Frugal Mama article in today's Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically this is a story about the stay at home wife of a doctor with a newly renovated house in an expensive neighborhood that prefers to cook and eat in and likes to garden. I don't see anything frugal about her.

YEP!!

I agree. I am also a doctor's wife who recently finished medical training and we CANNOT afford to live close in. There is no way we can afford $700K house. Yes, there are loans we qualify for (we get all kinds of physician loan offers), but you still have to pay the mortgage and it takes a while for a doctor to build patient base and to make money.

My children did not attend preschool, go to public schools, I clean my own house, etc.

[Anonymous]

You people are such jealous haters. Jesus. Her husband is a doctor his earnings are going to quadruple overnight. They'll move to Palisades/Kent in a year, 2 tops. And her blog is very nice. I think you just hate the beautiful mom with beautiful kids in a nice part of town. God you bitches are heartless.

[Anonymous]

per a quick internet search, they purchased their house last year for $775K. they're practically indigent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I smell family money.

Me too.

The thing is, I don't entirely disagree with her philosophy about choosing what to spend money. We choose to spend money on high quality food, my expensive gym membership, a high quality daycare, etc. We do spend less on other things (e.g. make our own cleaning supplies (pretty easy) and live in a small condo), but we would never in a million years would call ourselves frugal. Oh, and the reason we have such a nice car? A gift from the parents (which I happily own up to, e.g. to my friends).

And, as far as I am concerned, if you are living in a "farmhouse" in Tenleytown, you are living very, very well. Especially a renovated one.

I think PP is right that she chose "frugal mama" over Martha Stewart, probably because of timing. For a while, frugality was really "in", and Martha Stewart, who is a high class hoarder in my opinion, is not exactly the most frugal lifestyle guru out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the point was the they are frugal in some aspects of their lives (eating in, no after school activities, less driving, growing food, walking to school, going public etc.) so they can spend money on things that are important to them (i.e. their home, being able to afford staying home, save time by not having to run to the store every other day, etc.) These are choices most people with limited means make daily, even when "limited" in this area means "wealthy" somewhere else. Just different priorities, that's all.

It's just kind of crappy that in this city, THIS CITY, where the poverty east of the river is astonishing in some parts, that they tout choosing to grow veggies as a smart, feel-good, frugal choice when in reality, sure it's frugal but it's such a small slice of the bigger picture. It's not newsworthy, and it's verging on elitist to write about it in such a way that essentially says "praise this woman and her blog and her philosophies!". Just IMHO.

Actually that part of the story is a good idea for those east of the river - nothing wrong with growing your own food - poor or not.

[Anonymous]

She definitely appeals to the households who feel like they are "just getting by" but make $250K and above.

I don't think she does anything frugal and her answers on the chat were hilarious. Someone asked her about thrift stores she likes in the area and she couldn't name one that she had actually been to and my guess is she would never, ever set foot in one. She mentioned Nordstrom Rack as one of her "frugal" places to shop. I am thinking Target would have been a more realistic idea of "frugal" place to buy clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people are such jealous haters. Jesus. Her husband is a doctor his earnings are going to quadruple overnight. They'll move to Palisades/Kent in a year, 2 tops. And her blog is very nice. I think you just hate the beautiful mom with beautiful kids in a nice part of town. God you bitches are heartless.

We don't have patience for phonies with no self-awareness. You want to blog about your life, fine. You call yourself "frugal mama" while you live a life of privilege or dub yourself a "pioneer woman" when you married money, and we will, we will MOCK YOU.

[Anonymous]

I liked the article
She is frugal, and splurges on other things.
I think she is unique

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I liked the article
She is frugal, and splurges on other things.
I think she is unique

Every human being is unique. But she's not unusual -- do you know anyone who doesn't splurge in some areas and save in others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything about this article seemed weird. Did someone at the Post owe her a favor and agree to run this so she could get more hits on her blog? She seems to have a firm grasp on some really obvious things (eating at home costs less than eating out) and no credibility at all in other areas. You have no retirement savings but are spending $1000 on a dining room table?

I am not impressed that the wife of a physician has figured out how to squeak by.

My thoughts exactly.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I each socked away money in ROTH IRAs when we were in PhD programs earning about 20K each in stipends. Where there is a will, there's a way!

The mom in this article seems creative and has some great design taste, but I won't call her "frugal".

[Anonymous]

I like their house and the $1000 table, it seems like plenty of space for 4 kids. OTOH, the decor is straight out of pottery barn. Did she really hire a decorator for that? The red sofa looks just like our Ikea Ektorp-I hope she didn't pay more than $399 for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I hear ya. As strange as this may sound, I think I have heard that there are mortgages specifically called doctors' mortgages (or something along those lines). Designed b/ they know doctors have little to no income (or down payment) at the time of purchase, but have (hopefully) great earning potential. I know it sounds nuts, really, and also eerily similar to how a lot of folks have gotten into bad financial trouble over the past few years, but I do think I have heard that there are these types of mortgages. Maybe someone else can chime in on this?

Physician's wife. Yes, these definitely exist. We constantly get the offer from SunTrust. Several friends have taken them and used it as their downpayment. If you take the loan approx 4 months + out, you don't have to document where the downpayment funds come from. The rate isn't horrible. It's maybe 2% higher than mortgage rate. Somewhere in the 6-7% range.

[Anonymous]

I actually appreciate her choices and lifestyle. It's the "frugal" part that doesn't quite ring true. Check out the blog entry for April 11. Apparently her DH came home with $500 of Brooks Brothers shirts, but the money wasn't the problem apparently. The issue was whether no-iron shirts were worth it in terms of the labor she saves ironing. The answer, after a digression into the chemicals involved in no-iron shirts, is yes, they are worth it, but only if said shirts come from Brooks Brothers.

Now, I actually get DS the Brooks Brothers no-iron shirts (well, maybe 1-2 a year for special events), and DH sends his to the dry cleaners. So I actually appreciated her cost-benefit analysis, I thought about how I value my own time, and the fact that even the no-iron shirts need a once-over with the iron after a month on DS' closet floor. But $500 of Brooks Brothers is frugal, even for a guy with a FT job? You tell me. Maybe a modern Mrs. Beeton, instead?

[Anonymous]

How many shirts does $500 really get you at Brooks Brothers? My DH only wears the ones that come "Buy 1 Suit, Get 3 Suits, 3 Shirts, and 3 Ties Free" at Jos A Banks.