Normally on Mondays, I answer a few questions that you all send in to me, but this week, my husband is answering some questions that you directed towards him. We collaborated on this project (I read the questions, he answered, and I typed his answers), but the answers to the questions are all his thoughts (I didn’t want you to think I made up the nice things he said about me!!). Thank you to those of you who sent questions in! We had a lot of fun putting this together, and I hope you enjoy reading his answers.
(I always like to have a face to put with a name, so for those of you who are new around here and haven’t ever seen Mr. FG, here’s a picture of us at the beach last September.)
What are the four things you love most about the Frugal Girl?
-Ron
I had a hard time choosing my top four, so though these are not necessarily my four MOST favorite things about her, they are some of my favorite things.
1. Her persevering, steady nature.
2. The way she balances me out…her frugality balances out my spendy nature, her love for planning balances out my spontaneous nature, and her happy-go-lucky outlook on life balances out my more serious outlook.
3. That she is easy to get along with.
4. Her smile.
I have a question for Mr FG – I wonder if he ever feels pressure or just gets comments from co-workers or others regarding your families’ frugal choices? My husband receives comments frequently from male co-workers regarding the older (but paid for!) car he drives, the small amount of “spend” money he takes every paycheck (only $20 every two weeks), the fact that he doesn’t eat lunch out all the time like they do etc. I don’t think this bothers him too much but maybe a little in that he mentions their comments to me. Of course these same people or in terrible financial straits and constantly borrowing money too!
-Heather
Not really. Some co-workers who eat out all the time want me to go with them, but they don’t really give me grief if I don’t go. Usually when I talk to co-workers about our financial decisions, their response is fairly positive. Most people seem to think that living beneath our means is wise, even if they don’t do that themselves. I think that might have to do with the state of the economy right now…because so many people are in bad financial shape, they respect people who manage their money well.
Mr FG:
As the main income earner in your family, do you ever resent the way you have had to compromise in order to remain frugal for your family? In other words, do you ever wish you could just blow the wad on a 42 inch flatscreen and to heck with the emergency fund? Just wondering. Thanks.
Sure, I think everybody feels that way from time to time. I tend to be more of a spender than Kristen, and sometimes spending money on fun stuff seems more gratifying than saving money. But I do tend to be somewhat conservative in my views towards money and try to think beore I buy something, i.e. “Do I have the money for this?” “Do I need this?”, and I do try to keep an eye to the future.
I think having a balance between spending and saving is important and like with everything else in life, it’s a matter of keeping things balanced, which is a challenge.
What do you guys do for fun together?
When we go on date nights, we like to go out to dinner, and afterwards, we usually end up going shopping (it seems like we always have birthday shopping to do!). We love to go for overnighters without the kids, but that doesn’t happen too often.
We also like to play music together (I play guitar and Kristen plays the piano), read books together (I sometimes read aloud to her while she irons), go for walks, watch an occasional movie, and go for walks. We used to bikeride together before we had kids, but we haven’t been able to do that for a long time. One of my favorite things to do is to just talk with Kristen, and one of the reasons I enjoy vacations, date nights, and overnighters is that we have more of a chance to talk to each other.
One thing we NEVER do for fun is play Connect Four. Kristen always, always beats me at that game and it frustrates me no end.
(note from Kristen: I think playing Connect Four with Mr. FG is loads of fun. If only he would get on the same page with me. 
)
I’m a stay-at-home mom and it seems like my job is never ending, thankfully my husband chips in a lot around the house….do you help your wife out around the house?
Yes, though I don’t do it perfectly and I probably don’t do it enough. I help her with the dishes, I help the kids with their pjs and toothbrushing sometimes, I tuck the kids in bed (Sonia wants me to tuck her in every night!), I do random chores that need doing especially when I see that Kristen is stressed out or overwhelmed, and I take care of the usual guy stuff around the house like mowing the lawn, changing the oil, etc. I also help out with other random stuff when Kristen asks.
(note from Kristen: I’m really lame at asking for help, and I’m not even very good at accepting offers of help, so often when I am overwhelmed it’s kind of my own fault. Mr. FG is usually good about helping out when I actually let him know what I need help with and he does sometimes just take the initiative and does whatever needs doing. I do handle more household-related tasks than Mr. FG, which is fine with me because he spends a lot more hours earning money than I do and is not home as much as I am.)
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Next week we’ll be back to the normal Q&A format with me answering your questions, but if any of you have more questions for my husband, feel free to send them in, and we’ll do another Q&A post with him when I accumulate enough questions.
Kayte says
I really liked this post . However one thing kind of frustrates me, when partners who work out of the home say they ‘help’ or ‘pitch in’ with chores around the house or with children.
These things a\re both the partners responsibility, and I do not see how a partner doing the dishes is ‘helping’ the other. Choice of words and language are a big thing I believe.
So instead of helping do the dishes, you were simply doing the dishes.
You are not helping by getting kids in bed, you are simply getting the kids in bed.
Everything is a joint effort.
I am also curious as to why you call yourself girl, when clearly you are a woman. Again, wording is more powerful than we think.
Just food for thought.
Kristen says
Well, I look at it like this…we both help each other. I help him in many ways and he helps me in many ways. We’re a team, and we both have to pitch in to keep things going around here. For example, I help him by taking care of the kids while he’s at work, he helps me by taking care of the kids so I can go get some alone time. The “helping” doesn’t just go one way.
As to the girl thing, I really don’t know! lol I started this blog without giving a lot of thought to the title and at this point, it’s kind of too late to change it. There are a lot of other adult female bloggers who refer to themselves as “girl” in the title, though. I don’t see myself as anything other than an adult, though, if that’s what concerns you. I think I am every bit as much an adult as my husband, and I don’t at all feel inferior to him.
Jah says
What a sweet post !
Mr FG is a lucky guy and it’s so nice to see that he knows it! You’re a lucky woman too ! xo
EngineerMom says
Thanks, this was fun!
It’s great that one of his favorite things to do with you is talk! Communication really is the foundation of a good marriage. Congratulations on yours!
hiptobeme says
Wow, you used my question, cool! Hot couple, and smart too. This was fun.
Raffy says
Ooh, what a lovely couple – and a team too.
You look so young. Well, you are, but it amazes me to think you already have 4 children.
Jessica W says
Thanks… this was great!
Amanda says
Tell Mr. FG that I will never ever engage in a game of checkers with my husband. He thinks checkers is innocent fun and I wind up totally irritated before the game is over.
He would probably take you up on a game of Connect4 any day. (Not I.)
Kate says
GREAT post – thanks for sharing. You two seem very good for each other, how wonderful!
Laura Klaes says
Love todays post. Thanks for sharing
Jeanine says
He looks nothing like I imagined, but you both look so good together.
Thanks Mr. FG, for sharing!!!
Simple in France says
Thanks for being willing to share such a personal part of your lives. The questions about how you divide up the work and responsibilities were great. I’m always curious about how other couples do things.
julie says
aw. great picute! you two are a cute couple. sounds like you have a fabulous marriage. ( so do I, thanks be to God) keep up the awesome work. love this site!
julie says
*picture….oops
Angela says
Well, that is just adorable. I LOVE that you guys play music together. My husband plays guitar and it’s my dream to join him someday. We love to sing together, even though I have a terrible voice. And our very favorite thing to do is Talk, Talk, Talk.
You seem to have worked out a great balance between work and family and your different roles. We don’t have kids, but I so admire the way you guys are raising yours.
Jill says
I loved this post – he sounds like a wonderful man. You are both blessed to have one another!
LenciB says
Thats so romantic! I don’t think my husband will be posting on my blog anytime soon though!
Katy Wolk-Stanley says
Sweet.
<3
Carolyn says
Great post! My husband would probably have responded the same way ;o) It’s always humoring to see people in other parts of the country going about their daily lives in paralleling ways to our own lives – helps to make us feel less mundane. Thanks for the insight! Keep it up!
Penny says
I loved this! It actually made me think of a follow-up question for Kristen –
“Note from Kristen: I’m really lame at asking for help, and I’m not even very good at accepting offers of help, so often when I am overwhelmed it’s kind of my own fault.”
I totally have this issue! But how do you get past it? I find myself thinking, “How can he not *notice* that A, B & C need to be done?!” But he doesn’t. He’s always willing to do what I ask, but I get caught up in “I shouldn’t have to ask” .. so. How do you make yourself able to DH to do what you need?
Franci says
Yeah, I know the feeling!
Alison says
What an amazing picture – did your son take it?
Kristen says
Yep! He took it for us while we were in Myrtle Beach on vacation.
I don’t like how squinty my eyes are in it, but it is a very realistic picture of what I look like when I smile (I smile REALLY big! lol).
Jennifer Wishon says
I really love this post! Thanks for sharing Mr. FG!
Olathe Mom says
My husband and I have a fun marriage, too, and love talking together.
Blessings on your marriage!
Thanks for the fun Q&A!
Erika says
Such a nice post
I appreciate his honesty regarding his spending habits and whatnot. I’m also a firm believer in the idea that relationships are best when two people balance each other out. That way you don’t get bored thinking that you are dating yourself (so to speak), and you are able to accomplish more because you make eachother stronger.
Also (and completely unrelated but I’m FREAKING out!):
I was making Whole-Wheat Irish Soda Bread on Friday while talking to my mother on the phone (Big mistake!) and I ended up putting a tsp of baking powder in the dry ingredients instead of a tsp of baking soda. I had to re-do all my dry ingredients. Now, I have a bowl of:
2 c. white whole wheat flour
2c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1sp. baking powder
I have no idea what the heck to do with it and I’m afraid I’ll have to throw it out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Kristen says
Hmm…I might try adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to that mixture and then proceed with the recipe. I bet it would turn out all right. I think maybe you’d need to use buttermilk for the liquid, though.
Let me know how it goes!
Erika says
I just went through your older Wednesday Baking recipes and noticed that baking powder is used in your quickbreads, muffins, and coffee cakes. I think I’ll try to figure out the proportions and make either your whole wheat quickbreads, your cinnamon crumble coffee cake, or some muffins. I actually may go with the round whole wheat quick bread that you posted a while back so I can use up the remainder of my buttermilk!
Thanks!
Mrs Green at myzerowaste says
Fantastic; lovely to see Mr FG as well; he’s not at all what I imagined him to look like. You’ve reminded me that I have a video clip somewhere of readers questions, I must dig it out and post up.
Thanks so much for the post!
Kristen says
lol! That’s so funny, Mrs. Green. I’m surprised this is the first you’ve seen of him since you’ve been following me from almost the very beginning. Of course, I don’t post pics of him very often (only because he prefers it that way), so it’s easy to miss them.
Faith says
My husband reads to be while I iron, cook, sew, bake, and other things. It is wonderful. We are reading Lord of the Rings right now.
Anne -Mommy Has to Work says
it was great hearing from mr fg!!
Jen B. says
Great post “Mr. FG”. I love Kristen’s posts – thanks for enabling her to do them!
MaryLynne says
What fun! Thanks for the look inside…
Stacey Covell says
Great Post guys!!