Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living

by Elizabeth Willard Thames

Overview

The deeply personal story of why award-winning personal finance blogger Elizabeth Willard Thames abandoned a successful career in the city and embraced extreme frugality in order to create a more meaningful, purpose-driven life and retire to a homestead in the woods at age thirty-two with her husband and daughter.

In 2014, Elizabeth and Nate Thames were conventional 9-5 young urban professionals. But the couple had a dream to become modern-day homesteaders in rural Vermont. Determined to retire as early as possible in order to start living each day—as opposed to wishing time away working for the weekends—they enacted a plan to save an enormous amount of money: well over seventy percent of their joint take home pay. Dubbing themselves the Frugalwoods, Elizabeth began documenting their unconventional frugality and the resulting wholesale lifestyle transformation on their eponymous blog.

In less than three years, Elizabeth and Nate reached their goal. Today, they are financially independent and living out their dream on a sixty-six-acre homestead in the woods of rural Vermont with their young daughter. While frugality makes their lifestyle possible, it’s also what brings them peace and genuine happiness. They don’t stress out about impressing people with their material possessions, buying the latest gadgets, or keeping up with any Joneses. In the process, Elizabeth discovered the self-confidence and liberation that stems from disavowing our culture’s promise that we can buy our way to "the good life." Elizabeth unlocked the freedom of a life no longer beholden to the clarion call to consume ever-more products at ever-higher sums.

Meet the Frugalwoods is the intriguing story of how Elizabeth and Nate realized that the mainstream path wasn’t for them, crafted a lifestyle of sustainable frugality, and reached financial independence at age thirty-two. While not everyone wants to live in the woods, or quit their jobs, many of us want to have more control over our time and money and lead more meaningful, simplified lives. Following their advice, you too can live your best life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062668141
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	611,150
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Willard Thames is the personal finance blogger behind the award-winning Frugalwoods.com. At thirty-two she abandoned a successful career in the city and embraced extreme frugality to create a more meaningful, purpose-driven life and retire to a sixty-six-acre homestead in the woods of Vermont with her husband and young daughter. Started in April 2014, Frugalwoods is a respected voice in the personal finance, early retirement, and lifestyle blogging sector and empowers readers to take charge of their finances and create fulfilling lives. Thames holds BAs in political science and creative writing from the University of Kansas and an MA in public administration from American University. Prior to following her calling as a writer and homesteader, she worked for ten years in the nonprofit sector as a fund-raiser and communications manager.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 College Grad Seeks Meaningful, Gainful Employment. Fails. 1

2 My Year of Food Stamps and Billionaires 14

3 The Tumblers of Adulthood 33

4 A Different Kind of Grindstone 54

5 That One Time We Bought a House 65

6 Our Watershed Coffee Shop Conversation: A Dream Is Hatched 80

7 Our First Month of Extreme Frugality 88

8 Less Makeup, More Confidence 111

9 What Is Financial Independence Anyway? 125

10 Turns Out, Frugality Is About More Than Money. Much More. 138

11 Fighting Back Against the Baby-Industrial Complex 153

12 That One Time We Bought a Homestead 167

13 Birth: Something That Never Goes According to Plan 180

14 The Busiest Four Months of Our Lives 191

15 Our Third Way 204

16 Smoothing Out the Happiness Curve 218

Acknowledgments 227

Editorial Reviews

Narrator Ann Marie Gideon warmly delivers author Thames’s encouraging call to create a deep sense of fulfillment by living frugally. In this enlightening and entertaining narrative, Thames explains how working the 9-to-5 grind in urban Cambridge, Massachusetts, inspired her to let go of everything that was not deeply important to her and pursue a simpler life. Gideon’s narration is authentic, capturing Thames’s touching reaction when she realizes she has found her dream home and the humorous confusion during her labor pains. Gideon’s blend of enthusiasm and a down-to-earth-tone conveys Thames’s rich descriptions and sobering observations on societal values, which underscore Thames’s inspiring message about spending less and craving less. An informational and rewarding listening experience. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JULY 2018 - AudioFile

Narrator Ann Marie Gideon warmly delivers author Thames’s encouraging call to create a deep sense of fulfillment by living frugally. In this enlightening and entertaining narrative, Thames explains how working the 9-to-5 grind in urban Cambridge, Massachusetts, inspired her to let go of everything that was not deeply important to her and pursue a simpler life. Gideon’s narration is authentic, capturing Thames’s touching reaction when she realizes she has found her dream home and the humorous confusion during her labor pains. Gideon’s blend of enthusiasm and a down-to-earth-tone conveys Thames’s rich descriptions and sobering observations on societal values, which underscore Thames’s inspiring message about spending less and craving less. An informational and rewarding listening experience. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JULY 2018 - AudioFile