Meet a Reader | Susannah
Susannah first volunteered for this series in March, but it took her a while to send her answers and photos back because...she got a puppy! And as it turns out, puppies are indeed a lot of work. 😉
1. Tell us a little about yourself
Hi! I'm Susannah.
Originally, I'm from Washington State, but I've been living in Massachusetts for the past 10 years since I graduated from college.
I'm a freelance writer living on the southern border of Massachusetts with my partner (who is a software engineer working remotely), cat, and adolescent puppy (7 months). I love the flexibility and autonomy that come with owning my own business.
We bought our home about 10 months ago and moved from a small/medium city condo to a 2200 square foot house on 2 acres. We're pretty rural for Massachusetts and we're enjoying small-town life while still living within 30 min of two larger cities!
This is our first home so it's both exciting and overwhelming.
Since we do not plan to have children, this house could possibly be our forever home, although we dream of retiring to Vermont one day.
We've done a lot of work on it already, adding solar panels, putting in wood floors, and switching to heat pumps/mini splits for A/C. We also got the property fenced for our puppy.
It took us 8 months to find the right house and have an offer accepted, but it is the perfect place for us. We have lots of plans for it in the future, but a lot of that will have to wait until we build up more savings.
We are enjoying our land and we started our vegetable garden with raised beds this year. This was my first time growing anything from seed. My mom HATES gardening so I never did any growing up and I have lived in cities for the past 10 years. It was like magic to see my green beans producing.
My puppy loves them and will park her butt next to the plant when she wants you to pick one for her! I am going to feel bad when they're done for the season.
We also planted 15 fruit trees this year. I love to make jam and pickles, and I'm just generally excited to be producing some of our own food. We do not want livestock, however, as we love to travel and the pets already complicate that a bit.
My partner grew up in a family raising beef cattle and he does not want to get back into that life!
My dream is to become a self-sustaining novelist. I always have several projects going. Right now, I am working on a novel, a couple of short stories, and a blog (www.friendsofgreengables.com) with my friend, which I describe as "homesteading lite."
Sometimes it's hard to work on my own projects after writing and editing for clients, but I try to make some time for it every day.
I also have tons of hobbies. I knit, spin, cross-stitch, bake, cook, preserve, and enjoy both board games and video games. My partner and I met through a board gaming group so that's what we do with our friends when we get together.
Our house is great for having people over and we have lots of friends nearby!
2. How long have you been reading The Frugal Girl?
Since college, I believe--about 10 years! It's been fun seeing the evolution and the constants 🙂
3. How did you get interested in saving money?
My upbringing. My parents have always been frugal (I am the youngest of 5) and I grew up buying clothes from thrift stores, shopping the sales at the grocery store, and relying on old cars.
As an adult, I have fully embraced paying more for quality items, but I still love a good bargain!
4. What's the "why" behind your money-saving efforts?
If you save money, you can do more with it! I want to enjoy my life now as well as when I'm retired. Anything can happen and I don't want to have any regrets because I didn't do something I wanted to do, like travel or try a new skill.
I am far less frugal than I used to be (I was living on about $500 a month in college!) but I am constantly looking ahead and thinking about what I want my life to be like now and in the future. Seeing some of the struggles my parents are having with paying for health issues etc, even with healthy savings, makes me think about how important it is to have a nest egg.
Also, my income is not always steady as a freelancer. I need to have a cushion in case a client takes their time paying me or I have a slow month. The upside is that if I lose one client, I'm not losing all of my income.
5. What's your best frugal win?
My college education.
I was fortunate enough to do my first two years at community college during high school. Not only did that save me two years of tuition and housing, but I graduated two years early and got to avoid the giant lecture classes at the university. I went to an inexpensive, but quality state school and got my BA just before I turned 20.
Pell grants and savings from my first job as a dog bather helped me, and I was privileged to have help from my dad. When I graduated, I owed him about $3000 for money I had borrowed for living expenses, which I paid back pretty quickly.
Knowing so many people with heaps of debt, I am grateful for everything that came together for me. I do not take the privileges I have been given lightly. I'm also glad I made the practical choice and decided to go with a cheaper state school and to live off-campus. I didn't even apply to any expensive schools.
6. What's a dumb money mistake you've made?
Not applying for scholarships to help me with my university tuition. I'm sure I could have done even more to offset the cost of college, but I was absorbed in my community college coursework and working on the weekends!
7. What's one thing you splurge on?
I have a few splurges, but I would say that pets and travel are the big ones for me. I am involved in dog sports and dog shows, and I definitely spoil my girl! I've traveled extensively and I have never regretted spending money on it.
8. What's one thing you aren't remotely tempted to splurge on?
A few things! Makeup, handbags, brand new cars, and new models of electronics.
9. If $1000 was dropped into your lap today, what would you do with it?
I would probably use it toward my next quarterly tax payment, as boring as that is.
10. Share a frugal tip with other Frugal Girl readers
Get to know the normal prices of items like groceries and clothes. That way, you'll know if a sale is actually good or just a way of making the regular price seem like a good deal! Also, learn to DIY some things and buy in bulk if it's practical for you (I whisper sweet nothings to my chest freezer that it's my favorite appliance!).
That's all from me! Thanks so much for this opportunity and for continuing to blog 🙂
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Susannah, thank YOU for participating!
Your radish made me chuckle because when I was a kid, my mom let me plant a row of radishes in the garden, and I could not stop pulling them up to check on them. I am, apparently, not the same type of radish-grower that you are. 😉
Also, as a fellow self-employed person, I hear you on the quarterly tax payments. The next one always seems to be looming in the distance.
Hi Susannah! Briar is a gorgeous dog. I love the coloring.
And I applaud you for planting fruit trees. That really is the very first thing anyone who wants to grow their own food should do when moving to a new place. They take such a long time to start producing, and the results are so worth it.
@kristin @ going country, Thank you! She sometimes weaponizes her cuteness 🙂 I bought 5-6 foot trees so I will be curious to see how long they take to bear. There was an existing peach tree and a couple of apple trees so we have been lucky with a small harvest while we wait!
What a bunch of neat hobbies and work; no wonder you keep busy! Briar looks like a very smart dog; she just has that attentive look in her eyes. I had to laugh when you said Briar likes green beans - reminded me of one of our dogs growing up. Whenever I was stringing green beans for supper, she would park herself right beside me and stare at me until I gave her some, and it was so funny to watch her eat them (one at a time, very daintily holding them between her paws and nibbling).
Those are good tips - I only recently started buying in bulk and it's made a great difference. Cost savings of course but also it's nice not to have to schlep so much stuff during regular grocery runs. Now if only I could come up with some better looking options for storage..
@Suz, I'm grateful she loves healthy treats! Makes things so much easier.
It does make me feel secure and cozy for winter to have frozen produce and meat plus a stock of grains ready to go 🙂 I keep a lot of our surplus in the basement because it's dry and cool.
My daughter is a fiber arts student at art school and she knits, spins, and weaves. She takes old holey cashmere sweaters, unravels them and dyes them, and spins them into new yarn. (She also embroiders, sews, does leatherwork, crochets, cooks, bakes, preserves, and rides and cares for horses. I keep joking that I'm going to sell her to the Amish.)
@Rose, love this!! I can do none of those things.
@Rose, That is so awesome! Handspinning was at a very low ebb when I learned in the late 90s. My mom is an enthusiastic spinner and knitter so I learned from her. It's exciting to see fiber arts are coming back! Your daughter sounds very accomplished 🙂
Hi Susannah,
It was fun to read your interview. I love the variety of FG readers and I'm very impressed with all that you have done and figured out in life. You sound very grounded with your priorities well established.
I love your kitty, what a cutie.
Some neighbors have a small persimmon tree and it had quite a bit of fruit this year. She said they are very easy to grow so we may try one next year. We have had terrible luck with fig trees.
@K D,
Sliced persimmons with a squeezee of lime and a sprinkle of salt are a little bit of heaven!
@Dicey,
I second that. Persimmons are delicious and often overlooked.
I have some persimmons right now from my Hungry Harvest box and I think they taste kind of...bland. Do I just have a boring batch of them?
@Kristen,
They may not be ripe enough?
@Kristen, I agree with JD. If they haven’t ripened, much like a peach, they are flavorless.
@K D, Persimmon pudding - YUM. One of our nephews had persimmon trees at his house (wild native ones) and brings us pulp at Thanksgiving, after he's done all the hard work - LOL!
@K D, Thank you!
I definitely got lucky with my kitty. His name is Rory and he is very sweet and well-behaved with fur as soft as a rabbit's! He adores the puppy as well.
I have never tried persimmons and it's probably too cold to grow them here but I'd like to at least taste one someday!
@Susannah, We had a persimmon tree in central New York state, so I'm pretty sure they'd be fine in Mass.
@Susannah, at the grocery there are usually two kinds of Asian persimmons: Fuyu are kind of flattish and are eaten firm and chilled, Hachiya are more egg-shaped and must be eaten VERY ripe and soft or they are disgusting. The small native ones that can grow in New England and NY are delicious, but they also have to be eaten very ripe, best cooked. Sorry, serious persimmon aficionado here. 🙂
@Sarah, Cool! Thank you for the clarification. I had no idea!
@K D, I’m in Southern California. My mom had the best persimmons but we had to fight the squirrels for them. I have a giant fig tree that grew out of nowhere (birds planted?). It’s in front of my house and neighbors love to pick them as they walk by. Too many for us, so they are welcome to them:)
Susannah, it is great to meet a young person who is long-term frugal and has such interesting hobbies. Your dog and kitty are gorgeous!
I am very impressed with how you put yourself through college and would say not to feel too bad about not pursuing scholarships. Owing your dad only $3K for a college degree was, in terms of use of time, most likely far better.
@Ruby, Thank you so much!
As an adult, I have become so appreciative of the offbeat way my parents raised me. I was pretty weird as a kid but I think it's made me a more interesting adult. I would love to go back to school for a master's, but I just can't justify the price tag!
@Susannah,
Hey! Remember those scholarships you mentioned? There are still many out there. And lots of degree programs can be done part-time. Best of luck.
@Georgia, Maybe one day I will decide to go back 🙂
Susannah,
It sounds like such a neat place you found to live in Massachusetts! I have only been to MA once, but would love to go back since I have some family there.
The fruit trees were a great idea to start right away and something I wish we had done years ago. One of my friends recently got fruit trees for a birthday present (she asked for them) and I thought that was a genius idea.
Thanks for sharing with us all!
@Ruth T, We really love where we are. We're only an hour from Boston, but it's very peaceful.
Do you have fruit trees now? I know I'm going to be so impatient waiting for mine to bear!
@Susannah, No, I don't have any fruit trees now. But I am thinking of taking my friend's idea and asking for some for my birthday in March!
Thanks for contributing, Susannah! You have so many interesting hobbies! I'd already been planning to get back to growing some things next year and now I'm even more inspired 🙂
@Julie Norman, That's awesome! I'm excited for next year's garden too as I know at least a little bit more than I did this spring 🙂 It legitimately feels like magic to me to grow things from seeds, even giant ugly radishes!
It sounds like you have a beautiful and fulfilling life. Thank you for sharing! I really enjoyed reading about it.
@Jem, Thank you 🙂
I'm wondering which type of fruit trees you planted? My Mom and Dad have a couple blueberry bushes, one is GIANT. I laugh about it now, my whole childhood they were tiny, short things. Then one year a few years back (I'm in my 40s now), they just took off. The one is a couple feet? taller than me now. They have enough blueberries to share with several people and have some to freeze even! Can you tell I'm passionate about fresh blueberries?
@Sarah C., I did a variety! I ordered one each of several self-pollinating trees (plum, peach, apricot, pear, and hazelnut) plus three cherry trees (Rainier and Stella plus a Montmorency) and my partner selected a range of heirloom apple trees. Most were in the 4-6 foot range but I'm not sure how long they will take to bear. Next year we will be adding some berry bushes, I think. I love blueberries too!
Your pets are gorgeous. Furry babies are fun! Thanks for letting us have a peek at your life. All the different faces of frugality are interesting to read about.
@Kris, Thank you! These two are tons of fun, very affectionate, intelligent, and goofy 🙂
Hi, Susannah,
You have beautiful pets and one funny radish!
Speaking as someone trying to manage our expensive health conditions when it is too late in life for us to make much more money, you are wise to think about that now.
Several younger members of my family took college courses in high school, and some were able to earn their A.A. or A.S. while in high school. That's a great idea, and it definitely saves money! Good going, there, as well.
You seem to have clear ideas of your goals, and I feel you will be successful at reaching them!
@JD, Thank you! The road isn't always easy but figuring out what I really want out of life has helped a lot. I was definitely not cut out for a 9-5 office life!
Hello from a fellow Washingtonian! I moved away from Seattle after college and now live in Norway. Very cool picture where you are hanging upside down!
@Sarah K, That sounds amazing! I would love to live in Europe for a while someday. I have been to Norway once but didn't have a lot of time to spend there. Do you enjoy living there?
Aerial yoga is a ton of fun, definitely recommend 🙂
Hello, it’s great to meet you. I am curious. Do you do agility training with Briar?
@Bee, I do plan to do agility with her in the future and actually want to put some equipment in our yard! Unfortunately she is currently recovering from an injury, plus she is too young for high-impact activities at the moment, but it's definitely in the future plans.
Interesting you came from Washington, Susannah. I myself come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee ... (I'll see myself out.)
It's interesting to see a fellow New Englander here. I'm a little less rural than you but pretty close to being really rural. One nice thing about Massachusetts rural is that you can be isolated but not "three hours round trip to go to Walmart" isolated. Heck, two hours in the car will get you the length of the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston (though the Berkshires seem dreamlike on account of that frostin') Man, two musical references in one comment today ...
I'm a little envious of the house and property. I'm at about one acre and a house half that size. My wife feels like we're outgrowing it but it's almost paid off so I am hesitant to take on new debt to feed the whole system.
@Battra92,
Yay! I am a native Alabamian, and love this state. I hope to get to stay here the rest of my life.
@Battra92, you are rockin' and rollin' today.
@Battra92, Ha!
Yes, we are pretty rural but the main drag of our little town is only a 4 minute drive, which was really important to me. I used to live in a place in Washington where it was 15 minutes to anything, so a trip to get butter took at least 30 min. Now, it's half that!
We definitely got lucky with the location and property we found. It's tough in Massachusetts because you often get a tiny little backyard and then an acre of trees and granite! Totally understand not wanting to take on a new mortgage. The expenses really add up on a house.
@st, I was born and bred in New England but I appreciate Stephen Foster. 😉
Hi Susannah,
Thanks for a peek into your very interesting life. When I was a teenager I took my Schipperke dog to dog shows. It was a lot of fun. There was one breeder who needed another dog in the ring and she would take me to shows and put me up in interesting homes. My dog was named Licorice.
@Anita Isaac, I love Schipperkes! Such cool little dogs. If I ever want something smaller, I'd definitely consider one.
I LOVED your story, Susannah... you sound like you're not only thinking ahead, but learning from your past, as well. Good for you.
P.S. Don't forget to include stuff in your planting that you can keep long-term...I was so grateful for acorn squash, for example. (Potatoes are so cheap in our neck of the woods that I wouldn't bother planting them.) Planting things in the fall, like spinach and onions, that will come up again in the spring is also wonderful. Nothing like that first salad...
P.P.S. Children may come your way, whether you plan for them or not. But it sounds to me as if you and your partner could handle it. Good luck to you.
Also, please consider keeping chickens! They can make good use of leftovers and spoiled veggies. And I"m betting you'll find customers for the extra eggs. Our chickens paid for themselves and their feed by the extra eggs I sold -- and we still had plenty for our own use.
@CINDY BRICK, Thank you! I am such a new gardener that I kind of just stuck seeds in the ground and hoped for the best. Next year I will be a bit more organized and I'll keep your tips in mind 🙂
I'd be interested in how Susannah learned to spin. I came across a really nice wheel at a truly bargain price, but alas, I don't have that skill. I've looked on YouTube, but it seems the videos are all about how to spin using a drop spindle rather than a wheel.
@Ruth, My mom is involved in her local spinner's guild, so I learned when I was a child. She's into a lot of traditional crafts and I got into a lot of the same things kind of by osmosis. If you're interested in learning, I would see if there's something similar near you! Drop spinning can be a good way to get started but a lot of it is just practice and making some really lumpy yarn at the beginning.
My dad grew up in NY--Brooklyn, and the first time he owned a house was when we moved to California in his 50's. He planted his first garden and the first things to be ready to harvest were the radishes. My mom asked him how the cucumbers were doing and he replied "I don't know, I haven't pulled them up yet to see if they are ripe." He thought everything grew underground. LOL! We had many years of mostly tomatoes, but he enjoyed "going out on the farm" (our small backyard) with the dog every day when he came home from work.
It is truly an accomplishment to make a living as a writer, and frugality helps. I have a daughter at a state U right now who hopes to be a writer. She lives at home and works to pay her expenses. I'm so proud of her.
@Jan, That is too funny!
Being a writer can be challenging in a number of ways but it was absolutely the right choice for me. I hope that is the case for your daughter as well! My mom was very supportive of me in this career and that really helped; your daughter is lucky you support her dream 🙂
I agree with everyone else that Briar is a lovely pup. Is she an Australian Shepherd? She has that look. (I walk a neighbor's Aussie twice a week, so I'm fond of the breed.)
And I admire the way you're starting partnered life off, with clear ideas of what you both want, a good homestead, and minimal debt. Makes me wish I were 40 years younger...
@A. Marie, She is actually a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller), but their personalities are actually quite similar to an Aussie. She's incredibly intelligent and very goofy! I had two growing up, but she is my first as an adult.
I love Susannah's hair in that first picture! It looks cuddly to me.
@Linda Sand, Thanks!
Nice to meet you! I think your pets are especially cute!!! I also feel sad at the end of s growing season. I miss cooking with my fresh herbs the most!
@Stephanie, Thank you! Yes, I'm already sad to say goodbye to the tomatoes until next summer...
@Stephanie, That’s me, too! Of all the things in the garden I somehow miss the herbs the most, as in, I mind paying for them during winter more than I mind paying for veggies.
Susannah, kudos on making intelligent decisions and crafting such an intentional and beautiful life. Thanks for sharing your words and photos - all beautiful!
@MB in MN, Thank you so much 🙂
Love your aerial pic. My daughter practiced for a year and loved kf
@Mary, It's so much fun! I actually have a silk at home now, which I should use more!
So, how does that work at home? Do you have a secure hook in your ceiling that you hang from?
@Kristen, I have a freestanding A-frame. It's not as good as having it hooked into the ceiling, but it's a huge deal to get one properly installed. I didn't feel like bringing in (and paying for) an electrical engineer! We have a large alcove with high ceilings in our bedroom and the frame fits fine in there. When we eventually build a garage, I hope to have some steel beams installed for the purpose. Fortunately, our insurance doesn't prohibit any of this!
Ahhh, ok. This definitely seems like something you'd want to very carefully install if you were going to attach it to your ceiling! Ha.
Sorry, I meant structural engineer!
Hi Susannah,
This is my first time commenting on Kristen's blog but I've also followed for about 10 years and am from Washington state. I'm curious did you attend WWU? 🙂
Nice to meet someone else from the PNW!
Maddie
@Maddie, I did go to WWU! It was a great fit for me. I miss the PNW often--part of my heart will always belong to it. I'm lucky to have lots of friends and family back home still!
Susannah, you are so smart to already be planting fruit trees. I wish my husband and I had been that smart 27 years ago rather than five.
I enjoyed reading about your life! I am curious- where was your travel photo taken?
@Sherri, My fingers are crossed that they all survive and start to bear in a few years!
The photo was taken in Oia, Santorini, in Greece. One of the more "touristy" places I've been but the scenery was so worth the crowds!
Thank you for sharing and for the great photos! I love learning how "normal" people in other contries live. What I find really amazing is the size of the homes in the US. Here in Europe, 1500 square foot is considered a good-sized family home.
Hilde in Germany
@Hilde, I love that too! Getting a peek into different lives around the world is so interesting.
We didn't really intend to buy a house of this size, but you don't often see small houses on larger lots here. It ended up working out because we both work from home now and have separate work spaces, which is really nice.
What a fun and interesting read your life is! And you’re just getting started. Beautiful dog and kitty—and someone is good at photography.
Your hobbies are so neatly varied and that aerial photo! Travel has always been important to us, as well, so that was great to hear among the more "homey" hobbies.
You’ve assembled a lovely and well-rounded life, Susannah, and it was fun to hear about!
@Erika JS, Thank you! I am very fortunate 🙂 My dad is a passionate traveler so I got to fill up my passport from an early age. What a gift that was!
I really like your tip on knowing the usual prices for things, so that we will recognize good deals when we see them. And we can no longer be fooled by those tricky marketers/retailers. I know some keep a kind of notebook. I have notes in my phone for some things, and some I know because I buy often. Also I hear there are websites for that. I like stores that have “unit-pricing”- so much per ounce, per pound, per square foot, per each, which makes the comparison process easier. Wishing you continuing happiness!
@J, Especially now that pricing can be so weird online! I didn't know there were websites for that kind of tracking, that's cool.
Hello from a fellow MA reader! I'm excited to check out your blog.
@Renee, Thank you so much! I hope you are enjoying the leaves right now 🙂
I loved reading about your life and wish you all the best in your endeavors! We are from Massachusetts originally (near Boston) and it is a beautiful state. It is awesome to be able to free-lance and I look forward to reading your novel someday -- thanks for sharing your great attitude and lovely pictures!