Frugal Living for Dummies [Paperback]

Deborah Taylor-Hough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2003

Feel like you’re trying to dig out from under a mountain of debt without a shovel? Tired of working your tail off just to break even? Is the high cost of living taking all the joy out of life? Unless you’re one of the top two percent of wealthiest Americans, all of the above should sound painfully familiar. While they’re trying to decide between the ski lodge in Telluride and the Tuscan villa, for the rest of us, it’s an endless litany of corporate lay-offs, stagnant wages, crushing credit card debt, skyrocketing medical costs, exorbitant utility bills, the high cost of higher education.... And they call this “the good life.” Is there a better way to live? Can you get what you need and what you want without killing yourself to get it? “Absolutely,” says frugal-living guru Deborah Taylor-Hough, and in Frugal Living For Dummies, she shows you how.

In this warmhearted guide to living the good life on less, Deborah shows you how to live within your means and enjoy doing it. Among other things, she shows you how to:

• Eat like a king on a peasant’s budget
• Take the sting out of gift-giving
• Dress well on a shoestring
• Save big bucks on family expenses
• Slash household expenses
• Save on medical expenses
• Involve the whole family in saving money
• Save more for the things you want

From basement to attic, cradle to grave, Frugal Living For Dummies covers all areas of life with common sense advice and guidance on:

• Working with your partner to achieve financial goals
• Going to the grocery without being taken to the cleaners
• Quick and thrifty cooking techniques
• Providing kids the basics on a tight budget
• Putting kids through school without going broke
• Looking good and feeling good on a tight budget
• Frugal holiday fun year round
• Saving money around the house and driveway
• Finding quality in pre-owned merchandise

Packed with tried-and-true techniques for cutting costs and stopping the insanity, Frugal Living For Dummies is the ultimate financial survival guide for the rest of us.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Saving money has never been this simple!"
?Gary Foreman, Editor of The Dollar Stretcher

Tips to help get the whole family involved in saving money

The helpful guide to living the good life on less

Need help keeping that New Year's resolution to eliminate credit card debt and live within your means? Then Frugal Living For Dummies is for you! Packed with tips on cutting costs on everything from groceries to gifts for all occasions, this practical guide shows you how to spend less on the things you need and save more for the things you want.

Praise for Frugal Living For Dummies

"A must-have for those wanting more out of their money!"
? Jonni McCoy, author and founder of Miserly Moms

"Nobody knows frugal like Deborah Taylor-Hough. Don't shop without this book!"
? Judith Waite Allee, speaker and coauthor of Homeschooling on a Shoestring

About the Author

Deborah Taylor-Hough teaches people how to live well on less and is the publisher of The Simple Times Newsletter, which reaches more than 18,000 frugal readers around the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (January 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764554034
• ISBN-13: 978-0764554032
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Over twenty years ago, we bucked the tide of late-20th Century American life. My husband and I (along with our three children) became a one income family in a two income world. We set out on a journey toward frugal living and simplicity that quickly became an education in itself -- and a rewarding, joy-filled lifestyle.

Through hard work and determination, our family:

~ paid off outstanding consumer debt and medical bills...
~ radically reduced spending in every area of our lives...
~ and most importantly, lived to tell about it!


During our family's lean times, we learned creative ways to stretch our limited finances while not sacrificing our quality of life. Between the demands on our time and a very limited budget, I discovered the benefits of preparing meals ahead of time to store in the freezer. My family of five regularly sat down for homemade meals -- for less than $300 per month -- without sacrificing nutrition, variety, or flavor.

I share my knowledge of cooking for the freezer in my first book, Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month (Champion Press, ISBN 1891400614). I've taught freezer-meal techniques to thousands of people through in-person workshops, discussion groups, radio programs, television spots, and a variety of on-line resources.

In my second book, A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity, I share some of what I've learned firsthand about raising a family and managing a household with limited time and money. And staying sane in the process.

I have several other books on the market including Frugal Living For Dummies (Wiley Publishing, Feb 2003), Frozen Assets Lite & Easy, Mix and Match Recipes: Creative Ideas for Busy Kitchens, and Frozen Assets Readers' Favorites.

I regularly teach classes and workshops through women's groups, churches, conferences, and community education programs on the topics of:

~ living within your means
~ simple living
~ cooking for the freezer
~ general homemaking
~ identifying personal priorities
~ simplifying the holidays
~ easy educational ideas for children
~ Christian growth and Bible study
... and more!


I also edit several free email newsletters including Simple Times, one of the longest running consistently published email newsletters online. You can subscribe via my website at: TheSimpleMom.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

204 of 220 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Glad I borrowed this at the library, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Frugal Living for Dummies (Paperback)

It's not true, as another reviewer suggested, that Dummies books can only be expected to be of use to beginners in a topic. I've been online for years and still got something out of Internet for Dummies. I've used Ebay quite a bit and still got something out of Ebay for Dummies.

In reading Frugal Living, however, I kept noticing glaring omissions that would have been so easy to include if Ms. Taylor-Hough would move into the 21st century. She mentions library booksales as a source for cheap books but doesn't include the website that lists virtually all upcoming library booksales throughout the country. (In fact, she mentions libraries several times but never suggests taking advantage of the free programs for kids and adults that most libraries offer.) She does not mention Amazon or any other online sources for inexpensive used books.

She doesn't mention using the library for free internet access. She doesn't mention how to find inexpensive computer equipment or cheap internet services providers to use at home.

She mentions pulling out traditional games to play with the family, and buying them at yard sales. But what if you've lost the rules or buy one where they're missing? There are websites where you can get the official rules if you've lost them, but she doesn't mention this.

She doesn't mention the existance of online coupon codes, getting grocery coupons from manufacturer and other websites, or online price comparison tools. She mentions saving on restaurant meals by drinking only water, but doesn't mention how you can get deeply-discounted restaurant gift certificates on Ebay.

She discusses cooking; no websites. Stain removal; no websites. In a budgeting section she mentions no websites about budgets, just one for a charity she apparently wishes to promote. There are good websites on virtually every topic she covers, and she only mentions a few.

The worst omission concerns mortgages. We are living in an era of record-low mortgage rates and she only gives one short paragraph to refinancing. All she says is to ask your banker or mortgage company for details. No hint that online mortgage-payment calculators, mortgage comparison tools, or general advice are available online at all--let alone references to specific websites. We are in the midst of refinancing and if all goes through we will be saving $300 a month. You'd have to work very hard at traditional "frugal living" to match a savings like this, yet the author glances right over it.

There is the outline of a good book here, but as it stands it could have been written in the 1980's. Frugal Living has come a long way since The Tightwad Gazette, but from this book you wouldn't know it.

84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth buying; barely worth reading., July 8, 2004

By 

W. Paul W. "Paul White" (Amarillo, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frugal Living for Dummies (Paperback)

Frugal living is such a broad topic that one really can't expect all advice offered to apply to them; however, this book was evidently aimed at people living in at least moderatly large cities, and with families. It is also much more oriented toward the homeowner as opposed to the apartment dweller.
Even granting that, it is not really a worthwhile book. Some of the information is questionable; much of it that is really valid is so basic it's really below even common sense level (buy generic brands...duh!).
The book is in several parts, each of which I will review independtly.
Part one is about the adjustment to frugal living. It's really a mixed bag. I don't have kids, and my fiancee and I agree on the budget and goals, so most of the tips on how to cope with combative family members are lost on me. However, most of it is incredibly basic: catalog your expenses. Catalog your income. Decide what your priorities are. The one decent section is where she talks about how to maintain a positive outlook after the shift to being a cheapskate. Suggestions include a log of good things in ones life, and ideas of that nature. Still basic, but a step up from the other sections of Part 1.

The rest of the book is based on saving in differing areas: saving on groceries and food, saving on education, saving on clothing, saving on furniture, etc.
These sections really aren't all that great. For the grocery/food section, a large percentage of her ideas depend on having a lot of freezer space; the buying in bulk (esp. of perishables), the cooperative cooking (wherein a group gets together one day week, everyone cooks a full meal per group member; you freeze the meal and eat later). Probably at least half of the possibly good ideas dictate a chest freezer. If you want to impliment most of them, you might need two chest freezers. For those of us in apartments or small houses, that ain't happening. Lots of the other advice on foodstuffs is at best simplistic: buy generic brands. Buy (and freeze) massive amounts of stuff on sale. Duh. Buy stuff on clearance.

As for her advice on saving money on clothes, furniture, etc. most of it boils down to buy it second hand. The problem here is that many smaller towns don't have any decent second hand shops, and are frequently short on garage sales. I currently live in a town of maybe 10,000 people. I doubt that there are full million people within a 2 hour radius or better. We simply don't have the number of people to support the type of second hand market she's apparently used to having. If you live in or near a decently sized city, it's potentially good advice. However, one needs to be carefull, as searching high and low for clothing and furniture can actually wind up being expensive in terms of transportation, time, etc. Also, for people who have odd dimensions, second hand shops for clothes don't work too well. I have a hard enough time finding shirts that fit a short, thick torso with long arms as is. There's also the problem of quality. She mentions this in her book, and says to keep an eye out for the "gold nuggets", but in my experince, pawnshops don't have enough of those for it to be relaible.

Most of her advice on budgeting for kids and family stuff is beyond my reach; I've never had kids, and I'm not yet married. However, she fails to mention many good ideas for cheap recreation--memberships to zoos and gardens typically pay for themselves after a few visits. The National Park service sells annual passes for parks and refugess. Most states sell annual park passes. All of these are good cheap recreation, which my family used while I was growning up. None of them are mentioned.
Also, her idea of fun sounds odd, at least. She metions scheduling tours of resturants, factories,a nd the like as a fun family outing...I'd rather have a root canal than tour a factory or resturant (after working them...).
The advice on how to save for college and whatnot is sound enough, but basic: consider a two year school for the first year of college. Take AP and CLEP test, etc.

For those of us without families...well, at least 1/2 this book is about family expenses (education, proms, etc.). For those of use who live in rural settings...well, this book seems to written for a house owning city dweller, who can actually get to a good second hand market and keep two or so chest freezers in thier home. Even for those people, the info is so incredibly basic it's really laughable. I mean, c'mon, buy generic brands. Watch the sales. Prioritize your budget. Ya think?

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep in mind, this is a "FOR DUMMIES" book!, July 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Frugal Living for Dummies (Paperback)

Just a quick reminder for all of those reviewers who seem to have forgotten this one little fact: "FOR DUMMIES" books are written for self-proclaimed "Dummies" ... people who know nothing about a given topic, but want to learn the basics.

For example, when I wanted a basic book on birdwatching (because I knew NOTHING about the topic but wanted to get a good, solid start with basic, accurate information) ... I bought "Birdwatching For Dummies". When my teenage daughter needed help with her classes in Algebra and Biology ... I bought her copies of "Algebra For Dummies" and "Biology For Dummies".

These "FOR DUMMIES" books have a particular place in the book market ... they're written for BEGINNERS -- people who know absolutely NOTHING about a topic. "Frugal Living For Dummies" accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do ... it provides a basic introduction and simple framework for people unfamiliar with frugal living basics.

Keep in mind when reading reviews of this book that say things like, "It barely scratches the surface of frugal living," that this book is part of the trademarked "FOR DUMMIES(R)" series ... it's a book that's obviously NOT written to people who've been living frugally their entire adult lives and already know a-thousand-and-one ways to recycle styrofoam meat trays.

If you're a long-time frugal person, buy a copy of "Frugal Living For Dummies" as a gift for your spendthrift friends ... but if you've read every frugal book on the market, you'll honestly be happier just sitting around hugging your Tightwad Gazette books.

REMEMBER: Don't buy a "For Dummies" book on ANY topic if you're not looking for a simple overview of the absolute BASICS! I just hate seeing people bash a perfectly good book just because they don't "get" the purpose of the book. Silly, silly people. What are they thinking?

But ... if you're brand new to frugal living and are looking for a basic introductory overview, then THIS, my friend, is YOUR book! If you have a sense of humor, can laugh at yourself a bit, and need a simple introduction to frugality, run -- don't walk! -- to the "Buy Now" button on this webpage. You won't be disappointed!