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This book is a compilation of the three original books which in turn were taken from newsletters published by Amy in the 1990's. Some of the advice is a little over the top and a lot would only be applicable to families with a lot of kids but generally it has a lot of good ideas and her frugal thinking will be right in line with today's financial issues.
If you prefer the smell of retiring early from a job you dislike to new car smell, you have found your book. Stock up on items you use frequently when they are on sale, take your time when buying a car or house so you get the best deal possible, negotiate big ticket items. Escape the consumer spending trap and the corporate rat race all at one time through spending smart to live more free. This book is for all of us who get pleasure from saving money. The bottom line is spend money on what is most important to you, a nice house, quality time with your children, or early retirement and stay away from single serve pudding cups, lunch-ables, restaurants, fast food, and grocery items not on sale.
It is for people who get more of a thrill out of walking out of a grocery store having saved $30 on their food bill than they do when the spend $100 on a new pair of expensive shoes. While this book is a little extreme with homemade Halloween costumes for kids and going through piles of your neighbors curb side throw outs to repair and use. It has excellent ideas on cooking at home to save money, and a great philosophy on how to stop relying on convenient foods, convenient stores, and conveniently spending all your money on things that add no value to your life. Whether it is buying 10 pairs of the exact same color and type of sock so when one wears out or is lost you lose one and not a pair, or putting a gallon jug of water in your toilet to save a gallon of water on every flush, this book is packed with ideas that will save you the cost of the book itself very quickly.
Re-using styrofoam containers from raw meat comes to mind, as well as the whole section on dumpster diving. It's not broken down by subject at all, just short newsletters on various topics which I found irritating.I reccomend you check this book out at the library before buying. Some things are simply not worth the savings.Many of the other ideas were very outdated and no longer true. Several of her other tricks I calculated myself and did not come up with any savings. Overall I enjoyed this book as a comedy piece.
There were a few good money-saving ideas in here, but some of it was downright ridiculous.This might be a good book for you if you are absolutely desperate to find new ways to save a penny or two here and there, and don't mind looking tacky in the process.In her defense, the author warns herself that some of these suggestions are unsanitary if not downright dangerous. In short, you have to read through a lot of junk to get to any helpful advice. So on most things you will have to do your own math if you want to know the true cost with today's prices.The only other complaint I have with this book is that it's very unorganized. You might find some gems amongst the muck, and you WILL at least have a good laugh. It seemed on every page there was something my husband and I could giggle at.
(Hopefully most parents would opt to go on welfare before digging through other people's trash for food).As we are looking for a new house I had hoped to find some good advice on that but her advice is dangerous; old houses can have anything from lead paint to asbestos to gas leaks or lead in the pipes and so on. But if you want to buy a more useful book on this subject, I reccomend Miserly Moms as it is much better (and smaller.). For example nowadays with the rising price of cheese, a homemade pizza will run you at least $8.50.
You decide how far you want to go to save money and how hard you want work at it. Haven't heard of one that died from being made to try a vegetable either. This book is a collection of articles from Amy's 1990-96 newsletter by the same name. I have seen too many children, who after following their parents examples of excess, have no idea of how to live within their means. A lot of great suggestions to save money - not at all preachy. I haven't heard of a child yet who turned into a sociopath because he/she didn't get a $200 pair of sneakers, $100 jeans and a happy meal everyday. Whether you want a farmhouse in Maine with six kids or a Lexus in your garage - why spend money on things that aren't fulfilling to you.
It is written in short, easy to read sections with a sense of humor. Amy's point is it's your money and it's your decision how to make it work for you. If you're serious about getting your life and your spending under control there's no better guide to doing it than this book and Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I think a lot of the negative reviews of this book have more to do with guilt over their unwillingness to put in the effort required than any advice in the book.
It's worth having this just for the recipes. But I found it very entertaining. I've had the original series since they came out, and I still go back to these books for information. Even though the pricing is from the 80's in many cases, you can make up your own price lists using her principles.If you like being told what to do, this probably isn't the book for you. I use her recipes all the time (have the granola one memorized, we use it so much). Since the books were set up from a magazine, there are many very short articles, so it doesn't read like a book. The index in the originals was not that great.
Not only does she give advice, she shows how she came up with it and how to modify it to your life. These books are how I was able to stay home with my kids, even though I made twice what my husband did.Although I gave this five stars, there are a few things you might want to know (if it matters). If you like having the information to figure it out yourself to suit your life, you'll love these.I've read about twenty 'save money' books and this series is the best. I don't know if they've improved that in this combination or not.
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