Living Frugally Without Feeling Deprived: Walnut Creek's Award Winning Author Elise Cooke Says It's Possible

By day, Walnut Creek resident Elise Cooke is a mild-mannered mom of three. When she dons her Super Saver cape, however, she is an award-winning author who dispenses advice on frugal living in a witty, breezy style.  Cooke's writing has garnered not one, but two, Best Books awards from USA Book News.

How long have you lived in Walnut Creek? Nearly 10 years now.  We bought our home in June 2001.

Where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. I grew up in Southern California and then lived in the Salinas area. Hubby and I lived in Alameda for a few years, too. So I'm a California girl except for three miserable months in Coos Bay, Ore., which we just don't talk about! 

Tell me a bit about your family. I have three kids, ages 13, 11 and 7. And a husband who's old enough! We've been married almost 22 years.

When did you start Simpleton Solutions and why? I set up the website in 2008.

Here's how it happened: In June 2007, there was a series in the newspaper about a local congresswoman who had started something called the Congressional Food Challenge. Basically, she challenged her fellow members of Congress to live on food stamps, which worked out to about $3 a day for an individual. She did this very dramatically, going into grocery stores and buying mostly convenience foods. By the end of the week, she said she had to go to Taco Bell in order to get that little bit of lettuce on her taco so she could have some vegetables in her diet.

I was shaking my head at her non-nutritive choices,  and then I said, wait a minute! What do I live on? Just the year before, I'd gone through six months of my grocery bills to see exactly what we spent and we were spending about half that rate, without even breaking a sweat.

You were feeding yourself on $1.50 a day? Just about. It was about $1.75 a person each day. What I've always tried to do is eat for about $8 a day for all five of us. We still manage that pretty well. Sometimes it's $10. Sometimes it's $6. It's not that hard. I've just built up ways to do this over time.  And yes, we do eat meat: chicken, hamburger, sausage and pork roast are our main fare.

So back to Simpleton Solutions. Right, so what I waited for were letters from savvy home economists, which didn't come. So I mulled it over for a year, then, with the encouragement of my husband, I finally wrote down what I do and that became my first book, Strategic Eating: The Econovore's Essential Guide, which came out in 2008. It details all the essential methodologies I employ and includes research on how to go even lower. There are also a lot of recipes on how to use any leftover you've got and turn it into a whole new meal.  When a mom of nine wrote, "I'm already pretty good at this [but] you delivered," that was the highest praise ever!

My second book, The Grocery Garden: How Busy People Can Grow Cheap Food, came out the following spring. It's based on my 20 years of gardening experience.

Talk a little about your new book.  It's called The Miserly Mind: 12 ½ Secrets of the Freakishly Frugal. In the same economy, some people are very successful and become independently wealthy and some crash and burn. These are people who start out in similar circumstances. Many self-made millionaires come from the same circumstances as you or I. So the question is, what are they doing that's different and how are they thinking? So I started researching. I also put out a survey and asked frugal folk how they approach things. I got some wonderful responses that added up to 12--and a half—traits that led to people making good economic choices.

The half is: failure is an option. Through experimentation, you sometimes get it wrong. But don't be afraid of getting it wrong.  You learn a lot by failure. So, the book has lots of stories of DIY disasters like people turning their hair purple with home dos, etc.

What are some of the other 12 secrets? Make a frugal network; borrow the Rototiller that you'll use twice a year and similarly, lend to others. Be willing to work to your own drummer. Resist the pressure to buy more. Tell your kids you don't want to buy it, not that you can't afford it. That's really important around the holidays when people run up debt.

So I shouldn't expect a gift from you with a big red bow on top in the driveway this year? You'll get a lovely card!

Are you cheap or frugal? There is a difference. Cheap is when you're taking extra napkins from the restaurant so you can use them at home. That's stealing! Frugal is making choices with your resources to your best advantage for you and your family. It's about staying out of debt and planning ahead. Frugality is creative, strategic and kind of a rush, really.

So frugal doesn't mean deprivation? No, no! It's just using your resources according to your best advantage—to your values. So, if your goals don't include a latte every day because you want to retire two years earlier, then stay focused and out of the java joints.

How can people get your books? They are widely available from sites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Borders. Or you can get them signed, from my website, www.simpletonsolutions.com. You can always compare prices. In fact, I expect you to!

What advice do you have for people who have been living the anti-frugality lifestyle? It's never too late to learn, to turn it around. Start with food. I know it sounds funny. You're thinking, 'I've got this huge debt,' but those things are going to take a while to turn around. Saving money on food can happen with your very next meal. That can result in your saving hundreds of dollars a month.