This is exciting! We haven’t had a Meet a Reader submission in quite some time, so when Kate sent me hers this week, I said, “Oh yay!”
Here’s Kate:
1. Tell us a little about yourself
I’m Kate, 44, I live in Upstate New York with my dog. I’ll have another dog, but I’ll never have a better dog. I’m a government employee and have been my entire professional career.
I was in a long-term relationship, unmarried, for about 15 years. When that ended, I transferred offices and relocated to be closer to my family. Many changes at once! That was in January 2020…less than ideal timing.
But now I live in a beautiful town that I absolutely love. I get to see my family regularly. I spend time in the summer at our family camp, which is no longer five hours away.
I will be losing a parent here shortly and I’m so grateful that I am close by.
2. How long have you been reading The Frugal Girl?
Probably longer than I realize, several years. I was a huge fan of Frugalwoods, and when that was petering out, I went looking for alternatives. I found The Frugal Girl and The Non-Consumer Advocate and became a regular reader of both.
I still really miss those reader case studies at Frugalwoods and the comments that went with them. I learned so much valuable information from that comments section.
3. How did you get interested in saving money?
I think I’ve always had a natural inclination towards being a saver. I’m a hoarder in a way: I save up my leave time, I would never open all of my Christmas gifts at once, I like to be prepared with supplies on hand, and I love to get a deal.
By no means did I grow up poor, but I had a strong inclination that I did not want to have the same financial situation as my parents.
As an adult, I realize that it’s simply a difference of values. They spent their money on things that were important to them. They’re just not the same things that are important to me. Having money helps me to feel secure.
4. What’s the “why” behind your money-saving efforts?
Initially, it’s been to be able to retire with plenty of money. Later, I was saving to buy a house. Neither my sister nor I have children, and at this time, I’m not in a relationship with anyone.
I feel very strongly that since I don’t have people, I will need money to provide for my care as I age.
5. What’s your best frugal win?
2025 was a big year for me. I purchased my first house, and my retirement account hit a major mark.
I remember going to the financial advisor years ago, feeling somewhat defeated. I felt like I had been saving quite a bit of money and for a while, and it just didn’t look like things were gaining as much momentum as I wanted.
I don’t know how many years ago that was, but he was right: eventually the numbers came my way. Time makes you more money than money makes you money. I’m so grateful that I was a steady saver from the beginning of my career.
I had some excellent work mentors who encouraged these habits, and I try to pay that forward.
6. What’s an embarrassing money mistake you’ve made?
There are two things I wish I’d done differently.
One, I should’ve opened a high-yield savings account much sooner. It was ridiculous how long my money was not earning appropriate interest. I definitely kick myself for that because I left thousands of dollars on the table. Unwise.
The second is a little trickier. When I purchased my house, I was debt-free. I was also credit card-free and have been for a very long time. I had no credit score. I’ve listened to plenty of Dave Ramsey, so I thought this would be no big deal. I would simply find a bank that did manual underwriting. I thought my balance sheet, income, down payment, employment history, etc. would make me an ideal mortgagee.
It did not.
After flat-out rejection from a mortgage broker who told me there would be NO WAY anyone would write me a mortgage, a work acquaintance gave me a recommendation for a loan officer at a local bank who was able to write the mortgage.
But my interest rate is still higher than I’d like or what it would be had I had my high credit score. I learned a very hard lesson about how banks have little to no ability to objectively look at the applicant. It has to meet the metrics within their system.
The flip of this, is I know that not having credit cards for all these years has absolutely saved me money. Interest rates were already high when I was buying, so a future refinance is the plan.
7. What’s one thing you splurge on?
For a long time, I’ve spent a lot of money on beer. Less so lately, but if I’m drinking, I’m not on the bargain hunt.
8. What’s one thing you aren’t remotely tempted to splurge on?
Home decor. For the most part, my house is furnished with secondhand, curb finds, or hand-me-downs and I love it.
9. If $1000 was dropped into your lap today, what would you do with it?
I would definitely buy a few pairs of shoes. I need new hiking boots and sneakers. Since I pretty much work and walk my dog, those are priority items.
During the house save and buy my giving has reduced. There’s a few places I would really like to send a check to so those would be my pay it forward items.
10. What’s the easiest/hardest part of being frugal?
I think the hardest part is the delayed gratification. I hope it will be worth it. I don’t have a great balance of spend and save.
It leans more towards save and do nothing. I’m good at the “big” saving, but sometimes fritter away the little dollars.
11. Is there anything unique about frugal living in your area?
I live in a town that has very restrictive zoning. That means retail is limited, which is great for me because I don’t need temptation. I have to travel quite a ways for most chains, especially the ones that are my greatest weaknesses.
The flip of that is it’s also a long way to the Aldi and I’ve never been to a Trader Joe’s. There’s a lot of old money here, which I think lends itself against rampant consumerism and more towards value. It’s good inspiration.
What single action or decision has saved you the most money over your life?
I had a partner who had similar money values, and we both benefited from that. But if you fast forward to where I am now, I do feel the benefits were somewhat disproportionate.
While we are both in great shape in terms of our retirement savings, one of us has a paid off house, and the other is on the ground floor of homeownership. The house we lived in was my boyfriend’s before we got together. I never paid the mortgage, taxes, repairs, but did pay all the other household expenses.
While he was working a lot of overtime to pay off his student loans and mortgage, I was tending the homefront…and there was a lot to tend. At the time, I didn’t see how my labor was building his wealth, and how our arrangement with the household expenses would impact us both down the line. He was investing. I was simply spending.
What is something you wish more people knew?
I’ve never been married, but everyone should have a prenup. Because you if you didn’t write it, the State wrote it for you. I’m listening to a lot of James Sexton lately.
Did you ever receive any financial education in school or from your parents?
My grandmother was an excellent financial manager, and she taught me a lot. She always paid herself the car payment so she could pay cash for cars. She paid her mortgage off early and then used the money that had been going to the mortgage to send their kids to college.
She wasn’t able to attend college after high school, despite being accepted. Her father had died when she was very young and her brother, the only boy, was sent to college to become a pharmacist.
All of her four kids got college degrees without debt. When she retired, she went back to get her degree and graduated when she was 70.
Do you have any tips for frugal travel or vacations?
Ha! I save money on travel by not going. I enjoy being away when I’m there. I just don’t like all the prep and planning and travel time. If I could have one superpower, it would definitely be teleportation. If I go anywhere one of my friends has arranged for it and I’m happy to go along.
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Kate, I LOVE all the scenery photographs you sent. So beautiful! I also smiled when I read about how you furnished your house because I feel the exact same way about all my secondhand furnishings.
I also hate all the planning associated with travel. My perfect travel buddy would be one who would handle all the planning, and then all I’d have to do is show up. 😉
I haven’t listened to much Dave Ramsey, so I didn’t realize he thinks a credit score is unnecessary; that’s kind of a wild take, especially since you usually need a credit score to even rent an apartment. I’m glad you got your house, though, and I’m hoping for a much better interest rate once you refinance.
Readers, the floor is yours! Leave your questions and comments here for Kate. 🙂
Source: www.thefrugalgirl.com…