A note to new readers: while we often delve deeply into financial topics (such as Behind the Scenes of a Happy Frugal Marriage and How We Save 65% Annually), we also like to keep it irreverent and downright silly. Because hey, who doesn’t need an investigative interview series conducted by a dog?! And so, I hope you’ll enjoy Frugal Hound Sniffs! If you’d prefer a more, ahem, financial independence-related post, start here.
Greetings World Wide Web.
Frugal Hound here. It’s Thanksgiving week, which means the best of times and the worst of times for me here at the Frugalwoods home.
Best of times: Mr. and Mrs. Frugalwoods brought home a turkey and a ton of other food stuffs on Friday evening and I promptly sniffed every single grocery bag. Not gonna lie, I licked the side of a milk carton. Being a certified turkey freak, I expect to be given my due tidbits of the turkey bird come Thanksgiving.
Worst of times: In preparation for seeing my grandparents, I was bathed. Mr. FW picked me up and hauled me into the bathtub with Mrs. FW and they scrubbed and soaked me. Now I’m all silky and fresh smelling. It’s terrible.
As payback, I’ve taken over Frugalwoods for a stunning installment of my erudite interview series, Frugal Hound Sniffs. Today I’m joined by lovely Julep, the resident dog of Budget Blonde.
Please join me in exuberantly sniffing Julep!
1) Who are you? What are you? And who are your parent(s)?
I’m Julep. I’m confident I’m a very designer breed of dog, so designer in fact that there’s no other dog like me. Words have been thrown around like “mutt” which means I’m a mixture of simply the best. My parents are Cat and Hubs Alford. My mom blogs at www.BudgetBlonde.com. My dad takes out a lot of loans.
2) What frugal tips and tricks does your human use in your pet care regime?
My parents accept free help from their neighbor who walks me several mornings a week. I personally think she took one look at me and wanted to spend extra time with me but my mom says she took pity on us because mom has so many babies.
3) Favorite treat?
My favorite treat is peanut butter. You wouldn’t believe the tricks I’ll do for peanut butter. These fools try to make roll over just for the fun of it. I say pish posh. I only roll for peanut butter.
4) Favorite toy?
I stole a plush bone from my cousin. I did not ask. That ridiculous Australian Shepherd just left her toy next to me, and I snatched it right up and kept it. I am not sorry for this. For some reason, I have destroyed every single squeaky toy I’ve ever owned in 5 years except for this one. This one is special.
5) What’s the most expensive thing you’ve destroyed?
I don’t destroy anything expensive. I only destroy small items that are toxic to me, like dark chocolate and entire bottles of baby aspirin. I find when I go this route my parents finally pay attention to me. Then they have to spend lots of money at the vet and say sweet nothings to me.
How’s this going so far? Pretty amazing. I mean, you’re interviewing me – isn’t it obvious?
6) Most embarrassing moment?
I keep pulling all the cloth diapers out of the trash can. I’m simply trying to help my mom clean by smearing poop all over the bathroom floor. I like the way it freshens up the room and can’t understand why she doesn’t. Mom keeps finding me doing this and yells at me. It makes me feel embarrassed, and I hide under the bed afterwards.
7) How often do you get a bath and would you say it’s too often?
I used to get baths all the time. Then one day my parents came home with these two very small humans. I know they are humans because they have thumbs and are quite loud. My parents are so distracted by the twins that they always forget to bathe me, which suits me just fine.
8) What is your family’s financial plan or goals and how do you contribute?
I try to teach my parents a lesson when it comes to their finances. When they come home with candy, I sniff it out and eat it. It’s ridiculous they spend their money on something so useless. I also try to help them by cleaning up as much as possible. When they drop food on the floor, I always try to eat it. I also try to save them on baby wipes by always licking the twins’ faces. They always yell at me when I do this, and I just can’t understand it. Why buy baby wipes when you have me around?
9) What is your best skill?
I am a fabulous jumper if I do say so myself. It doesn’t matter if you’re 6’3” like my dad – I can jump up and lick your face. I am also extremely fast. In fact, I’d like to challenge you, oh mighty greyhound, to a race. Other dogs are usually pretty impressed with me at the dog park, and I like to make them chase me around just to prove my superiority.
10) BONUS QUESTION–ask and answer any question of your choice!
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest dog of all? Oh that’s right – me, Julep.
The End.
Well, well, well Julep, race challenge accepted! I will warn you that ever since I hip-checked a beagle at the dog park, my parents won’t let me run with any dogs other than greyhounds. I guess I’m a tad competitive.
I am awed by your jumping skillz. I, on the other hand, am flummoxed by even the smallest obstacle, for example my sworn enemy the laundry basket…
Mrs. Frugalwoods here: Many thanks to Cat from Budget Blonde for helping Julep submit this charming interview. Cat’s blog is a favorite of mine and her insights on spending less and living more are spot on. Plus, she has adorable 7 month old twins, who often make a photographic appearance! Cat and I swapped guest posts last month and you can check out her post here on Frugalwoods: The Water Bill Incident along with my post over on Budget Blonde: Go On A Finance Date: It’s Sexier Than It Sounds.
Are you a pet?
Do you have something to share with the internet? If so, answer my Frugal Hound Sniffs: Exclusive Interview Questions and have your parents email them to my mommy: mrsfrugalwoods@gmail.com (I can’t believe they won’t give me my own email account) and you’ll be featured in an upcoming issue! While I know we are more than just our images, please do send photos too.
Kisses,
Frugal Hound
Why buy baby wipes indeed! Glad Julep has been such a big help with the twins – though the used diapers on the floor sounds like a bit too much help. =)
Haha yeah she gets a bit overzealous at times. 😉
I have to say that the twins stole a little of the spotlight for this one! But I guess Julep will have to get used to it from now on!
Haha, thanks. Story of her life!
Julep is beautiful!!! Although I have to admit I get a little nervous around really jumpy dogs. 🙂 (It’s because I’m a cat person.) But if I’ve ever seen a gorgeous dog, it’s Julep – definitely perfect. Glad I got to learn a little more about the Budget Blonde Household!!
Thank you! Someone once told me “That dog is too pretty to be a mutt!” Ummm thanks!? Haha.
Awww…..Julep. What a cutie!
Hehe thanks. I like her. Most of the time. 😉
Hi Sweet Julep! You look pretty protective of the Beans!
Frugal Hound, you hip checked a beagle? I’ll never stop laughing!!!!
Haha she is. They took a random 3 hour nap last week and Julep knew that was far too long. She waited and waited by the door and then bolted in there and put her face right through the crib slats to check on Bean.
I was totally mortified by the hip-checking so we don’t let her run with non-greyhounds anymore. It was honestly hilarious and the beagle was completely fine, but, made us realize she means business when she’s running! The rest of the time she’s a total pushover and lets other dogs steal all of her food and toys 🙂
I can’t help but wonder if all dogs hate it when a baby is brought into the house because they are no longer the center of attention. I know that happened in our house, too!
She’s definitely not the center of attention anymore. She seems to like them but she also seems to miss the way it was lol.
LOL, it’s been many years since we’ve had a dog and I forget how mischievous they can be! Good for you, Julep, for keeping mom and dad in line. 🙂
Mischievous is an understatement for this animal!
Haha! This post is hilarious! Makes me want to go out and get a dog right now!
Come take Julep lol.
dogs and poopy diapers. I know aaaaaall about that fun. Yuck!
I love that Julep has one and only one undestroyed squeaky toy. That’s a lot like Biscuit until he got so old he doesn’t care about them at all anymore. But back in the day, toys lasted about a day!
Haha she is almost 6. I keep waiting on her to calm down.
SO happy to see Julep on here!!! And of course the Beans! 🙂 I always think it’s amazing how dogs seem to know how to care for the family’s babies even though the dog came into the family before the babies. It’s special and Julep is definitely a special dog!
Aw thanks yeah special is a good work for Miss J!
Haha love this interview. Number 6 cracks me up!
Unfortunately so true lol.
Julep looks so loving and protective of those adorable babies! All I can say is, Awwwwwww! 😀
Haha she loves them a bit too much. 😉
Julep is becoming a bit of a “star” on the web. This isn’t the first blog post he’s been the focus of!
I know right. First YAM and now FW. Pretty soon she’s going to be on Oprah’s site.
Way to look after those twins Julep! It’s also so very kind of you to clean the floors. Be careful though … the Shicon in this house snagged a chicken nugget last night that was a little too hot and ended up burning his mouth.
Julep, how do you feel about your mom’s name being Cat? Is that at all problematic for you?
Julep is so cute! Can’t believe he ate baby asprin! whoops! and the nappies from the bin – OMG! Julep – that is not cool!!! 🙂
Always love these and another classic for the series!
Natalya@CottageRetreatist
Julep is such a cutie, and I’ve always loved her name! She looks like the family dog we used to have – he was a border collie/chow mix (he had longer hair, but same colors!). I can’t believe she takes diapers out of the bin, though…that’s got to be the worst clean-up ever!
We need to train our cat to lick food off the floor and our son. Not using wipe would be awesome.
Julep is such a cutie. Nice meeting you!
OMG he pulls out the dirty diaper and smears poop in the bathroom? Julep you need to be less of a help! lol! You’re still a cutie though!
Julep doesn’t destroy anything expensive???????!!!!!!!
Too cute. Loved the post and SOOO get the statement about unexpected vet bills. Ouch!
What a great helper. Maybe they should send a Julep home with every set of twins!
Great interview, Julep! In your next interview you should tell the readers about how your name is a tribute to your mom’s southern roots 🙂
Julep likes peanut butter! The dog looks healthy! She is really adorable, I wanna bring her home. I haven’t had a dog like her.