Meet a Reader | Mid-Atlantic Julia

Hello everyone!

Today we are meeting a reader who lives in the same region of the U.S. as me: the Mid-Atlantic. 🙂

1. Tell us a little about yourself

Hello! My name is Julia (JP when I comment, which is fairly sporadic), I am 35 and have been married for ten years.

My husband and I have four kids ranging from age 3-8, and I am a stay-at-home mom.

I have a degree in nursing and worked in pediatrics for 8 years, then left the profession right before I had my third child.

Last year, to make a little extra cash, I started boarding dogs through Rover, and I am about to start a very very part time job using my RN license for a home care company.

Our family lives on a ten-acre homestead property in the Mid-Atlantic region which we bought in early 2022. We’re in a semi -rural area within 30 minutes of a few good-sized towns, and within 2-3 hours of several major cities.

It has been a learning curve to take care of this much land, as well as the chickens and cows we’ve since added.

In my free time I enjoy canning and preserving food (well, I enjoy the results of it, ha!), baking, library storytimes, and being involved in our church’s Bible study, meals for the sick, and other various ministries.

2. How long have you been reading The Frugal Girl?

I think I started reading FG regularly in 2018 or 2019.

I can’t remember exactly, although I do know that I had read a few posts in years prior, but for some reason, it didn’t stick as a habit until a few years ago.

I love this blog because it feels like you are talking to a friend. Kristen is honest, kind, genuine, practical, relatable, and a great writer! I appreciate that she doesn’t sugarcoat things or present a perfect image, but shares real life with us.

3. How did you get interested in saving money?

I grew up with frugal parents so it was ingrained in me from an early age. As a teenager, I saved quite a bit of the money I earned babysitting and working in a dining hall. I liked seeing money accumulate and grow, and that has continued into adulthood!

Over time, I have realized that I had somewhat of an unhealthy way of depending on money for a sense of security and control. I think I have grown in this area into seeing money as a tool, instead of trying to hoard as much as possible and be miserly.

4. What’s the “why” behind your money-saving efforts?

Being frugal allows me to stay at home with our little ones, which was always a goal of mine, and my husband has been very supportive of that.

It is also important to me not to waste money on things that don’t have much value or that I could get for less money. Right now, we are also trying to save money so we can accomplish some projects around our property and fix some things around the house.

5. What’s your best frugal win?

My husband and I bought our first home in 2013 when interest rates and housing prices were pretty low. We knew that I would likely not be working full time much longer as we wanted to start a family, so we chose a house that was in a low price range and got a 15-year mortgage.

This allowed us to build equity pretty quickly and that benefitted us greatly when we moved in 2022.

6. What’s an embarrassing money mistake you’ve made?

In my 20’s, I finally had a “real” job and wanted to buy a newer car. I decided to get a loan even though I had the money to pay in cash.

Shortly after that, my brand new husband and I took a financial course (by the famous D.R., for anyone curious 😉 ) and realized we should pay off this debt as quickly as possible.

I made a few lump payments over the next couple of months… and realized probably a year later that the way I had made the payments was also paying ALL of the interest that was due, not just the principal amount. Ugh!

7. What’s one thing you splurge on?

Many people would probably consider it a splurge that we send our children to a private Christian school. The teachers and education are wonderful and our kids are thriving there so we will continue it as long as we can afford to.

Within reason, we like to give our kids a nice Christmas with presents they enjoy. This especially was very important to my husband growing up.

We also love going to a tree farm and picking out a tree to cut down. It’s not cheap but it’s a great tradition and it makes it such a special time of year.

8. What’s one thing you aren’t remotely tempted to splurge on?

Fancy haircuts, color, etc. I have never dyed my hair and have cut it myself at home for about six years now.

Of course, I have to say that my hair is rather forgiving- thick and curly- so the mistakes that I’m sure I make are not very visible.

9. If $1000 was dropped into your lap today, what would you do with it?

I would probably add it to our savings account for house projects. That is a never-ending list!

10. What’s the easiest/hardest part of being frugal?

The easiest part is that it comes pretty naturally to me. I am also very grateful to have like-minded friends who are also frugal (many are also SAHMs), and we enjoy potluck meals and game nights and have lots of fun without spending much at all.

The hardest part is that I sometimes get swept up in the comparison game of feeling like I am making sacrifices when others spend freely, and they seem to be doing just as well or better.

I know appearances are not always what they seem though.

11. Is there anything unique about frugal living in your area?

In comparison with many other parts of the country, our area has a pretty low cost of living. Housing and land is still generally affordable, although it has certainly increased in the last few years like everywhere else.

We have lots of orchards and farms around us which makes fresh delicious produce readily available.

This is also an area where many people stay after they’ve grown up (like my husband!) so there are lots of connections to various people with different skills, abilities, equipment, etc which makes bartering and borrowing a fairly common thing.

Neighbors are generally helpful and friendly to one another.

12. Did you ever receive any financial education in school or from your parents?

I had a math teacher in high school who commonly used compounding interest examples in the classroom. Since I was already interested in money, this really stuck with me and I began saving money at an early age.

My parents didn’t teach me about finances outright, but I saw them reconciling their checkbook, living below their means, and I knew they invested in the stock market.

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Julia, I am so impressed by your canned goods! That’s a seriously impressive amount of applesauce.

Your homemade bagels look lovely; what recipe do you use?

I think your repurposed tramopline as a chicken run is a brilliant idea! Good for you guys.

Did you work in pediatrics in a hospital? Pediatrics is one of the specialties that I’m considering, and I’m curious how you liked it!

Readers, the floor is yours!