Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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150 of 152 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Here you have it - a review by a student of economics, March 31, 2001
I thought that this book was so funny in places that I haven't laughed so hard, so much, for a long time. Charles is a skilled writer; the book is very readable, intelligent, thoughtful,and well organized. It contains a copious (even prodigious) amount of tips, for a 200-page book. Very practical, and at the same time touches on abtruse philosophical areas, especially at the end of the book.Hey, I used to think I was cheap. This guy is CHEAP. His anecdotes include waiting for it to rain to take a shower instead of installing indoor plumbing. He had a big hole in the floor of his entryway, or somewhere in his house, into which the kids and a few guests fell. He refused to spend one cent covering the hole, until a neighbor told him about a steel grate they threw away years ago, so he went to the dump and found it. The point is that you can learn from a top-notch "conserver"; an applied example I would give is to buy two gallons of milk when it's on sale and freeze one for later use (works well!). This guy probably drinks powdered milk though. I disagree with his economic analysis; prudence CAN be a vice, as any virtue most certainly is in its extreme, or even overdone. But Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is not just about "McPimple Burger" or keeping up with the Joneses. Any system on a mass scale is going to have gaping faults, and the weaker of us might succumb to our basest impulses. But perhaps Long goes a bit too far the other way... At any rate, he sounds like an economic anarchist. Very well thought out book, great advice. I borrowed the book from the library and laughed about how this guy would have to recommend doing so...and later on in the book he actually does recommend it! econ
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101 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The CONSERVER Lifestyle VS the Consumer Lifestyle, December 6, 2004
+++++
This humorous but practical and easy to comprehend book or guide, by Canadian journalist and writer, Charles Long, is about being a conserver. A conserver is a person who learns how to get by with less and make do with what he/she has. A person who lives as a conserver lives "the conserver lifestyle."
Despite the book's title, it is actually a book for everyone: for those employed, for those without a salary, city dwellers, and country dwellers. Or to put it another way this is a book for everyone "concerned with the diminishing purchase power of their dollar."
Long practices what he preaches! All the philosophy and economic theory behind the conserver lifestyle came from him (and his family) living and surviving without a salary.
This eleven chapter book, as the author states, revolves around three key premises:
(I) Control expenditures and save money. The author shows you how in his four chapters entitled:
1. The Secondhand Market
2. Auction Buying
3. Alternatives to Buying
4. Cheap Tips
(II) Income of some sort is still required (for those who decide to survive without a salary). This income does not have to be made through employment. The author has a full chapter entitled:
5. Casual Income
(III) Preparing yourself for the conserver lifestyle takes time (especially for those deciding to survive without a salary). The chapters covering this are entitled:
6. Assessing Yourself
7. Needs
8. Getting Ready
There is even a chapter on how to answer questions if you decide to live the conserver lifestyle without a salary. It's entitled:
9. What Do You Do For a Living? (and other difficult questions).
So far I have mentioned nine chapters. Even though all chapters mention this, one chapter is devoted exclusively to the philosophy of the conserver lifestyle. (This chapter also discusses other relevant topics.) It's entitled:
10. What's the Catch?
Another chapter discusses taxes & insurance and how to save on them. It's entitled:
11. Caesar's Due.
There are three problems I had with this book:
First, there are no (foot)notes (or hardly any). True the book profiles the author's personal experiences but I did notice some numbers and statistics given that were not given credit.
Second, the author sidesteps the issue of health care. Perhaps it is because he is Canadian and they have universal health coverage. However, countries like the United States do not have this and since health care is expensive, it would be difficult for most Americans to leave a salaried position. They, however, still could be conservers and live the conserver lifestyle but with a salary.
Third, although this is not absolutely essential, it would have been helpful to have a brief summary in the form of a list at the end of each chapter.
Note that this book has no index but since its table of contents is so comprehensive, an index is not really needed.
Finally, there is another book that that gives a slightly different and perhaps a more comprehensive spin on this subject. It's called "Your Money or Your Life" by Dominguez and Robin. Another useful book is "The Joy of Not Working" by Zelinski.
In conclusion, this is a book that outlines an alternative lifestyle called the conserver lifestyle. Discover for yourself why "[t]he greatest security is not in having the most, but in needing the least!"
(revised edition first published 1996; preface; 11 chapters; main narrative 200 pages)
+++++
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98 of 100 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some new info, September 2, 2002
How to Survive without a Salary isn't written with the idea that you will never work again. The author admits early on that you always need a source of income, whether it's periodic freelancing, selling some things at flea markets, taking a temporary job, or whatever. His goal is to show the reader how to avoid being enslaved to a business.I have read just about every book on frugal living that I can find, and this one has some info that the others don't. Mostly the new stuff is along the lines of how auctions work, how to bargain, where to find deals (such as flea markets vs. consignment shops vs. estate sales). Included is the typical information on subjects such as budgets and ways to pare down spending without feeling deprived. Unfortunately, like many other frugal living books, this one needs a better editor. One of the things I like most about this book is that it isn't just written for people who want to move out to the country, make goat cheese from their goats and build straw bale houses: it's for the majority of people who range from city dwellers to country dwellers and want to find ways they can either survive without a salary, or at least become less dependent on one. A worthwhile read.
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