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Meet the Frugalwoods

Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living
Jan 02, 2019allmyusernamesaretaken rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
This book is the story of how a couple of non-profit workers (at least one of whom earns more than the investment bankers the author disingenuously investment bankers infers are overpaid) hit the real estate market at a peak time, enjoyed 100%-employer-paid health insurance, got a free MA degree (the advantages keep piling up) decided against ever buying the $40 per pound gourmet cheese and created a blog to help all the financially-challenged people similarly avoid such poor decisions. And then monetized the heck out of it, putting their household in at least the top 5% of all American households. Frugality did not give these people their holdings: a top-tier annual salary did. There is nothing in this book that is not also on the blog. This is a memoir of people who lucked-out; it doesn't offer ANY advice on how you can save your own money (unless avoiding over-priced cheese, finding a partner who doesn't spend everything you save, and other totally obvious and hardly groundbreaking pointers). If you want financial advice, here's some totally free advice: 1) Don't confuse wants (Starbucks) and needs (coffee). 2) If you earn $15 per hour (before taxes), don't buy $40 per LB cheese. 3) If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. The wheel has not been reinvented, so maintain a healthy dose of skepticism! If you're still interested in the book, check out the blog. Look for the post about how the millionaires raced to a thrift store to purchase a $5 stroller, with the author panicking over the thought that an actual poor person might beat her to it, and then follow it up with the one about the new truck purchase, or one of the many about scheduling time for yoga. If you're looking for any advice on say, how to save enough money for a 30-day CTA pass, forget it! The FW blog has discouraged people asking for advice from taking the bus, positing that it is much better for your wallet to take a bike to work.