My Deprived Life: Raising a Family on under $27,000 a year

     The post I read was called "My Deprived Life: Raising a Family on under $27,000 a year". It was more or less giving a basic rundown of the things he has showing that even though he is frugal, he isn't deprived. He goes through things such as his house, that he picked up for $50,000 less than it was worth, his "toys", all of which are higher quality so that they almost never break, his transportation, including his use of bicycles and used cars. It even goes on to talk about his vacations.
     The main idea I think he is trying to get across is that using your money more wisely and being overly frugal doesn't mean you have to live a lifestyle without some nice amenities. I do think this is a legitimate idea. The way he points it out is with buying quality items, they shouldn't need replaced. so therefore it would only need to be bought once. He goes on to explain about how much money could be saved in fuel if you ride a bicycle in town and save the driving for out of town travels. The downside I would think to his argument is that not everyone has the same things as hobbies. What may be good for him (such as he uses the fact carpentry is something he enjoys so working on his house is two birds with one stone) It may be something that isn't good for others. Maybe the readers hobbies involves consistently spending money.
    I went on to see that it's perfectly doable. There are many people who do the same. Joanna McFarlane is one of those people, and she received the title of the most frugal New-Englander. She outlines 14 tips on how she saves money while raising kids here: http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/gallery/frugaltips/