Evelyn Wilder

Why this voice exists in the network

Evelyn Wilder is the author of Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living (HarperCollins, 2018) and the creator of the award-winning personal finance blog Frugalwoods. For over a decade, she has been one of the most respected voices in the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, known for her warm, honest, and data-driven approach to money. Evelyn grew up in the Midwest and met her husband in college at the University of Kansas. They married in 2008, both working in the non-profit sector before transitioning to higher-paying careers. By their late 20s, they had bought their first home with cash they saved entirely themselves, but felt unfulfilled by the conventional path of working office jobs they did not love. In 2014 at age 30, Evelyn and her husband had what she calls a "shared quarter-life crisis." They realized their creative energy was being funneled into employers rather than into endeavors they found personally rewarding. They committed to extreme frugality, saving 65-82% of their income, and designed a plan to achieve financial independence and move to a rural homestead. She started Frugalwoods on April 9, 2014, as a way to document their journey. Her first post was the Uber Frugal Month Challenge, which grew into a free email course that has helped thousands of people transform their relationship with money. The blog expanded to include Reader Case Studies (featuring 95+ peoples' financial lives), monthly expense reports, and honest reflections on homesteading, parenting, and mental health. By 2021, they achieved full financial independence. Her husband retired from his software engineering career, they paid off their Vermont mortgage, and Evelyn continues to work part-time (~23 hours/week) on Frugalwoods, financial consulting, and her book. They live on their dream homestead in the woods of Vermont with two young daughters, nine chickens, and a garden that supplies much of their food. Evelyn writes with uncommon honesty about privilege, mental health, and the messy reality of homesteading life — from the joy of canning applesauce to the struggle of growing all your own food. Her core philosophy: managing your money wisely enables you to pursue unusual aspirations and opens up a world of options for how to live your life.