My name is Lise, and this is Frugal in the Fruitlands, a blog devoted to frugality and voluntary simplicity, with a particular focus on central Massachusetts.

Frugality is part of my upbringing; my parents, while being total tightwads in some ways (hey, they even subscribed to The Tightwad Gazette in its original form), were terrible spendthrifts in others, with my mother and father often using spending as weapons against each other. I also spent a large portion of my formative years with my maternal grandmother and aunt, who were unabashedly poor. This somewhat schizophrenic financial history is what I bring to the table.

Voluntary simplicity is a relatively new concept to me; after reading Judith Levine’s excellent book Not Buying It last year, I went out in search of every book I could find on the topic, including Duane Elgin’s definitive work, Voluntary Simplicity. This is somewhat of a conflicted topic for me, as well; not long after reading this book my husband and I bought a 2,000+ square foot home, my “(not so) little house in the fruitlands.” I still wonder if I would choose simplicity as a route if my finances were different.

In short, I have a lot of insight on these two topics, but I’m still trying to figure out how to make them work for me.

I began this blog in June 2007, so I’m a wee new blogger, and you can still help to make it a success. The following posts probably provide a good introduction to my personal take on the genres:

Feel free to subscribe to Frugal in the Fruitlands’ RSS feed. If you’re not familiar with RSS, ProBlogger.net provides a good introduction to RSS here.

In addition to frugality and VS, this blog also touches on personal finance, productivity and personal development, and economics. I try to keep it updated 2-3 times a week.

What else? I live in the verdant and rural Lunenburg, Massachusetts with my husband and four cats. I have a BA in cognitive science from Vassar College and am currently pursuing an MS in computer science from Fitchburg State College. By day I’m a moderately caustic mild-mannered data analyst working for a market research firm. By night, I fight crime. And by crime, I mean dishes. When I’m not blogging, I enjoy Way Too Many Other Things. Some of my independent interests include atheism, reading and writing science fiction and fantasy, languages, games of all sorts, and anything remotely crafty or DIY (do-it-yourself).

You may contact me at elfracal AT electric DASH monk DOT net with questions, comments, requests for links, or guest post ideas. I do not accept guest posts, links, or advertisements from corporate entities.