Bonjour!

Welcome to La Femme Frugale! This website was born out of frustration.  So many people, through television and magazines, promise to help the average homemaker create the ideal life in which her home is neatly organized and tastefully decorated, meals are healthy and easy to prepare, and everything else (like hostessing, holidays, and personal upkeep) is. . . well. . . perfect.  And then there are a few publications that address all of these things on the cheap, and the result is. . . well. . . cheap.  Or ineffective, or inefficient, or just plain tacky.

La Femme Frugale is all about being smart and doing things well.  Spend where it counts and save everywhere else, without sacrificing quality and style.  Maybe you don’t want to spend $20 on a bottle of what the pros call ”good” vanilla extract and you go with the supermarket brand; the truth is, in most recipes THEY TASTE THE SAME.  On the other hand, cheap garbage bags make for huge messes; in that case, it’s worth spending a little more on a higher-quality bag.  And, the most telling lesson of all:  The most comfortable pair of heels I’ve ever worn came from Target.  It’s not rocket science, but those other people will lead you to believe that if you can’t afford the spendy stuff, it’s not worth doing at all.  Not only is that not true, it’s not smart.

So hopefully you find the ideas on this site not only helpful, but inspiring.  Just because we’re all on a budget doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take pride in what we do as wives, mothers* and homemakers.  It’s hard work!  Nevertheless, let’s do it right.