Reply to Frugal Mama article in today's Washington Post

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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. [/quote]

[b]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[/b].[/quote]

Except that getting a garden to be productive costs money, in come cases, a lot of money. Not to mention time. If you're low-income and work FT, gardening is not going to be practical outside of things like potted herbs and maybe potted tomatos and peppers. In which case, how much money are you really saving? It's a nice theory, but it does take some startup costs and a lot of commitment. Ever read the $64 Tomato? Now, if there were community gardens available, that would be great (and more practical as the cost of things like conditioning the soil and infrastructure like water systems, etc would be shared). But those are few and far between, which means that gardening remains something that people with money do to feel good about how 'frugal' and green they are.

I garden, always have. I grow herbs on my apt patio because I think it's important for my kid to see where food comes from and it does save me a few bucks since I like fresh herbs better than dried and fresh is expensive. When I tried to really garden (lived in the country for a while), it cost a lot to start and there's no way I could have kept up with it working FT with a kid. I wish I had the space, money and time to really garden again, but it's just not practical.

As far as actually being frugal goes . . . I don't even [i]own [/i]a car. I shop once a week, with a grocery budget (including paper products and toiletries) of $300/mo, I meal plan so I can make everything stretch. I live in an apartment. Not a single piece of furniture in it was purchased new, 70% of is hand-me-down stuff that I refinished, repainted or reupholstered myself if needed, the other 30% is Craigslist or Salvation Army finds. 50% of my wardrobe is second-hand, I cook 6 nights/wk, bring lunch to work all but one day a month, DC will be going to preschool at a 2nd tier charter and has no extra-curriculars. I don't have cable, internet, a house phone, a gym membership or a smartphone. I give myself $100/mo for 'fun' stuff like getting a babysitter and meeting friends for drinks.

Oh, and I sock away $200/mo in savings for an emergency fund and $200/mo in retirement (with a match by my employer). I'm in my late 20s and freaking out a little since I only have $8000 in retirement, no college savings for DC and just can't squeeze any more savings out of my budget right now. Oh, and I just finished paying off $15K in debt from my marriage and divorce 2yrs ago. [i]That's [/i]being frugal. [/quote]

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