Fru·gal·is·ta [froo-guh-lee-stuh] - noun
1. A person who lives within her means and saves, but still looks good, eats well and lives fabulously.

Natalie P. McNeal opened her credit card statements in January 2008 and tallied up her loans to find that
she was a staggering five figures—$20,000!—in debt. Young, hip and gainfully (if Dilbertly) employed, Natalie loved her lifestyle of regular mani/pedis, daily take-out, shopping sprees and nights on the town. But clearly, something had to give.

And so The Frugalista Files was born. Through her Miami Herald blog, Natalie confessed her spending
habits to the world—and it turns out she wasn’t the only girl out there having trouble balancing the budget! The Frugalista Files will share the good, the bad and the ugly—how Natalie started the blog, stuck to her “no-buy month” despite a breakup that could have used some retail therapy, and ultimately discovered how to maintain her lifestyle while digging herself out of debt.

This is personal finance in peep-toe pumps—at once the inspiring story of how one woman went where no broke fashionista had gone before and your ultimate guide to living a fabulous, yet still frugal, life.

NATALIE P. MCNEAL
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IS AN AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST WHO LAUNCHED HER PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG AND BRAND, FRUGALISTA, IN FEBRUARY 2008.

A SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT FOR KMART’S SMARTSHOPPERSUNITE.COM, HER BLOG HAS BEEN FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. HER WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN THE MIAMI HERALD, EBONY AND NEWSDAY, AMONG OTHERS.
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VISIT HER AT
THEFRUGALISTA.COM.
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