143 of 144 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helped Me Save Thousands Per Year, January 19, 2000
I first read this book a few years ago when I was working full-time and thinking about becoming a stay-at-home-mom. After reading this book and putting some of the advice into practice, I cut thousands of dollars from our spending annually. For example, I used to spend $150 a week on groceries for a family of 3 (at that time). We now have 4 people in our family, and spend about $70 a week! THAT'S $3,100 A YEAR SAVED just on groceries.
Her analogy on what it costs to work as opposed to staying at home went a little overboard. But generally, her message that most American families CAN afford to live off one income came across loud and clear -- and, having been through the transition myself, I couldn't agree more!
Having led a similar lifestyle as Ms. McCoy's prior to quitting the work force, I could absolutely relate to her struggles and determination to spend less, so therefore I "heard" the advice she was giving. If you put into practice just a little of what is in this book (especially in attitde towards money and cutting on groceries), you will save thousands per year.
A previous review speaks to the fact that this book contains much information that is in other books on this subject. True, but basically they're all the same (just like workout videos!). The personality of the author and your ability to relate to their particular situation is what determines if you like the book and their advice. I personally thought Ms. McCoy was smart, determined, and had conviction, so I admired her.
I highly recommend this book to beginners!
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73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great resource on reducing expenses, February 27, 2004
This review is from: Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy (Paperback)
For anyone who wishes to stay home with their family, this is a terrific resource on how to lower expenses. The author was once a senior buyer for Apple Computers, among other firms, and you can see this working experience in her thorough and analytical approach to family frugality.
The fact that the book is called "Miserly" Moms may be slightly misleading (it initially put my husband off, which is why I mention this). "Miserly" indicates stinginess, penuriousness, lack of generosity. By no means is this the message contained in this book. Rather, it shows many ways families can cut expenses in order to meet a particular goal: that of having one parent stay home with the child(ren).
In fact, the author's approach is to find those areas where she can make the biggest dent in expenses in the least amount of time. Approximately half of the book is dedicated to saving money on food, since for most families with two parents working outside the home, cutting back on food expenses offers the biggest opportunity to save a lot of money quickly.
Her first principle is not to confuse frugality with depriving oneself. The reason: if you think you're depriving yourself, you cripple your ability to make long-term changes. Rather, she presents frugality as a choice, made every day in many different ways, both large and small. (Example: Would I rather have this Starbucks coffee and muffin now or would I rather do without them, if that is what it takes to be home with my children?) This principle is reflected throughout.
There's also a great chapter in this book on raising frugal children.
I would recommend this book in conjunction with another book called You Can Afford To Stay Home With Your Kids. I felt the latter book was stronger in helping the reader to break down his/her particular monthly expenses and make a budget ahead of time. Also, I felt that book included more discussion on what would-be-stay-at-home-parents can expect once home...while it's true that there are huge emotional payoffs to feeling that you're making the greatest possible contribution to bringing up your child(ren) by being home with them, nothing but nothing is all sunshine and roses. Two funny examples these authors cite are that your children will have more opportunities to drive you bonkers once you're home with them and that if you never liked housework, you will not magically find yourself liking to scrub the toilets and you may find yourself doing it more often.
In my own case, I felt that these two books taken together made a GREAT partnership. You Can Afford To Stay Home With Your Kids has more to offer families prior to making the transition from two incomes to one (in my opinion). Miserly Moms shines in showing many, many specific ways families can reduce expenses without sacrificing quality...which of course is valuable both before and after making the transition.
Oh, yeah... I bought both books about a year and a half ago. It took about a year to lay all the groundwork, but I'm home with my two children now. The suggestions in these books helped me to lay that foundation and now that I'm home, to be able to stay there by practicing a frugal lifestyle.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A very gentle introduction to "thrift", October 23, 2003
This review is from: Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy (Paperback)
I checked out this book from my local library, and read it all. On the whole, if you are just beginning your journey of thriftiness and cost-cutting, it's not bad. It has some common ideas to get you started, and makes the thought and processes of cutting costs more "palatable" to the average upper-middle class people she aimed it at. But pretty soon, you start thinking "where else can I cut costs in my life? Where else is my hard-earned money being wasted?", and here is where the book stops being useful. At this point, you'll need to move on to some other books, most notably the Tightwad gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision"). There are also numerous resources on the Internet.
I would recommend this book to someone just starting out on their journey of thriftiness, or as a gift to a young married couple of middle-to-upper-middle-class background, who have never really had to worry about money before. It would not be very helpful to someone who is already a dedicated and experience cost-cutter/bargain-hunter.
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