Frugal Mama article in today's Washington Post
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Anonymous
As someone who just started a garden (looks similar to hers as well - with raised beds, etc.), I can tell you it costs a small fortune to start. Raised beds, compost, organic soil, seeds, fertilizer, etc. It is MUCH MUCH more expensive than going to a grocery store and buying produce. I mean - loads more - especially since it is likely she still needs to buy pretty much the same amount of stuff. I'm no longer buying basil and mint at the grocery store, and have some radishes, carrots, lettuce and the like, but man has my garden been expensive. Most of these are one time costs, but still.... I don't see how they afford any of their lifestyle without family money. Even as a doctor, he probably is only making about $150-200k (unless he is a surgeon or something), and an $800k house plus renovations plus feeding a family of 6 plus health care costs, etc.? Wow. |
Anonymous
You must be mourning the demise of your late friend Syms. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Cracking up that this thread has had 90 posts in less than 24 hours!
Yes, so PPs have hit the nail on the head, the things that were bothering me in the article were many, including: The use of the prevailing word "frugal" to describe someone who: Lives in a fairly expensive home Tenleytown Used to live in Italy has undergone a recent home renovation uses an interior decorator orders groceries online has a hobby of growing vegetables chooses not to watch TV bought a $1000 dining table HAS NO RETIREMENT SAVINGS! Also I fault the author for implying that sending your kids to public school and cleaning your own home are extraordinarily frugal and worthy of mention. Glad to know I'm not crazy! I do miss the Washington Post of say, 10 years ago. |
Anonymous
People had told me they went out of business, but then I was driving down Rt. 7 and saw they had just moved. They are further down 7 closer to Alexandria. |
Anonymous
Oh, I correct myself. I just googled it and see the website says they are now completely non-existant too. My bad. Yes, I now am mourning the demise of my friend. Syms. Sigh. |
Anonymous
| I don't have cable, we have a garden (herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, peppers), I shop sales/outlets (although I hate Nordstrom Rack) but I am definitely not frugal. It never occured to me that anyone would read about my decision not to have cable or that I might be able to generate ad revenue from it. She sounds like a normal upper middle class DC mom to me, but apparently someone is interested in reading her blog. |
Anonymous
Except her blog traffic is also pretty minimal. Blogging like that may have been news 10 years ago, but in 2012? The whole thing really smells of infomercial. |
Anonymous
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! |
Anonymous
My assumption when I read the article was that his Italian family has helped them out quite a bit, since that is the norm there. I had a long term relationship with an Italian surgeon (we lived in Italy at that time) and got to know a lot of his friends (mostly fellow doctors) and their family backgrounds. All of them lived with their parents until they were well into their 20s, and when they did strike out on their own their apartments were paid for by their parents. Unless they are in private practice doctors don't make much money in Italy (about the same as residents here). I saw a lot of family money there, but only one thirty-something doctor (out of the 15 or so I knew) who was starting to make a decent amount of money in private practice. Most didn't count on a large future income. What I did see was vacation homes, cars, travel, you name it, provided by families. Also, the household spending mentality tends to be much different there. Their houses were neatly and sparely furnished with expensive furniture (hello $1000 table!), but they didn't have lots of stuff, like the average American household. As for retirement, that would be financed by the family money and the government. It sounds to me like the husband's Italian background has had a big influence on how this family spends and saves (or doesn't). |
Anonymous
| Primary reason you bitches hate her: she's good looking. If she wore Jesus sandals, had gray Brillo pad hair and wore jorts you would be lining up to sing her praises and buy her organic plantgro. |
Anonymous
Frugal is skipping the renovations and living with original bathroom sinks, vanities, appliances from 1967 because they still work...stuff like that. 
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Anonymous
Yes, yes, you're right, I really need to get my aura cleansed. |
Anonymous
Gurantee you the woman you describe above...would NOT have bought a $1000 table! |
Anonymous
What are jorts?? |
Anonymous
Oh come on, some piss in your cereal this morning? No one is saying they hate her, everyone is just stating their opinion. I'm sure she does a lot of frugal things that were not mentioned in the article, the article is not very well written. So she has a blog, so do thousands of other moms, yes she cooks at home to save money, so do thousands of other moms! You see where I'm coming from PP, it's not much different than most of us. |