Meet The Frugalwoods – Elizabeth Willard Thames
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Let’s take a few steps back. In my early years as a corporate drone,
working in an ‘admin’ role that really meant ‘the tasks that are too dull for
the real employees to do’ I started reading about this thing
called ‘Financial Independence’ and quickly realised two things – 1. I wanted
it, and 2. Gosh it was boring to read about. With the exception of very few
shining beacons, the writing out there in the Financial Independence world was
dull, numbers-driven, and entirely focussed on selling you a dream, without
ever actually giving you that heady feeling of joy that comes from being let
into someone else's world. Somewhere in this limbo of excitement and dull
numbers I stumbled across the Frugalwoods website. And many years later, I
stumbled across their book at the library (already embracing that frugality of
not buying what’s freely available, with a little time and effort).
Despite being an avid reader (well, labelling myself as one) I was in a
serious slump of hiring books out for the allowed three months, and then taking
them back completely untouched. I was at a point where I begged my friends for
hints on ‘how to read’, and even installed babysitting apps on my phone that
kicked me out of doom-scrolling Facebook after 5minutes. It was at this exact
time that I checked out a copy of Meet the Frugalwoods from the library and after
a month (and an automated renewal notice from the library) I finally started reading it. I went in
with very few expectations, and within the first three pages I was hooked. I
was finding excuses to just sit down and read for a minute, just a
minute, I swear.
From the very beginning two things are abundantly clear – Elizabeth
Willard Thames is a fantastic writer, and she has an abundance of happiness that she
wants to share. This book is dripping with personality, excitement, and
moments that make you tear up for the sheer joy of it. When Liz was describing
the deep feelings of contentment and community from living in a 400-person town
in Vermont where everyone knows everyone and offers to ‘stop around sometime’, and ‘let me know if you need anything’ aren’t just empty words, but will result
in neighbours appearing in your garden the next morning ready to work – I had
to pause and have some feelings. Because she was describing a
family, not a blood family, but a found family. The sort of life that so many
people talk about, but few seem to be able to reach.
In the book, Liz details the story of how she went from college graduate
earning $10,000 a year and living on foodstamps, to owning a 66-acre property
in Vermont by the age of 32, with a husband, a dog, a child, and the freedom to
stop working at any time thanks to a healthy investment portfolio. If this
sounds like the height of privilege, it is. However, this is something that Liz
tackles head-on within the first few pages and revisits throughout the book. At
no point does she sweep it under the rug or try and sell you a ‘three simple
steps to wealth’ plan that costs just $99.95 to get started. Instead, it’s
deeply personal, but inspiring (there’s that word again) to the point that I
started eyeballing my budget and my kitchen – surely both need a makeover that
I can DIY with some patience and some gritty sandpaper.
If you’re looking for some inspiration for a sea change (or a forest-change),
or want the gentlest kick-up-the-ass to revaluate your life, this is a book for
you. Not everyone wants to retire to a 66-acre homestead (I do, pick me!) but
everyone does want a bit more from their life. I think we’re
all trapped in trying to figure out who we are, what we want, how to get there
and how to be a good person while we’re at it. Meet the Frugalwoods will give
you exactly zero answers to those questions, but it will give you inspiration.
It’s a very personal book about one persons journey to a simple, happier life,
that is impossible to read without wanting to find something about your own
life to simplify.
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