Meet a Reader | Elisabeth from Nova Scotia

Oh man, I love it when readers include a bunch of photos with their submissions! If you feel the same, then today will be a treat because Elisabeth sent in so many lovely photos.

1. Tell us a little about yourself

Hi! I’m Elisabeth – a work-from-home mom living in Nova Scotia, Canada with my husband and two kiddos (a 9-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter).

I work part-time as a program coordinator at a local university and I also handle communications for the business I co-own with my husband. He travels frequently for his job, but we try to carve out plenty of time for family adventures.

We especially enjoy visiting lighthouses and have explored dozens in the last few years! Most of them have been right here in Nova Scotia.

I may be biased, but I think it’s one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth (bonus: there are lots of free things to do!)

If I’m not working, adventuring, mothering or sleeping…I’m probably writing. I started a blog during the pandemic and the hobby stuck.

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

About six months – late to the party but glad I arrived!

3. How did you get interested in saving money?

Frankly, I didn’t have a choice. I was the daughter of a rural pastor who made very little money.

My mother was a nurse (a wonderful profession, right Kristen!), but she made the decision to only work one evening shift a week so she could be a stay-at-home-mom to her kids.

Although they were constrained financially, they put a high value on postsecondary education. My parents knew they couldn’t afford to cover college tuition for their kids, so when we were growing up every dollar we earned went into an education savings plan.

They also encouraged us to apply for any and all scholarships on offer. I was fortunate to finish my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees with money in the bank – and zero debt or loans – which I credit to my parents.

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

Frugality is all I’ve ever known!

I’m a Christian and view money as a gift from God that should be used wisely.

Also, I like it! I find frugal living fun. I enjoy discovering deals and looking through sales flyers and shopping for my clothes at thrift shops.

5. What’s your best frugal win?

Paying off our mortgage in seven years (this happened last week, so a recent – but big – financial milestone).

We bought one of the most undervalued homes for sale in our town – at a price far below what the bank was offering to lend us – and when we could put additional money against the mortgage, we did.

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

Not investing effectively. My husband and I (especially me!) are risk averse.

The thought of navigating the investment landscape – and worrying about stocks or mutual funds crashing – overwhelms me, but we need to make our money work harder for us!

7. What’s one thing you splurge on?

In a way I feel like everything I buy that I don’t truly need is a splurge…but my favourite indulgence is to spend money on take-out sushi for an at-home date night with my husband.

It’s not very expensive (~$20 each time) but it feels positively decadent. Growing up it was very rare for me to eat out or buy pre-prepared food – in fact, I still get a thrill every time I buy an ice cream cone!

I’m most tempted to splurge on home goods. I could spend all day in HomeSense and want to buy every item in the store. But I almost always leave empty-handed.

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

Can I list more than one?

Luxury handbags, high-end clothing, fancy hotels, expensive restaurants, elaborate makeup. I want things in my life to be clean and functional, not flashy.

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

This is the only question that stumped me. What would I do? It depends.

If I’m telling the truth, it’s likely a boring answer: I’d put the $1,000 in the bank. If I was forced to come up with a “frivolous” plan, then I’d use it to go to NYC for a long weekend just before Christmas to see all the holiday storefront displays and the tree in Rockefeller Center.

Catching a show on Broadway would also be a must!

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

Being frugal comes shockingly easily to me.

But it can be a double-edged sword. Feeling afraid and/or guilty when I spend money can take some of the fun out of life.

I might be enjoying a lovely restaurant meal but then look at the food and think: I could have made this for a quarter of the price at home! Or I’ll go to a yoga class and think: I shouldn’t be here! I could be following along with a free YouTube video.

Another way my engrained frugal ways negatively impact me is a feeling of obligation to find the absolute. best. deal. (I am what Barry Schwartz would call a maximizer.) I might save a few dollars but it’s not always worth the stress or time.

For years after we were married my husband and I lived with meager earnings. We were bootstrapping two start-ups and had two small kids. Those were lean years early in adulthood, which fed into the fear/guilt about spending money that stemmed from my childhood.

Thankfully, as we gain more financial independence, I have less guilt. It’s always there, but it’s starting to speak in a gentler voice.

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

Second-hand clothing. Nearly everyone I know finds at least some of their clothes at thrift shops.

I do not own – aside from underwear, a travel outfit and four pairs of shoes – a single item of clothing that is not second-hand.

All my bras, coats, pants, shirts, sweaters, pajamas, bathing suits, hats, sunglasses and dresses are thrifted.

12. What frugal tips have you tried and abandoned?

Reusing teabags.

I would steep my tea, put the teabag in a container in the fridge and when I had collected a few used bags I’d put them all in a mug and add hot water. It resulted in tepid, stale tea. Blergh.

Apparently, my husband knew a millionaire when he was growing up who claimed to reuse his teabags. I did it for well over a year before deciding I would rather skip being a millionaire and enjoy a mug of FRESH tea.

My husband likes to reuse plastic Ziploc bags and I loathe rinsing them out and drying them. When he’s not looking, I sometimes slip them into the plastic recycling.

13. What’s your funniest frugal story?

When my husband and I were trying to launch a small business, we had to come up with creative ways to make ends meet.

I started responding to study participant requests at a local university. I used probiotics for months and went in for frequent mental acuity assessments (results: probiotics didn’t make me smarter, but they did improve digestion).

We rode on stationary bikes multiple mornings a week for a HIIT study in the Kinesiology department.

But the most lucrative was our several years spent being regular panelists in a taste-testing lab. We evaluated flax flour (I got paid extra if I tried to make flax-flour bread at home – so I rolled up my sleeves and made bread), different cuts of beef, maple syrup, salad greens, cheese spreads and stroopwafels.

We were usually “paid” $15/hour in grocery store gift cards and managed to make $1,000s over the years.

Since we had a young daughter at the time, we would try to schedule different testing slots so the other parent was free to cover childcare. But if our time slots overlapped, she would come with us into the food lab.

14. What single action or decision has saved you the most money over your life?

Enjoying being frugal and, when possible, treating it like a game. I genuinely like to get things second-hand.

It makes items feel less precious (I don’t get as upset if my kids ruin a pair of sneakers in a muddy puddle if I’ve bought them for $3.99) and I think of it like going on a treasure hunt. It’s satisfying to find something I need for pennies, rescue it from a landfill, and give it a new life in my own home.

I also think that it helps to realize how seemingly little actions add up. I cut my husband’s hair once a month at home. He hasn’t been to a barber in over a decade which has surely saved us $100s – if not $1000s – of dollars. One haircut at a time, the savings add up!

15. What are some things about frugal living you wish more people knew?

To check flyers and shop sales at the grocery store. Sales dictate what we eat for the week.

The thought of planning a chicken dish, for example, on a week where chicken isn’t on sale is ludicrous to me (though chances are I’d have some in the freezer, purchased on a recent sale)! Still on grocery-saving tips, see if stores have a points or rewards program. Some grocery stores have special deals for members, or a cash-back system.

And consider buying reduced food! We regularly get bread 50% off and put it directly in the freezer, taking out slices as we need them. We buy bananas 50% off and use them for banana bread. It’s also a great way to reduce food waste. Win-win.

Second-hand items can be beautiful. Because we purchased an older home, the rooms were quite dated. Last year we got around to doing a bedroom makeover for our daughter and sourced many of the items second-hand.

Art (we have purchased most of the art in our house second-hand), her duvet, lamps, bookends…all was second-hand.

It looked great for a fraction of the cost.

Use warranties. I have managed to get so many items replaced under warranty! Winter coats, boots, a mattress, broken luggage, kids mittens, frying pans.

16. Which is your favorite type of post at the Frugal Girl and why?

Five Frugal Things! I love the little vignettes of her life and I get so many good ideas from the various ways she saves money.

17. Do you have any tips for frugal travel or vacations?

Yes! I absolutely love talking about frugal travel.

Our family took a 2-week trip to Portugal this August (for fun I broke down what the trip cost – just under $6,000 USD for a family of 4 for 14 vacation days + 2 travel days).

I did the same cost analysis for trips to Rome (~$1,850 USD for 2 people for 5 vacation days + 2 travel days) and Barcelona (~$2,900 USD for a family of 4 for 6 vacation days + 2 travel days, though with some persistence and a bit of luck it ended up only costing us ~$330 USD.

Yes, you read that right – $330 total for a 6-day trip for 4 to Spain!).

How do we save money when we travel?

We travel on points! This is a great way to get affordable plane tickets. In Canada, the best program is Aeroplan (Air Canada) with Star Alliance partners. I think Southwest has some great rewards for inter-US travel.

We also try to prepare our own meals. We make use of every mini-fridge we have access to; we generally eat breakfast in the hotel – buying cereal, milk, fruit, and yogurt at a grocery store – and we bring along snacks and/or sandwiches for lunch. It saves a lot of money…and time.

Research what days museums or other attractions have free entry. When we were in Rome we knew the last Sunday of every month the Vatican was free. Guess when we chose to go?

Many art galleries and museums have one day a week (often Sunday or Monday) where entry is free and that can provide a big cost savings!

While we aim to spend – and travel – conscientiously, what an incredible privilege it is to see the world! I am trying to live by the motto it costs what it costs.

I’ll always try to find ways to cut corners and save money, but not at the expense (pun intended) of a great vacation.
Instead of buying souvenirs that will collect dust at home, take lots of pictures and make a photobook of your trip.

Favourite experiences on a trip often cost nothing. Perhaps the best night of my entire life was spent watching the sun set over the Eiffel Tower.

Obviously getting to France required money, but the evening sky didn’t cost a penny.

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Elisabeth! You live SUCH a cool life. Thank you for sharing a peek of it with us.

I love love love that you and your hubby did the participant requests to get grocery gift cards. That has to be one of the most unique frugal activities I’ve ever heard of!

Also, I 100% understand the judgmental frugal voice inside your head. Mine is slowly calming down now that I’m not paying lawyer bills. Ha.

I was gonna ask where you got your fun stripey rain jacket, but then I realized you probably thrifted it. But…what is the brand, in case any of us want to search for one on eBay or ThredUp?

Readers, the floor is yours!

P.S. Here’s Elisabeth’s blog, Optimistic Musings.