For the record, I don't begrudge the Frugalwoods their income or their success. If the book had been made available as a free download from the blog, I bet there wouldn't be as much arguing going on about them. Speaking only for myself (and probably for others, given the comments on this forum), I feel like I've been duped by purchasing the book. It is disingenuous. It is not retirement advice, but an accounting of how two well paid individuals managed to live on the average/median income of the US household. They have set goals and managed to live up to this goals, in part by creating a fan club that helps add to their net worth. If the envelope hadn't been pushed to monetize their own life story by writing a pure-play vanity piece and selling it for more money than it is worth, the Frugalwoods wouldn't be facing the ire of those who (like I do) feel duped.
For the record, I have worked for investment banks for the past 16 years in a support role. Like the Frugalwoods, I have never earned an investment banker salary, but investment bankers keep me very busy. In the first few years of an investment banker's career, it would not be surprising to find that first- second- third- fourth- fifth-year bankers (pretty much everyone who isn't at least a VP) live, not on seltzer water, but on Red Bull and other caffeine/energy drinks. My day starts anytime between 7:30 and 8 AM; it ends anytime between 5:30 and 7 PM - if I'm lucky. The bankers, meanwhile, stay at their desks. Many mornings, there will be an email sent at 8PM with a request; a follow-up email will be sent anywhere between 11 PM and 2 AM; and often, there will be a "when will you get this to me? I need it ASAP!" email sent between 5 and 6 AM. No investment banker can go hiking every weekend, or even get a regular sleep schedule. Many have joined the building's gym just to access the showers. Six years ago one investment banker I did work for, who had been employed at this bank for less than a year, died in his sleep. Investment bankers are overpaid, but they are also overworked. Given the blog posts about the daily life of the family, it seems that neither of them have comparable work stress (despite the fact that he does have a more-than-comparable salary).
And I'm not saying either of the Frugalwoods should work themselves to exhaustion, but I don't like using my limited funds to add to their less limited funds. There is more in the book about how Mrs. Frugalwoods gave up make-up than how she managed to leave an employer, go to graduate school, and get the former employer to create a new position to bring her back. Some tips about that would have been useful, and maybe earned the purchase price. Instead we go from a distracted employee in a meeting learning that there will be layoffs, to a relieved comment about how she managed to keep her job. This book is full of potential pitfalls, which the Frugalwoods managed to avoid because they are so awesome and frugal that the trouble that might hit your life or mine sees their combined strength and goes in the other direction. Everything is mentioned in this book except the details that might be put to use in your life or mine. This is the story of how their lives went from good to great - a total puff piece. From all the pre-publicity hype, I expected more. And I feel like an idiotic dupe for aiding and abetting them.
Given the fact that there are so many other posts calling them out for their humble-bragging/obfuscation/misdirection/etc, I don't think I'm the only one.