The Complete Tightwad Gazette
by Amy Dacyczyn
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Book Reviews of The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Book Review: An amazing tightwad tool
Summary: 5 Stars
As with any tool, its all about how you use it. Amy D took a gamble detailing her life and the choices she and her husband have made to make sure that they were there for their children and to make sure that they could be financially independent in their retirement. She opened herself up to a lot of criticism for people to attack her way of life.While extreme, the examples she outlines are just that, examples. Meant as a suggestion that can be accepted or rejected, depending on the needs of the reader.
Some of the other reviews objected to her not buying books for her children. She does say though that she routinely checks out books from the library for free and reads to them, or with them. Others object to dumpster diving. It is merely a suggestion, a tidbit of advice among many, that she offers.
She offers a way to think creatively about money and how it is spent. She empowers a person to think realistically about money, and not to hide beneath "I can'ts" or "I wish". We ran the numbers and found that it acutally saved us money if my husband quits his job and stays home. We looked at the cold hard numbers and saw where we were being wasteful. Once we plugged our money leaks we have saved a lot of money. We have learned to be creative and think outside the box, we think of money saved as money earned, and that time spent saving omney together as a family to be our entertainment.
The tool is there, and it does what it promises, to be an eye opener that pormotes thrift as a viable lifestyle. It does not promise to make money appear out of nowhere, nor does it promise to be the end-all be-all of frugality, nor does it offer a get rich quick scheme. The lessons are there to be learned.
Book Review: This book Saved my family
Summary: 5 Stars
The Tightwad Gazette was originally a newsletter that was sent out in the early 90's. Then later, the archives were compiled into books. Three to be exact. This book was actually a compilation of the three Gazettes. This is why sometimes the book seems contradictory. One moment she says that it's good to do a certain something, then later say that it was a bad idea. So you do have to weed through all of the information to get what you need.
Anyway, the moment I saw that all three were compiled into one book, I had to get one for myself. Both because I needed it for reference (my mom had misplaced hers in their last move) and for nostalgic reasons.
When the recession hit in the 90's, my parents were one of those hit the most. With a huge mortgage, four kids and a measly unemployment check, they didn't know where our next meal was coming from. There were times when we heated hot water on the stove because my parents couldn't afford to fill the propane tank, and this was long before the oil prices went up.
Enter the original first edition of the Tightwad Gazette. Yes, we had hand-me-downs. Yes, we had cheap food and at first, it was only cheap food for a while until the chickens were mature enough to lay and the Garden was ready for harvest. The chickens were mature for quite some time before the garden was complete, so our diet mostly consisted of 1 of the 101 ways to serve eggs. Later, my mother acquired the second and third editions and we used them as well.
Her kids are probably just older than I am and I do believe she mentions the teenage years at the end of this book. It's not in the originals because she was able to retire before they were too old.
Book Review: A little dated, but still a must for the serious tightwad
Summary: 5 Stars
By desire or by circumstances, you may need to do some heavy-duty belt-tightening. If so, I highly recommend this book. I re-read it at least once a year, and always find new things to try. The thing is, her ideas really work. We've cut our expenses a huge amount using ideas in the book.
Now, if you think it's too much trouble to hang laundry rather than use the dryer, or aren't willing to give up your prepared foods, or must have a new car every four years, or aren't willing to wear yard-sale or thrift-store clothing, this book won't help you a damn bit. However, if you're facing a desperate situation, and need to cut costs to the bone just to survive, and you have an open mind, then this book will show you how to survive, maybe even thrive.
One of the best things about this book is that she ties together the benefits of living with less stuff, not only for your financial health, but also because it produces less garbage/stuff sent to the landfill. She promotes responsible living that includes recycling and reusing items. Plus, she points out that such a way of life should empower you, not make you feel deprived. I hate the word "empower," but that's exactly how I feel when I read this book--I feel in control of my financial future, and also feel quite positive about it, and I do not feel deprived.
My husband and I are likely facing a forced early retirement, so we need to cut our expenses as far back as we can, to make it on our savings and investments (and possibly, jobs at Wal-mart) until we're both old enough for Social Security and Medicare. This book is my go-to financial survival guide. God bless you, Amy Dacyczyn!
Book Review: This Book Changed My Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I was initially reluctant to read this book, fearing that the ideas contained within would be "over the top" and unrealistic for my lifestyle. What I learned was that my lifestyle was "over the top." I was a merciless spendthrift, justifying my extravagances by rationalizing that I worked hard, earned a good salary and "deserved" to spend money at will. This book presented me with easy ways to use thrift as an "alternative lifestyle," and a different way to view how we choose to spend our money. Now my husband and I are able to save a significant amount of money a month, from a budget that previously seemed unyielding. The most important thing I have learned is that by cutting back expenses and spending, and applying the ideas contained in the book, we have not compromised our quality of life - we have enhanced it. Rather that being relegated to a life of boredom and deprivation, we spend more time together as a couple, spend more time enjoying our beach-side community home that we paid so much for, are more organized, eat healthier (we've even lost weight!) and find a great deal of excitement in finding good deals and saving money! (I recently purchased a thrift-store Scrabble game for 95 cents and triumphed gloriously over my previously unbeatable husband - what could be a greater reward than that?) Amy Dacyczyn should be heralded as a visionary for our times. Her humorous writing style, and straightforward explanation of ideas are easy to read and easy to apply to every life. At 30 years of age, one of the great regrets of my life is that I did not find this book sooner.Book Review: Pre Internet ideas so proceed with caution
Summary: 4 Stars
The Tightwad Gazette is an old and out of print book. The Gazette was originally a newsletter and the book is compiled of articles from the newsletter.
It was originally published in 1991 in the midst of the early 90s housing correction and recession and the Author was a fairly popular guest on game shows, news shows and the like.
Now that economy is back in style I thought I'd give it a read. The main thing that's up to date is the philosophy, economy is a way of life, not because you are forced into it but because you want to live more financially free. Also economy is good for the environment. Learning to use things creatively and wisely saves energy and materials.
Much of the information is out of date, several of the articles are how to write to companies to get information on products or services that can help you spend less. Now that the Internet is everywhere it would be easy to find things like bulk pasta and lists of child safety recalls.
I got the book used on Amazon for less than three dollars so the author should be proud of the method. I also saw that it had a thrift store sticker on it for $2.25 so maybe someone bought it and sold it to me at a quarter or so profit? I would recommend the book, it's good to touch base with a philosophy that owning a bunch of crap that you work 60 hours a week for isn't the only way to live and it gives me some ideas of things I can do to live better for less money. If you see it in your local used bookstore or in a thrift shop pick it up! Now that I've read it I may be donating it so keep your eyes open for it.