She asks... Who is one dimensional?
She says frugal people are not one dimensional.
She goes on to say that frugal people are stereotyped as going way (clever use of italics) out there to save a nickel. She also says that sometimes that is the case, it is rarely the only cause for going out of one's way.
Sometimes going out of one's way is just taking the scenic route.
Here's why she does things that are frugal...
FOR HER CONSCIENCE
Overconsuming resources means there are less resources for others, and this is a form of stealing. [Maybe she should stop breeding then]
TO TEACH HER KIDS
Emily and Dna believe in a strong work ethic and they want to demonstrate that to their kids [Emily certainly demonstrated to little Dna that her blog "work" was more important that him when she let him fall into a coma, good job Em!] And just because her work around the house is unpaid doesn't mean it has no value. [What work Emily? It's certainly not housework, or cooking real food. You throw a bunch of fermented shit in a crockpot and sit and wait for it to be ready. Or you run some moldy old milk through your dirty skirt and put it on the floor.]
TO LEARN
Emily says learning is huge for her and that knowledge is power. The more she learns to do for herself, the less she has to rely on others. Sometimes she only breaks even on the things she does, but she is becoming a more well rounded person because of this. [And Dna is becoming downright skeletal while you become more well rounded]
FOR FUN!!
There is so much she does just for fun! Sure the activities overlap, but fun is her primary motivation in making soap and sewing. [I wonder if she will make soap out of my Kevin, the Pet Bacon Fat? And by sewing does she mean those gothy black sheets she hangs and throws all over the furniture?]
FOR HEALTH
She says that many of the things she does to skim a few pennies off a meal also add massive amounts of nutritional value [Can we add delusional to our assesment of Emily?] She may or may not have done this for those few pennies, but no matter what their income in the future, she will continue to make food from scratch.
FOR THE PENNIES
Emily is God's steward of every penny He lays before her so she must take care of them. [Emily, I'm not a religious person, but don't you think He would want you to take care of the children He has given you and maybe he doesn't care so much about the pennies? Oh, and the 'h' is always capitalized when talking about Him. I notice you never do that. I'm a Godless Heathen and I know that. You should be GRATEful I told you that. You are welcome] She feels that she needs to think an awful lot about those pennies.
TO SAVE TIME
It takes less time to tumble in her Wonderwash than it does to go to the laundromat. [It apparently takes even less time to forego washing things altogether, as evidenced by her sheets and the boys' greige blankets. Just because it takes less time doesn''t mean you should do it that way] She has also brilliantly stated the freaking obvious again and says that it takes less time to brew coffee at home than it does to wait in line at Starbuck's. The more she does at home, the less obligated they are to earn money outside the home. [Yeah, because it's all about you and not about the children. Those kids will never be enrolled in Little League, or Scouts or anything, because that takes money.]
As she contemplates the many things she does such as line drying, making Gloodles, sprouting maggot rice, she realizes the reasons for doing these things are dynamic [ I bolded that because it looked like a great random word to bold] For each of those, at least five of the seven reasons factor in.
Then she asks "What other reasons do you have for doing the frugal things you do?"
I can answer that. The reason that my husband and I do frugal things is for our son. Nowhere in any of her resons did Emily ever mention that she does this for her kids. That was our primary reason, to give him better life. And so that he won't be stuck looking after us in our old age. Emily just plans to keep popping kids out hoping that one of them will take pitty on her neglectful ass and look after her and Dna in the future.
One of the main reasons we only had one child was because that was all we could afford and do it right. We could have spit out a quiverful of kids and neglected them like Em, but our goal as parents was to provide a fantastic life to a child.
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Wow. Her conscience works in mysterious ways.
ReplyDelete"Dynamic". I do not think this word means what she thinks it means.
ReplyDeleteUnless, of course, she means that she changes her justification for her choices depending on whether she gets called out on any fallacious reasoning.
She thinks waaaay too much about this stuff. I think she's OCD. Frugality is consuming her life leaving little time for anything else. They have no hobbies that I'm aware of, other than being cheap. No outside interests where they interact with other human beings. We never hear her mention friends or playdates for the kids. I can't imagine thinking about this stuff 24/7!
ReplyDeleteFrugal is fine. Crazy is another. The woman is plain batshit, with her filthy clothes (the wonderwash doesn't really clean anything), dirty diapers, fermenting crap, clutter, dangerous lamps, shelves, poor sleeping arrangements. Is there anything she does right? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteEm is not frugal. Frugal people generally want a life that is good for themselves & their families, but want to economize doing it. Emily has no clue. She is providing very little quality of life for her family. She's just white trash.
ReplyDeleteDear Emily,
ReplyDeleteWhen you are referring to people, use the word "their". Not "there". You are blogging for money and should at least proof-read first. Also, is it "going out of ones way" or "going out of one's way"? Make up your mind. Your blog sounds like a boring essay you had to write for class.
Love,
Not your biggest fan
I don't think there is anything wrong with being frugal, but Emily has passed "frugal" and entered batshit crazy territory.
ReplyDeleteActually, I don't even have a problem with the WonderWash itself, when it's used right. My parents are retired and frequently travel in an RV. They use the Wonder Wash for clothing, and it always seems to come out nice and clean. Since they pretty much travel all the time these days and have no children at home, they've even coordinated it so they have mostly all white undergarments and use white towels, rags, hand towels, etc. That way they don't have to do several loads for colors and whites. My mom says it's great for when they're on the road because she can do a small load of laundry while dad drives, or vice versa.
That said, their house has a real washer and dryer, and that's what she used when I was growing up. They also stop at a laundramat every two weeks to wash blankets and heavily soiled articles of clothing (excessive mud from hiking, and things like that.) My mom would never in her wildest dreams used a Wonder Wash for all of our clothing growing up. I also can't imagine that Emily tries that hard to pretreat staines, refill the Wonder Wash more than once after the initial wash gets all the shit off, etc.
Anyways, it's like anything else. Emily sees and idea and runs with it. If it's free, she's like white on rice.
Here is what I posted at her site. I doubt Not buying produce and fresh vegies is not being frugal. Feeding your kids dollarstore 'meat' is not being frugal.
ReplyDeleteNot washing your childrens clothing and diapers properly is not being frugal.
Your children laying on a mattress with out proper sheets and blankets is not being frugal.
It is being cheap. There is a huge difference between fugal and cheap Emily.
Your arguement comparing your family to a family across the world is weak. You were blessed to be born and raised here. I am betting your parents fed you decent meals and you had an actual bed to sleep in.
You are not "Godly' nor frugal. You are cheap and full of yourself.
I hope you post this. Because I know there are many readers who feel exactly as I do.if she will allow it.
MMMMM,,,
ReplyDeleteMy post should read..
This is what I posted at her site, I doubt if she will allow it.
You know, I actually would've really appreciated a Wonder Wash when I was a poor college student, living in the dorm or when I had my own tiny apartment. But for a family of 5? Hell no! I have a family of 5 *and* I cloth diapered, I could not imagine being without a washer!!!! In fact, some cloth diapering moms I know buy a second cheapo washer just for the diapers. It takes a LOT of water to get diapers clean, particularly the microfiber AIO's the Emily uses.
ReplyDeleteI agree with anon at 12:56. There is a line between frugal and mean/cheap. Emily is frequently on the wrong side of that line. Sadly, she doesn't seem to realize that the distinction even exists. For her, it seems that cheaper is pretty much always better regardless of quality of life.
ReplyDeleteEmily uses AIO's? Really? Good grief... they're not cheap at all! Prefolds, snappis, and covers are the way to go for inexpensive cloth diapering (well, pins would be cheaper than snappis, but they're more difficult so it evens out). They're not hard to use either and they work well.
ReplyDeleteFrugal does not = poor quality of life. My family's quality of life is better because we're frugal and can therefore afford better, local food as well as a nicer/bigger place to live while still saving up money to buy a house eventually so we don't end up renting forever.
Quality of life doesn't seem to factor in much with Emily though. She's frugal because it's healthy? No, buying bulk rice and dried beans/lentils would give her family a better quality of food than tube meat does - it would also be cheaper - and then when she did buy meat, she could get decent meat.
Line drying AIO's must take FOREVER! They took forever to dry in my dryer, so I can't imagine drying them in my house.
ReplyDeleteI am frugal with my family, but not at the expense of their health. My kids would be at the hospital long before they fall into a coma and starve themselves for a day.
So I finally really read her post instead of skimming it as a boring post and I have some things to say:
ReplyDeleteFrugal people are not stereotyped as going WAY out of their way to save a nickel. They are stereotyped as people who are responsible and careful with their money. Your implication is that those who call you crazy are offended by your honorable, frugal lifestyle and we're just materialistic fiends.
If you are "frugal" because of your conscience then tell me what your conscience says about leaving your child asleep for three days before you take him to the hospital in a coma? Does your conscience speak up when you're spooing the pink sludge out of the tube packaging and into the crockpot, knowing that you could serve less meat but of a higher quality but you are actively choosing a poor nutritional choice for your children? What does your conscience say about a mother who leaves a desk lamp on a towel rack near a shower? Who feeds their children the caloric equivalent of a starvation diet (if your meal plans are to be believed)? What does your conscience say then? You think that you're depriving someone else of water if you actually use it to bathe or clean properly? Well, you know what? You've got a whole group of people here who would gladly let you use some of our natural resources if it meant your chlidren had really clean clothes, a clean house and decent food.
You speak of knowledge and learning. Emily, you don't learn because you have the critical thinking skills of a turnip. You run across some obscure and wonky little fact and base your entire life on it. Oh, let's ignore all the health benefits of oatmeal and the fact that phylic acid nutrient absorption issues are really only an issue in diets where the primary source of nutrition is grains. Let's throw out the oatmeal and serve rice maggots! Lacto-fermentation is a good thing. Let's lacto-ferment the rice maggots. You don't research, learn and critically think.
Every time you find a new nutritional fad that's going to pack a nutritional punch, you jump on it and declare it to be a great thing. BUT, you actively fight against anyone who has anything negative to say about your tube meat (yes, I called it tube meat. It's tube meat. Deal with it) You cling to that disgusting pink flesh like it's the only thing between your children and starvation. People have tried repeatedly to give you other options, to encourage you nicely to consider other options but you are bound and determined to fill your children with high-fat, low quality beef. WHY? Answer that question. WHY?
Most importantly...it is all about the money. The blog, the cheap-o meat, the sheets hanging over things, the tiny apartment not really big enough for your family. It's all about the money. It's about time you took off your "I don't care about money, I just want to be responsible" mask and be honest. You love the money. You get a thrill out of the money sitting in the bank, of hoarding every little penny. Otherwise, who on earth would worry about $0.001 vs/ $0.002 in the whole crockpot vs. oven showdown? You have a very, very unhealthy view of money. Money is not your enemy nor should it be the central preoccupation of your life.
And as others wrote, you're not frugal. You're cheap and you're cheap at your family's expense. You want to save money - take your kids to the doctor and feed them quality food. That will save you and them years of problems and doctor's bills down the road. There are more important things than saving money and the most important thing is the health, well being and safety of your children: three things you simply refuse to acknowledge and actively ignore. That's not being frugal. That's being a bad mother.
Being frugal with health care for your child is just down right stupid!
ReplyDeleteI do not understand why they don't take the help that is offered to them i.e. WIC or food stamps. I would swallow any pride that I had if it would help feed my children correctly.
I see that she finally accepted medical assistance when her little one went into a coma. A friggen COMA!! How could she have not noticed her child was sick? It's probably because the kid is lacking the vitamins and minerals that his little growing body needs. I guess berries, bananas, broccoli and green beans are evil foods. The woman just p*sses me off.
But on a lighter note, I love this blog!
Sounds like an essay that was recycled homework from the subterranean church of holies babble.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe she types stuff like "adds MASSIVE nutritional value". Blurgh. I also can't believe she nixed oatmeal. What happened to "we don't eat rice because nobody in our family (me) likes rice"?
ReplyDeleteActually, I buy 'tube meat'. I didn't know there was anything bad about it. :( I don't exclusively buy it; I have to shop low fat - my SO has gallbladder stones, so I look for 97/3, or 96/4 and just get the cheapest. I was telling my girlfriend that the other day, and she was appalled. Ha. I guess I got some reading to do? But we also eat steaks and all types of other meat/fish, so tube meat tacos or pasta sauce or whatever isn't a daily or even a weekly feature. Does that make it better? I'm a little scared to read about it.. Ha.
Gizmola, I also think you're wrong. She can't possibly sub smaller quanitities of better meat, they eat very little meat as it is. If I remember her recipes correctly, it's there every day, but there isnt' much of it, divided by 4 people. Plus, sometimes, her kids don't get the same stuff as her and DNA. Remember the "egg pile" post?
Snork Miaden, occasional tube meat will not hurt you. I have been known to serve it in spaghetti sauce on occasion, but we also eat a wide variety of other meat and protein (steak, pork chops, chicken, beans, tilapia, salmon, etc)so I don't feel too bad about serving it. Emily, on the other hand, feeds them tube meat and ham. That's the extent of their protein as far as I can tell.
ReplyDeleteThere would be a serious revolt if I served a two week rotating menu around here! We like variety, and I try new recipes all the time. Her kids are going to have such a limited palate. She is really doing them a disservice by not introducing new foods.
Snork Maiden, I hope I am wrong. I'm basing my opinion on the fact that she'll cram something like 40 pounds of that ground beef in her freezer. She talks about having quesadillas, taco mac, mixing in meat with mac & cheese, hamburgers, tacos - most all with the high fat tube meat.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with the tube meat is the fact that Emily will defend that as totally necessary even though people have pointed out how contrary it is to her stated nutritional goals. Most tube meat is of lower quality than beef ground at the store from choice cuts of meat. Further, she worries endlessly about GMO in her food but the feed those feed lot cattle eat is full of GMO. It's the hypocrisy of taking away oatmeal because of a very obscure, probably meaningless "problem" yet eating meat that is in complete opposition to her healthy eating goals.
She's stated that they are on a high-protein diet modeled on her mother's who follows Atkins or something very similiar to Atkins. Therefore, she is basing a lot of meals on that meat.
I work in Occupational Health, and have toured a meat packing plant and have seen the production of tube meat from the moment the cow is slaughtered until it ends up in the little cylinder packages. Maybe if Em saw what I saw she would never touch a pack of tube meat again.
ReplyDeleteAnd for her discussion on the name of it....sorry Em the manufacturer of the meat that is in your freezer (thats the plant I toured) calls it tube meat.
"I can answer that. The reason that my husband and I do frugal things is for our son. Nowhere in any of her resons did Emily ever mention that she does this for her kids. That was our primary reason, to give him better life. And so that he won't be stuck looking after us in our old age. Emily just plans to keep popping kids out hoping that one of them will take pitty on her neglectful ass and look after her and Dna in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons we only had one child was because that was all we could afford and do it right. We could have spit out a quiverful of kids and neglected them like Em, but our goal as parents was to provide a fantastic life to a child. "
AMEN!!!!! I am sad that I didn't find this blog until hers was deleted. Frugal is NOT what she is. She is neglectful and filthy. Frugal to me is providing the best I can for my family without spending more than I absolutely have to. Like waiting until Old Navy has a sale and getting my child's jeans for 5-10 bucks as opposed to paying 30 for them at regular price. Or buying a used bed with a brand new mattress. Or buying generic Cheerios, which by the way when did Cheerios become unhealthy??? That bugged the everloving shit out of me when somebody posted that over there.
My husband and I work our tails off to make sure that our boys have everything they need but also that they have a few wants as well. We did without our monthly date night to afford little league, things like that. I just want to go pick up those poor babies of hers and run off with them. No kid should have to eat sprouted rice. Nasty.
April