Book: Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living by Elizabeth Willard Thames. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I follow their blog for a while now and like it a lot, but I didn’t have the same feeling with the book.

It was interesting to read that they felt themselves to be privileged when comparing to the rest of the population. Financial independence is not for everyone but frugality can be and that’s what they tried to say, IMO.

Many of their personal experience doesn’t resonate with me at all, but some others were interesting to read. They are real finance nerds and I admire that.

I found the book to be quite repetitive. Sometimes I would take notes just to find I already had a note about that… One of these messages is related to the goal of FIRE, which is not related to stopping working but having the freedom to do whatever you want without depending on a paycheck. You can still work if you want. Hope it’s clear enough for everyone.

At the end, when I finished the book I just said: meh. I will keep reading their blog though. 👍

Here are my raw notes about the book:

  • Money doesn’t buy everything, but it buys the freedom so you can do whatever you want
  • Hedonic adaptation, when you get back to your previous happiness after a peak of happiness for having something new
  • Comparing eat at a restaurant every day for them with having 10 houses for a billionaire — 💭 weird comparison
  • Once you start frugalizing it’s almost impossible to stop. It becomes a game and a challenge — 💭 totally relate to that!
  • The marshmallow study mentioned again — 💭 even when it was debunked
  • How can I find someone to take care of my dog for free? Let’s create a community of dog owners and we can take care of each other.
  • This is not about how much you love or hate your job but how much you depend on your paycheck
  • The only right answer to not quit your job is: “Because I love my job and I don’t want to quit”. If the answer is not that, your should start thinking.
  • Allow frugality to help you having a financial life you can easily sustain
  • Avoid payments with interest (like car buying, which should be paid ie cash, and used ones if you value the money), the interest should work for you.
  • How would we spend our time and money if we had the freedom to choose
  • We work for the intellectual fulfillment, not because we need the money
  • It’s not about moving to the woods or quitting your job. It’s about liberating yourself about the reliance on a salary your job provides
  • A lot about privilege. You can save by being frugal if you don’t earn enough to live properly.
  • “I chose to be frugal to reach financial independence but I already had a good education and people helping me.”
  • Billionaires and poor people were really obsessed with money for two different reasons. I realized I want money to not be that important
  • “This extra expending was not increasing my happiness at all”