Customer Reviews

1001 Ways to Cut Your Expenses

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Don't waste your money on this one. Most of Pond's suggestions are simply ridiculous!! If you want to read a good book on how to live below your means, check out "The Millionaire Next Door"

With tips such as "Don't buy a vacation home" (#65), "Fall in love with someone who is rich" (#431) and "Keep your inspection stickers up-to-date" (followed by a blurb about how he just "found this out the hard way" -- #403), this book is good for laughs, but nothing else. You'll be better off getting it from the library, like I did.

If you are REALLY new to frugality, I recommend "Miserly Moms" by Jonni McCoy, which is a good beginner's book. The best yet, is of course, the "Tightwad Gazette" series by Amy Dacyzyn. Get any of these at your local library. :)

When I came across this book I was out of work and deeply in debt. Thanks to the tips in "101 ways" I found many ways to dig myself out of debt and into financial freedom.

Great book. Highly recommended.

The 1002 way is don't support this guy by buying his book. Whatever happened to old fashioned common sense? that we need some guy to rattle off 1001 expenses we can cut.

Don't waste your valuable time with this one. When the suggestions are "Move to a state with lower death taxes" (#969), "don't let your kids watch Saturday morning cartoons" (448), and "recycle your knee-high socks into ankle-length by cutting them" (248), I would venture to guess that most people would not find these "tips" practical. One tip (489) even suggests to invite grandparents to visit often because they'll bring presents for your kids! Almost all of the good tips (there are a few) are common-sense ways to cut expenses like use coupons, buy off-season, etc. Just look at how many people are selling this book "used" to see how helpful it is.

This excellent book by Jonathan Pond will provide you with 1001 practical ways (that you won't find anywhere else) to reduce expences and to invest or expand your lifestyle.

Please ignore the 1 star reviews. If you haven't already figureed it out, they are all from the same JBQ shill.

I also recommend "The Courage To Be Rich", "The Laws of Money" and "9 Steps to Financial Freedom" by Suze Orman.

When I checked out Jonathan Pond's book from the library, I was absolutely brand new to the frugal living ideas. We had been living fast and furiously beyond our means and suddenly were facing a crisis that caused us to cut our spending ways drastically. Using this book and several others (Mary Hunt and Amy Dacyczyn's books and their respective newsletters were helpful too) we were able to dig our way out of financial bondage and into financial freedom!

I was just telling a co-worker about a book I read in 1992 that changed my life and was the beggining of my wealth building story, and I went on Amazon for kicks to see if it was still listed, and here it is...1001 Ways to Cut Expenses". I am writing some 14 years later to let you know that as a 27 year old who had worked 3 years in NYC and living on negative cash flow versus my salary ($29k at the time out of college and about $50,000 at the time I read this bok), I decided it was time to start saving money. To say the book resonated with me is an understatement. I made it a huge game and really took it to the next level. In the following year, I saved alot. In the second year, I saved 80% of my income! I am writing because after reading many of the reviews, I see people find the tips not helpful, or unrealistic. Well...I did buy in bulk, and I did re-use my trash bags, and I re-soled shoes instead of buying new ones, and I kept my thormastat at the right level...etc....etc...etc. My favorite tip was cut open your toothpaste tube. You know, you can get almost an extra month worth of toothpaste that way? Sounds small I know, but you will save thousands per year but incorporating these practices. I put $1000 into a mutual fund, and began adding $15 per paycheck. I increased it with every pay raise, or each time I cut expenses. Four years later my $1000 had grown to $15,000!! It made me realize that systematic saving had more to do with building wealth than income or investing. The philosophy of this book became the cornerstone of my frugality. I have an incredible lifestyle now! I have an 8 figure Investment account, and never need to work again. You are correct is probably guessing that I earned a ton of money working...I did! I work hard, make alot of money...and save most of it! This year I have 40% of my pay automatically directed to savings vehichles like 401k and deffered comp plan. I would recomend this book to anyone who needs or wants to start saving money. You can bet your last dollar that those who gave negative reviews either make a big income, and just dont care about wasting money...or dont have a dime in the bank and just can't bare to go without their $4 latte or $130 per month cable bill with all the premium shows they NEVER watch! You can bet their are NOT multi millionaires!!! I plan to give this book to my children when they get out of college! Oh...and I still cut my toothpaste tube open!

I don't usually spend my time writing reviews, but after purchasing this book from a thrift store, I had to warn others.
I am always looking for books to teach me more ways to be frugal. I thought that with 1001 tips, there may be something for me to use.

Yikes. I couldn't even read the whole thing. When I read Marry someone rich, and Use your vacuum bags three times, I gave up.

While this may help people who never heard of the term frugal, for others who naturally practice frugality, the book is a waste of time.

Tip # 1 is save your money and DO NOT buy this book! One of the ideas is to get a goat for milk!! Don't you then have to buy grain to feed the goat? Another tip: Don't bring your children food shopping. Hiring a babysitter is cheaper???