First, we want to send our condolences to Elle at Couple Money. Her grandmother passed away, and she’ll be taking a week off to spend time with her family. Next week she plans on featuring lessons her grandparents taught her, something dear to my heart. Please stop by her blog and send her love and happy thoughts.
This Monday we’re interviewing the Frugal Zeitgeist himself, Forest. Forest is a Yakezie member who has written wonderful posts about traveling the world and frugality with a day-to-day edge. After reading our interview, why don’t you head on over to Frugal Zeitgeist to check out our favorite post FZ post of the week, Are Rich People Really Happy?
1. What blog/website do you read most often?
My reading is now mostly within the Yakezie Personal Finance Network but of the bunch I would say I mostly read Red’s awesome Girl With the Red Balloon and Kevin’s Invest it Wisely.
2. What made you start writing? Particularly in personal finance?
I started with a more frugal approach as I was living very frugally and I noticed it was very popular on the day time news. Over the last few years I got more interested in personal finance and it kind of naturally happened.
3. What is your favorite post that you’ve written and why?
Oh that is tough! I don’t think it’s a magnificent piece of writing but I liked my post on my visit to Garbage City in Cairo because it chronicled a personal and touching experience.
4. How has simple living and minimalism influenced your day-to-day lifestyle?
Well I think and live frugal for the most part now and this in turn has led to a minimalist outlook that basically makes my life pretty simple. I find simple living reduces stress a lot and means I can keep calm and rarely get wound up anymore.
5. How do you feel about frugality in today’s society?
Frugality is kind of popular but I don’t feel people are really embracing it. In fact if they could spend $100’s on a product that helped them feel more frugal then they probably would. It completely misses the point! With so many gadgets and distractions and ways to throw or money away it’s hard to leave that mind set away but myself and many other awesome bloggers are a testament that it can be done.
6. Do you have a favorite cheap eat to share?
At home it has to be homemade pasta sauce. I spread this on homemade flat bread with some cheese and have an awesome quick pizza.
Eating out I love a dish called Koshari here in Egypt. Koshari costs about $0.40 for a nice sized portion and is a carb fest of pasta, rice, lentils and tomato sauce with fried onions chick peas and spicy chilli sauce. It’s awesome!
7. Do you have a favorite money saving tip or practice that you use?
Learn to cook and cut out drinking. Simple really!
8. Looking back on your financial life, if you had to do it all over again, is there any one thing you’d like to do over? Or one thing you believe was a pivotal moment?
I screwed up badly when I signed up to loans for close relatives. I am still paying for that debt and if I could I would reverse that. But my good money habits came from the payments making me live frugal and now I have these skills for life. When that debt is completely squashed I can only see a life of prosperity and no money worries ahead.
9. And just for fun, if you could be any superhero based on their alter ego, what would you be? (Because we all know Peter Parker and Clark Kent spent more time as themselves than walking around as superheroes.)
I’d like to be Bicycle Repair Man as he is Superman in his normal day to day life: http://www.youtube.com/
Andi B.