Meet a Reader | Kim from Iowa
Today we're meeting a Midwestern reader who only occasionally masquerades as Mrs. Potato Head. 🙂
1. Tell us a little about yourself
I'm a married mother of two teenage boys (18 and 16) who grew up in the country near a small town in Iowa. I love the midwest and still live in Iowa, but now live in a suburb of the capital city (about 215,000 people).
I work in logistics for a small manufacturing company which I enjoy because we ship all over the world and my in-box each day greets me with messages from all over the world.
(I will say that the pandemic years were especially challenging though - I barely kept my sanity trying to ship our goods out of the country).
My husband is an engineer and we've been married for 21 years. We are both naturally frugal and a bit introverted which makes it easier to save money.
I work out 4-5 days a week. When my gym closed during the pandemic I bought three expensive kettlebells so I could keep up with my workouts.
When the gym re-opened, they offered a remote option (basically a video of that day's workout) and the membership would be half the cost of the in-person option. If I had been early in my exercise journey, I probably would have opted for in-person just for the accountability, but I didn't need that anymore so I went remote.
This spring, the gym closed down and sold off their equipment at a deep discount so now I am well stocked for any kettlebell weight I want to use.
2. How long have you been reading The Frugal Girl?
I first stumbled across Kristen's blog about 10 years ago. I had been at my previous job for 17 years (straight out of college) and it had turned into a very toxic situation.
I found it was bleeding into my home life in a negative way and I wanted to take a break and spend the summer with my boys who were 5 and 7 at the time.
I was looking for other's experiences and additional ways we could save money so that I could convince my husband we could survive on his salary. I didn't relate to the homeschooling posts at that time so I ended up re-discovering her blog about 6-7 years ago and have been reading regularly ever since.
I love her realistic, positive vibes and the community all the commenters have created.
3. How did you get interested in saving money?
Growing up we tended to be a paycheck-to-paycheck family. We never lacked for anything, but I didn't like the feeling and wanted to give myself more security to endure the inevitable ups and downs of life.
4. What's the "why" behind your money-saving efforts?
The security I mentioned before is a bit part of it.
We save aggressively for retirement even though my husband will have a pension that he will be eligible for in about 6 years. The plan is for us to both retire around age 58 and move back to the small town where I grew up.
We also love travel and plan on doing much more of that when we retire.
5. What's your best frugal win?
We bought our house as a short sale in 2008. We never would have been able to afford it in normal times, but we had spent many years making frugal choices that put us in a position where we could take advantage of the opportunity.
We also have many small examples just through letting people know that we are open to accepting used items (definitely not the norm in our affluent suburb).
One neighbor took out wooden shelving and put it on the curb and it now is used in our basement to store canned goods. Another neighbor put in new sod and didn't like how his one year old mower cut the grass so he gave the mower to us.
Also, if something needs repaired, we always look into whether it makes sense for us to try tackling the job.
An electric board was going out on our dryer and once we discovered that the repair/replacement was the same price as a new dryer, we decided to try repairing it ourselves. My husband did some soldering (a skill I didn't know he had and which he hadn't done since high school) and the dryer has been going strong for the last two years.
We also thought we'd fix some shingles that came off our roof in a storm, but after climbing just to the lowest part of our roof we decided that was a job best left to the professionals!
6. What's an embarrassing money mistake you've made?
One big one is when I left my toxic job. I just wanted to get away and I moved my 401K money to the advisor they referred me to. I should have just opened a Vanguard account myself (which is what I have now). I lost thousands and thousands of dollars to unnecessary fees.
A small "mistake" is buying a Vitamix blender. I make a lot of smoothies and my Ninja blender died after about 8 years. I bought into the Vitamix hype and have been SUPER unhappy with it. It doesn't blend ice as well and the way it is designed makes it super messy if you have to add ingredients in two stages.
7. What's one thing you splurge on?
Travel. International travel when I was in high school really shaped the course of my life and I wanted to share that with my boys. Our biggest trip was to Argentina and I'm hoping to get one more big trip in before my boys fly the nest.
8. What's one thing you aren't remotely tempted to splurge on?
Fancy restaurant food. Give me a slice of Costco pizza and I'm happy.
9. If $1000 was dropped into your lap today, what would you do with it?
I'd send some to my nieces to help with their college expenses and would donate half to our local food pantry. My younger son and I have been volunteering there lately and the need seems to be growing more and more.
10. What's the easiest/hardest part of being frugal?
It's easy because I have a partner with the same values. We do get some ribbing from co-workers and friends, but we laugh it off because it just doesn't matter to us.
An example of our shared values: we were looking to buy new nightstands for our bedroom, but were disappointed by the quality and designs.
We had no intention of taking on a new project, but our frustration led us to finding designs online that we liked and we ended up building these ourselves (actually we made four - my son picked out different pulls and finishes for his room).
The total cost for all four was $800 - the same price as one new one and it was much better quality.
11.Which is your favorite type of post at the Frugal Girl and why?
I enjoy the WIS/WIA posts the most. When I first started reading, I was just in awe of Kristen's meals and how varied they were (and how she dealt with her family's allergies).
Now I like that she has some leftover/easier nights sprinkled in as it matches our life more closely. We definitely keep things simple around here.
I do think Kristen's once a week take-out should go back in the date night category and not in her food spending. She should be "dating" herself and her girls right now.
12.What single action or decision has saved you the most money over your life?
Being consistent.
I think I could have gotten discouraged in my 20's when I was chipping away at student loan debt and a car loan and in my 30's when I had two kids in day care. I liken it to pushing a boulder up a hill - it's hard work and you wonder why you're doing it, but then you make it over the hill and it's SO much easier on the downhill side.
We no longer had car loans or a mortgage in our 40's (now 50's as of this summer!), but it was entirely due to the hard work and decisions we made earlier.
________________
Kim, I have been to (and through) Iowa lots of times a child. One set of grandparents lived near Davenport, IA, and the other set lived near Sioux Falls, SD. So, we'd stop in Iowa, and then drive across to South Dakota.
My favorite Iowa attraction was Wacky Waters, a water park right out in the middle of farm fields. Did you ever go there?
I smiled when I read about your Christmas cookies! I love how many people out there are making Christmas cookies with eyes, thanks to my children's creativity. 🙂
I also smiled when I saw you painting high up in the foyer. When I was pregnant with Zoe, I tackled a project in the foyer at my other house, and at one point when I was standing on a ladder, which was braced on some steps, Lisey said, "We should not tell your mom about this." Ha. I could probably have used some scaffolding. 😉
And lastly: your nightstands are so lovely. I am super impressed.
It's nice to meet you, Kim. I love your homemade Halloween costume!
And, oh my goodness! Miss Always Practical Lisey! Hahaha!
Also, where's WIS/WWA? I feel like I'm in a strange time warp!
@Becca,
What I Spent/What We Ate is the usual Friday post.
Oh, this is 100% my fault! When I got this post ready, I accidentally scheduled it to publish on Friday morning! So Becca commented then, and this morning I forgot to remove her comment.
Such is the life of a blogger who is also in school. Things fall through the cracks. 🙂
Kristen, I did the same while pregnant with my daughter. Painting her room yellow by myself and adding her adorable wallpaper border, which she then would peel off for kicks when old enough. I'd patch it, then glue plastic over it so she couldn't peel it, then she peeled the plastic and then the wallpaper. I told her she was a bad baby but she just laughed.
Those nightstands are amazing! Great work!
Hi, Kim! (waving from a nearby state)
I love those nightstands- great job! I have several basic pieces of furniture in my house built by my husband because the ones in the stores seemed too expensive and he figured it couldn't be that hard. That's why he also made curtains, and quilts.
Fixing your appliance, that's exactly the type of thing my husband does. If soldering works, great, and if not the appliance was broken anyways.
Iowa is lovely- people think it's just flat corn fields and instead there is such a variety with rolling hills, river bluffs, and beautiful lakes. Our favorite science museum is in Des Moines- did you ever go there with your kids?
@mbmom11, Definitely! It was extra frugal because we would ask the grandparents to buy the yearly pass as a family Christmas present. We've had lots of fun at the Science Center over the years. We don't go as often now, so we just borrow a pass from our local library.
Kim,
It's nice to meet you. I spent most of my first 30+ years in Iowa, as a child mostly near Waterloo. As an adult I lived in Ames for about a dozen years so spent quite a bit of time in Des Moines.
I like your "being consistent" answer about the hard part of being frugal question. You are right that it does make a big difference over time.
Hello, Mrs. Potato Head...er, I mean, Kim! My burning question of the morning: Did your husband attend the same party as Mr. Potato Head?
And I also admire the home-built night stands. Both my DH and my FIL were good at creating new pieces of furniture from old ones, but I don't recall that either one actually built one from scratch.
@A. Marie, Yes, my husband was definitely Mr. Potato Head. We re-wore the costumes to hand out candy on Halloween. We had about six small potatoes so we put that in with the candy and they were gone in the first 15 minutes. The kids were so excited to get a potato from Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head!
@Kim, Did they get candy and a potato?
Hi Kim! Kudos to you for being so committed to DIY painted that you climbed that scaffold! That's dedication. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, The scaffold actually looks scarier than it was. It felt pretty safe while I was on it. There were definitely trickier painting areas involving stairs and ladders where I had to push through.
I had a rescue pup that looked a lot like Ruby. He was a great dog. The white spot on his chest was in the shape of a star.
I agree 100% that consistency is super important when trying to reach your financial goals. Sometimes it’s so hard to stay motivated. However, I’m very much like the tortoise than the hare.
Have a great holiday weekend and thanks for sharing.
@Bee, Maybe that's my whole problem. I'm a hare!
My dad is from Iowa. I loved my visit when I was 16. The small town life is appealing.
I love my vitamix blender, but I have the tall one. My sister has the short one. I would not like it.
@April, I had to google what the short one is. I have a vitamix and love it as well.. but I have two top pieces--and I never noticed, but one is short and one is tall. When I bought mine, they marketed the short one as "dry ingredients only" and the tall one for "wet ingredients". I've never even used the short one. I could absolutely see how this could be a pain with smoothies!
So nice to meet you! I love the nightstands!!!
Iowa is full of corn and nice people. We drive thru quite often from Michigan to SDakota. I do not like the loose meat sandwich tho, a little too bland. To each its own!!!
Happy Holidays!
Nice to meet you, Kim! Don't be afraid of homemade yogurt! I used to make it myself as a kid in the 1970s! It's easy.
And your creativity with the nightstands is great and reminds me of my mother! When there was some furniture she wanted but couldn't find, she built it herself. The last thing she made was a spice rack, which was so nice. She was disappointed that neither I nor my sister kept it when we were cleaning out our family home, but neither of us had room. Someone bought it at the tag sale and I hope they appreciate it!
Hi, Kim!
I agree with all the others commenting about it, the nightstand is fabulous.
I have a cathedral ceiling over the living area of our great room, and according to the builder, it's 25' up at the highest point of the vault. I knew the original painter used scaffolding and I assumed I would have to hire a painter to get it done again, which it sure needs after 24 years. I never thought about renting scaffolding. My only issue is that I am afraid of heights. But perhaps I could get some family help with the high parts. I'll look into that.
Ruby either looks either sleepy or slightly annoyed at having her picture made, I'm not sure which. Is that a white Iowa tornado on her chest?
I do have a question: why did you choose age 58 for retirement, rather than 59.5, if you don't mind my asking?
Your neighbor just gave you a practically new mower? Your neighbor is NOT frugal, but that's your gain, ha.
The cookies are picture worthy, by the way. I love them!
@JD, The retirement age is based on when my husband's full pension kicks in. In the Iowa system, it is based on a combination of factors, including age and numbers of years worked. He's been there all of his working life so he'll be eligible at 58.
Thanks for the comment on the cookies! The contest definitely lets all our different personalities shine through!
Hi Kim! I really like your analogy of pushing a boulder up a hill for different reasons at different stages of life. But being consistent and not giving in to discouragement as you have been while pushing that darn boulder has great rewards on the downhill side. I hope this mental picture is helpful to readers who are in the difficult pushing uphill place in life right now.
@Elaine N, so often the problem is that sometimes we can't tell how long or how high that dadgum hill actually is! We think we do, but there are so many unexpected obstacles and slippery spots along the way.
Awesome job on the night stands! And, love that you list consistency as what's saved you the most over the years. It's an overlooked factor, and I agree with you!
Hi Kim, the nightstands are amazing!
Kristen, I live in the Illinois side of the Quad Cities-Wacky Waters sadly closed years ago, it’s a fire department training site now, all the slide stairs to practice climbing with heavy hoses. However, they are building a new water park right up the road. I have incorporated many of your ideas and recipes into our lives, it brought a smile to read of this small connection.
Yes, it closed back when I was a teenager. So sad! I will always have happy memories of going there in the summer.
I am in awe of those night stands!
I love the picture of the dog just chillin' out.
Hi Kim,
Your interview spurred a few thoughts about what makes frugality easier
1. Introversion—so true! No need to pay for social events if you don't enjoy going.
2. Contentment—if one is satisfied in any area in life, there is no need to "upgrade".
3. Creativity—repairing broken things, or building your own is infinitely more satisfying.
4. Seeing the long view—pushing that debt boulder up the hill, paying off the mortgage earlier, saving for retirement.
About kitchen intimidation: making one's own extracts impresses me, whereas I find making yogurt to be a nothing-burger in terms of difficulty. The key thing is to have a thermometer so you know when it hits 180 to pull it off the heat and when it has cooled to 120 to add the starter. Also, learning your own stove is a good idea because it is mighty irritating to have the milk scorch to the bottom of the pan while heating. It also helped me to realize that I could simply wrap the pan in a beach towel, put it somewhere warm, and forget it for 4-10 hours. No little jars, no fancy-pants unifunction "yogurt maker". AND, I like not measuring—I just use whatever quantity of milk happens to be available.
P.S. Climbing scaffolding is fun!
Hi, Kim from Iowa!
My husband has extended family in Iowa, mostly in Pella. There is a straight line of Dutch ancestry from Grand Rapids, MI to Pella, IA. Ha.
Your costume is fantastic! I think the homemade costumes are so much more fun and creative. When my kids were at the trick-or-treating age, I would search online for fun costumes to create--I would have definitely borrowed your idea.
I also found that my kids were more likely to participate in cookie decorating if I added eyeball decorations to the mix once they got older (thank you, Kristen!). I've never cared if our cookies are picture perfect and the goofy decorations make better memories. I found Ninja Warrior gingerbread cookie cutters and they have been a fun addition, as well.
It was great to hear about your life!
@Kris, I went to college in Pella and have very fond memories there! I still make it back for their Tulip Time festival and of course I get a Dutch letter once I'm there. 🙂
@Kim from Iowa, I think I know which bakery you got your Dutch letter from. They are sooooo good. Now I want one. 😉
Hi, Kim! Thank you for sharing.
I like your nightstands. Another option you might consider for furniture is to check out auctions. Local online auctions around here can be so much less expensive than buying new, and the bonus is that the furniture is usually a better quality.
And Iowa! Now that our son is going to school in Minnesota (and also because we avoid driving Chicago and tolls), we've gone through the northeastern part of Iowa so many times in the last couple of years. There are so many fun little towns to "discover," and we've found a couple of good restaurants.
@Jody S., Northeast Iowa is just beautiful - lots of trees, hills, limestone cliffs. And if you like beer, some world-renowned breweries (i.e. Toppling Goliath)
@Kim from Iowa, I really like the hills.
Hi Kim from Iowa!
My dad was similar with DIYing things. Years ago my family was given a pair of night stands none of us really needed and he turned them into a desk by making the top part out of plywood and fastening it to the stands on each end. It's still in my brother's room. He also made a new top for a too small dining table, and cut the legs off another one to be come a coffee table. He also made a bunch of radiator covers. He also taught us how to care for and repair some things so we could just do it ourselves.
Cheers!
Ha! When I saw the scaffolding, I immediately thought, "Well, that was expensive". Then you said it was only $50. Wow! I sure do wish we had a Menard's in the region.
Funny, I bought a Vitamix at Costco when our kid moved out and took the Ninja. I haven't used it enough to form a strong opinion. The unexpected surprise was that it came with two insulated tumblers and metal straws that are amazing! They stay cold far longer than the hydro flasks, and fit perfectly in the cup holders of our traveling vehicle.
Thanks for sharing your story. Your costume was genius!
Kim, there's so much to love in this post! Your creative costume, how introversion can make it easier to save money, how you make your frugal way in an affluent area, your clever re-use of condiment containers, your beautifully crafted nightstands, and the importance of consistency. Thanks for sharing part of your life with us!
I'm with you on the blender. Everyone raves about the Vitamix, but I've had my Ninja a good 10 years now and I can easily have bought four Ninja's for the cost of a Vitamix. I've had to replace the blade assembly for the single serve cups once $15, and probably only needed a new seal which would have cost far less. I figure that if and when it needs replacing, I'll still be way ahead.
It does everything I need or want it to do, and no pusher that seems to make no sense to me. The tall pitcher has multiple blades which make quick work of things without needing to push stuff down.
Love your post. Thanks for sharing. I wish your family and Ruby many healthy years together. The photos are so beautiful. I feel for your toxic work environment. I had an environment like that. Sorry you lost so much money from your 401k. That really hurts.
Yes, hi! Nice to meet you and hear about your lifestyle. I grew up outside of Cedar Rapids. My relatives are south of Iowa City, and around and between Des Moines and Ames. I love visiting Iowa and try to drive to a few new small towns each time- never disappointed!