JLCollinsnh

The Simple Path to Wealth

You are here: Home / Uncategorized / A visit to the Frugalwoods

A visit to the Frugalwoods

by 33 Comments

one of their two Vermont-ready new-to-them cars, the Outback, navigating their 1/4 mile driveway

one of their two Vermont-ready new-to-them cars, the Outback, navigating their 1/4 mile driveway

 

This past Saturday, Mrs. jlcollinsnh and I dusted off our passports, loaded up the old Forester with…

Jake in Maine

Jake the Wonder Dog

..and left New Hampshire for the two-hour trek over to the Frugalwoods’ new…

Frugalwoods Homestead_house_barn_lawm-768x576

Vermont homestead

We got to visit with…

Frugalwoods MrMrsFW_faces

Mr. and Mrs. Frugalwoods

and…

Frugalwoods Baby_Hound_pony

Babywoods and Frugal Hound

Mrs. jlcollinsnh was particularly smitten with Babywoods and it is not hard to see why. But, no, there are no more babies in our future.

People not actually attuned to the path to Financial Independence and the frugal habits that pave the way, tend to see it all as a life of deprivation. The truth is, it is a life of abundance guided by strategic intentional, rather than frivolous, spending. It leads to living the life that gives you joy. In the Frugalwoods case, on their homestead deep in the Vermont woods.

If you’ve read (and if you haven’t you should!) their Frugal Homestead Series you know the preparation this project took and have seen the gorgeous pictures of the end (beginning?) result. I’m here to tell you, the reality is even better.

We had a wonderful afternoon wandering about the yard munching apples off their apple trees, followed by sitting on the porch to lunch of fresh salad with spicy chicken and ice cream with fresh rhubarb and strawberry sauce. Yum!

Thus fortified, we headed into the woods and down to their pond, crossing a rickety bridge, the fixing of which is one of Mr. F’s many, many future projects.

No one had more fun than Jake, running up and about, sniffing this and that like a puppy. In the car, all the way back, he kept pestering us wanting to know why we don’t live in such a wonderfully dog-friendly paradise.

Maybe if we had the skills and energy the Frugalwoods bring to bear. But for now, we’ll content ourselves with having such wonderful friends to visit in such a magical place.

*All photos shameless stolen from the Frugalwoods blog.

**Except that of Jake, which my pal Bill in Maine took in front of their fireplace.

Important Resources

  • NewRetirement offers cool tools to help guide you in answering the question: Do I have enough money to retire? And getting started is free. Sign up and you will be offered two paths into their retirement planner. I was also on their podcast and you can check that out here:Video version, Podcast version.
  • Credit Cards are like chain saws. Incredibly useful. Incredibly dangerous. Resolve to pay in full each month and never carry a balance. Do that and they can be great tools. Here are some of the very best for travel hacking, cash back and small business rewards.
  • Personal Capital is a free tool to manage and evaluate your investments. With great visuals you can track your net worth, asset allocation, and portfolio performance, including costs. At a glance you'll see what's working and what you might want to change. Here's my full review.
  • Tuft & Needle (T&N) helps me sleep at night. They are a very cool company with a great product. Here’s my review of what we are currently sleeping on: Our Walnut Frame and Mint Mattress.
  • Betterment is my recommendation for hands-off investors who prefer a DIFM (Do It For Me) approach. It is also a great tool for reaching short-term savings goals. Here is my Betterment Review
  • Republic Wireless is my $20 a month phone plan. My wife is also on the $20 plan and our daughter who uses more data is on the $25 plan. Monthly total for three phones and plans: $65. We all travel widely and we can talk to each other from wherever we are and for however long we please. My RW Review tells you how.
  • Vanguard.com

These are companies I have personally vetted and recommend.

YNAB and Tuft & Needle both support this site with paid ads. If you click on those ads it shows them the ads are working for them and that support will continue.

Personal Capital, Betterment and Republic Wireless are affiliate partners of this site. Should you click though to their site from this one and chose to do business with them, this blog will earn a small commission.

Vanguard is not an advertiser or affiliate but, Vanguard if you are listening, we’d love to have you!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. I visit the Frugalwoods website regularly and enjoy Mrs. Frugalwood’s post. One thing always jumps out at me from the photos: that is one cute baby. Bet she is even cuter in person.

    Reply

  2. Well, Boy Howdy, don’t those two look smug. I can’t believe you got them both to fake smile at the same time. And for long enough to capture a photo! This homestead can’t possibly be for real. Did their parents buy them a farm? They’ll probly be out of $$$ by sundown!

    Oh… my bad… I thought this was Yahoo.

    It’s great to see you kids getting together. Taking another look at that photo, I see a genuine happiness that comes from living the good life. Cheers to you and the Frugalwoods (with a rhubarb strawberry beer)!

    Best,
    -PoF

    Reply

    • Yeah, the house and barn are actually just one-sided facades put up for the pictures. And the woods are just a few trees backed up by scenery paintings behind.

      It is all a ruse to try to lure the unsuspecting into attempting a false life of freedom because….

      …because…

      …because…

      …er…

      …give me a minute, I’ll think of something. 😉

      Reply

  5. What a great post. Thanks for letting us all live vicariously for a few minutes with The Frugalwoods in Vermont, such a peaceful break from my corporate hamster cage (hope Big Brother doesn’t notice I used my company computer to leave this comment!). Great stuff, can’t wait to live the FIRE life myself in < 2 years!!

    Reply

  6. That sounds like such a lovely day, and it really makes me want to head up to Vermont. I might not be ready for a homestead in the woods (like you, I totally don’t have the skillset for that) but I’m looking forward to a move out of the city and into the suburbs next year. I’m doing it for the trees, but I don’t mind the lower rent!

    Reply

    • We were bummed not to be able to make it up there to hang out with you guys. What a great picture!

      But there is only so much Labor Day Weekend traffic this man can handle… 🙂

      Reply

  8. What a visit, what a family and what a free lifestyle! I can feel the peace just seeing your pictures of being surrounded by nature everywhere….while outside my window right now, I see a soulless concrete office building next door.

    This is close to nirvana on earth. Kudos to Frugalwoods family!

    Reply

  9. Just drove through Maine and Vermont on a road trip. Stayed at an airbnb in a tiny house setup. Can easily see why people love living in Vermont in the rural countryside. It’s a unique vibe that’s totally different from the rural south where I grew up

    Reply

  10. I just spent a week in rural New England at my parents for the Labor Day holiday. It’s nice to get back to my roots. Gets the wheels turning in my head about if I want to buy a tract of land and build my own homestead someday.

    Reply

  11. Great post! I follow mrs frugalwoods regularly and only wish that i had had the courage/wisdom to do the same at their age. Also, i always have enjoyed the pics of frugalhound and more recently Babywoods. that is one seriously cute infant! What a wonderful visit!
    kc

    Reply

  12. Sounds like a fine day. A reminder of what we are doing with our move two years from now to our mountain home in the great state of NH.

    Oh, and fall being around the corner, a chance for Mrs PIE to work her magic with apple pie making. And me to work my magic devouring it. Life is good. I really hope she won’t read this post but she will…..then I am in in trouble.

    Reply

  13. I’ve been a frugalwoods reader for a while now so it’s very cool to see another bloggers perspective on their beautiful homestead, thanks for sharing your visit with us! It sounds like you had a great time. I would not envy them using that driveway on a wet day..

    Jasmin

    Reply

    • See the photo credits at the end of the post.

      Also not included were the shots of the alien ship that landed on their property and whisked us away to their home planet for a VIP tour.

      Will you next be suggesting that didn’t happen either??

      Reply

  18. “*All photos shameless stolen from the Frugalwoods blog.”

    Shamelessly stealing things is what I do best. Clearly we are cut from the same cloth.

    Sounds like you had a great time! Love the picture of super cute Baby Frugalwoods! And so conveniently stolen. *muahahaha*

    Reply

  20. I think it’s cool so many of the PF bloggers are getting together. And two of my favorite bloggers to boot. Thanks for all your input on the blog too. I always point people to your stock series.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.