Frugal Mama article in today's Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Well, this article was about a family in the DC area that lives in the fancier suburbs, and are frugal enough to not keep up with the Jones's, but do occationally splurge.

And fyi. For the man to have studied medicine in Italy is a huge saving

[Anonymous]

Tenlytown is not the suburbs. it's a neighborhood in NW DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just needs to be slapped because she uses the super-annoying word "mama"

Her husband is Italian.

If I'm jealous of anything, this is probably it. I bet he's a total hottie and a dynamo in bed. I'd plant an herb garden for that.

Hilarious! Love it! Hell yeah

[Anonymous]

There are pictures of him in the story, so you can see whether he meets your criteria for "hottie."

I'd love to have an excuse to travel to Italy regularly.

[Anonymous]

Something tells me she was a bored housewife and decided to start writing a blog because she needed something to do and she really thinks that she is 1) frugal and 2) just making it by. I think it's disgenious at best and completely ignorant at worst. Having 4 kids and a SFH in DC is not living on a shoe string, it's much wealthier than most. Maybe her next blog post should be on volunteering with her kids in SE DC. Maybe it'll give her perspective.

[Anonymous]

4 kids in a SFH in DC and living expenses a lot less than that of the neighbors, that is frugal in my opinion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4 kids in a SFH in DC and living expenses a lot less than that of the neighbors, that is frugal in my opinion

Even if the neighbors are all investment bankers, he's a doctor and she does stuff for TLC, so it's all relative. I can see why some people, like some of the PPs who say they earn 1/4 of what this family does and for whom SAH isn't even an option, would find it a little off-base. I liked the blog for other reasons. But like other PPs here, I would not go there for financial advice because frugality, after some income point, doesn't just mean expenses equal income, it also means saving.

My sense is that the blog has morphed over the years from "frugal" to more "lifestyle" and "taste," although I haven't done the archeology and gone back to the earliest blog posts. While he was interning and doing training, they probably really were living on a tight budget and maybe earlier on the blog there are some good tips. Now that he's working as a doctor, and she's working too, the blog has switched to lifestyle - upper middle class choices like DVDs over cable (like my own family!), recipes for quick deserts, and how to travel on planes with 4 kids.

I don't think most people here would have a problem with the blog if she took "frugal" out of the title and called it "Cool Mama" like somebody else suggested, or "DC Mama" or something like that. I think I pretty much share her tastes, in fact I posted above that she looks like someone I could hang out with. There's gotta be a market for this blog, I just don't think "frugal" is it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe someone should post a link to this DCUM discussion on her stupid little blog.

These posts are completely disturbing; she cannot win. It's fine to disagree, but do it with civility. Frugal Mama, you put yourself out there, which is very brave. Ignore these anonymous posters who are attracting bad karma. Keep your chin up!

Yes, yes, you're right, I really need to get my aura cleansed.

You know, you can definitely save some money by mixing up your own home-made aura cleanser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

While I actually don't agree with a number of the criticisms posted about this woman, she has chosen to put herself out in the public eye by agreeing to be the subject of the article. As a result of that, she has to accept that people are going to have opinions on her, and express them.

Well-said, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Cool Urban Mama, instead of "frugal" one?

That works!

Or maybe Earth Mama in the City? She reminds me a bit of my mom and her friends when I was growing up in the Bay Area in the '70s. As it happens, my dad was a pediatrician. When he was in training my parents literally picked up furniture that people had put out at the curb, fixed it up and painted it to make it look whimsical and stylish. We still have some of those pieces, including a rocking chair I used when my own kids were little. I don't think my parents renovated the house until I was in high school, but they did send 4 kids through college and grad school and saved for a very comfortable retirement. Still, they probably wouldn't call themselves frugal, just sensible.

[Anonymous]

Or "Deliberate Choices Mama". Because she's not about cheapness, just thinking carefully about where to spend your money.

[Anonymous]

Don't know who she is and don't care. Not interested in reading all the comments.

Just wanted to point out if no one else has that she's definitely living frugally if she's deferring all the maintenance on painting that attic window she's hanging out of. Christ, stop your blogging or whatever you do and pick up a damned paint brush! It hurts my eyes to look at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't know who she is and don't care. Not interested in reading all the comments.

Just wanted to point out if no one else has that she's definitely living frugally if she's deferring all the maintenance on painting that attic window she's hanging out of. Christ, stop your blogging or whatever you do and pick up a damned paint brush! It hurts my eyes to look at.

They needed a prop for the article.

[Anonymous]

Frugal would have been buying a hoouse for less than $800k! Thats an expensive damn house and for what it seems a huge rip off! Why not buy a house in the $600's not in TT that would have been half the mortgage and larger?

I see nothing frugal about her other than some "tricks" she thinks she uses.

[Anonymous]

I agree pp. It is laughable that someone who bought an $800k house would be called "frugal"...how about "Rich"! We make over $200k and would never be able to afford that and I don't call myself frugal. We save money, eat cheaply, live cheaply, etc.