The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Author: Amy Dacyczyn
List Price: $19.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0375752250
Publisher: Random House (15 December, 1998)
Sales Rank: 4,102
Average Customer Rating: 4.51 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Yet another sparkling review
I will not repeat a lot of what has been said already about the quality of information contained in this book and the talent of the author. I will admit that I have read and used this one book more than any other I own, besides the bible. There is an endorsement! Besides tons of money saving advice, Amy shares her sense of humor, creative spirit and deep philosophical insights which make this a value for any person to read, regardless of financial status. Personally, I have never really struggled financially, yet feel committed to be a good steward of the resources I have been blessed with. Please keep in mind that she is not any type of expert on investing, so look elsewhere for better reading on that topic. This is also not a parenting book, although it amuses me that a couple who have sacrificed to retire early and raise their family full time are under such scrutiny as parents. I would sooner label parents who work full time, buy fast food and come home to watch T.V. until bed time abusive, even if their kids wear designer clothes and get new toys at Christmas. It just goes to show you where many peoples' values lie. I could not say enough good things about this book and even if some ideas are over the top, there is not a more comprehensive book on the subject of saving money anywhere to be found. Enough said.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Something for almost everyone
I LOVE this book. Do all the ideas apply to us? No. Do we use every idea as stated? Of course not. But as a springboard for ideas that DO apply to our situation, this book has been an exceptionally valuable resource. 2 years ago, I checked it out from the local library at a time when my husband and I were incredibly stressed about not having enough to pay the rent one month. With a renewal, I had the book for 6 weeks, completely free. In that time, we paid the rent with $100 left over, and at the end of the 6 weeks, I purchased it new (after a long and fruitless search for used!), and it had paid for itsself literally 13 times over, beyond the rent issue. In the three years since then, I can't even begin to calculate how much money we have saved from using ideas suggested and/or inspired by this book. However, I do know that in Arizona, I am able to be a full-time stay-at-home-mom while my husband earns well under $20,000 per year. We have a comfortable little apartment in a good neighborhood, we all wear nice clothes, our cars are paid off completely, we have at least 6 weeks of groceries in the house at all times, and he and I are both attending college. We pay ALL our bills on time, and our ONLY debt is student loans.If you are in need of ideas, suggestions, or advice for cutting costs, I advise you to invest in this book.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Cost saving tips only, please
The book filled with money saving ideas, some of which I found helpful, others that were impractical for me, and others that I doubt are useful to anyone without an excess of free time and a miniscule budget. That's okay, as the author herself points out, she puts all the informations she has out there so that you can decide which money saving strategies are appropriate for your situation. I just wish she would stop at that. Unfortunately, Ms. Dacyzyn inserts her non-budgetary opinions on a plethora of other subjects, and I found some of it downright offensive. Particularly irritating is the self-rightous assertions that we should all wash and reuse plastic baggies and aluminum foil for the environment. The woman has six children! Reducing aluminum foil and plastic baggie consumption does not balance out the resource consumption of six children! Also obnoxious is her article on preventing "picky" eaters, which really shows more about her authoritarian parenting style than a desire to save money. How does making children force down a serving of asparagus or mushrooms save money? Wouldn't the cheapest thing to do be to let the child skip the offensive food, as long as they don't make up for it by eating more of a pricier food?
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