central to our philosophy on money and one reason why we feel called to manage our finances so prudently. Plus, before becoming a full-time writer, I worked for ten years as a fundraiser for a number of different nonprofit organizations in Cambridge, MA, New York, NY, and Washington, DC.

Suffice it to say, between raising money for charities and now writing about money for a living, I think about charitable giving a lot!

Continue reading How We Donate To Charities Like Billionaires at Frugalwoods.

So exactly how do frugal weirdos manage their money? I get this question a lot and it makes me realize that, despite the fact that this is ostensibly a “personal finance” blog, I don’t discuss the precise machinations of my personal money management system very often. And the reason for that is quite straightforward: Mr. Frugalwoods and I don’t actually do very much in service of “managing” our money. There’s a misconception that in order to be smart about your money, you must be constantly fiddling or adjusting or otherwise doing something with it. False, I tell you.

To the contrary, I find that the less we poke at our money, the better off it–and we–are. A lot of folks tell me they don’t have the time to handle their money and so they think they should hire a professional. False again. It takes precious little financial acumen, and even less time, to successfully manage the average family’s finances.

Continue reading Our Low Cost, No Fuss, DIY Money Management System at Frugalwoods.