Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: More Than 1,000 Practical Tips for Women on a Budget [Paperback]

Ann Fox (Author), Susan Fox (Author), Charlotte Fox Messmer (Author), Nathan W. Vaughn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2003

While other books give advice about money markets and outwitting the stock market, Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins gives advice to the struggling woman on a really, really tight budget. She is the forgotten woman of "little time and no dime." She may be single, married, a career woman or a stay-at-home mom, but whoever she is, she is looking for easy ways to organize her life and save money.

In this no-nonsense book by identical twin sisters Ann Fox Chodakowski and Susan Fox Wood, the Tightwad Twins, women will learn how to reduce or eliminate bills and manage and organize their homes. This "common cents"knowledge will revolutionize the way women look at money; for instance nearly everything can be recycled:

• Make a coffee table from an old window, door or board. Add bricks or flowerpots for legs.
• Cut a slit in the shape of an X in an empty prescription bottle for a traveling toothbrush holder.
• Use soda-pop can tabs for picture hangers. Glue to the back of picture frame with just the top of the clip showing so as to nail easily to the wall.
• A candle placed in a cheese or vegetable grater looks fabulous at night. Tie the top with a red ribbon to make it even more festive.

The tighwad twins also timesaving forms, quick-and-easy recipes for no-fuss, cheap meals, and lists of organizations that give away freebies. In no time at all, readers will reap the benefits of thriftiness and find time to enjoy their newfound financial freedom.

"These twins really know their stuff!" - Maury Povich

"The twins are masters at saving money." - The National Enquirer

"These twins do a great job: humorous, but insightful on ways to save money and reuse everything!" -Crook and Chase

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ann Fox is a retired schoolteacher, a mother and grandmother, and is a survivor in the real world of budgets and bills. She holds a master's degree in education and lives in Brandon, Florida. She thinks she is definitely the smarter twin. The twins are the authors of Living on a Shoestring, Moms Saving Money and 101 Ways to Save Money. They have appeared on The Maury Povich Show, Crook and Chase, CNN Talkback Live, The 700 Club, and Leeza, among many others. The twins write seasonally for magazines such as Boardroom Magazine and Moneysworth Magazine. Their tips have appeared often in the National Enquirer as well as Family Circle Magazine.

Susan Fox holds an associate degree in childhood education and has won many awards for her office organization skills. She is a mother and grandmother, and lives in the twins' hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. She will go to her grave proclaiming that she is the smarter twin. The twins are the authors of Living on a Shoestring, Moms Saving Money and 101 Ways to Save Money. They have appeared on The Maury Povich Show, Crook and Chase, CNN Talkback Live, The 700 Club, and Leeza, among many others. The twins write seasonally for magazines such as Boardroom Magazine and Moneysworth Magazine. Their tips have appeared often in the National Enquirer as well as Family Circle Magazine.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is dedicated to "the forgotten woman." Not everyone knows her. Only the women who have been in her shoes will recognize her. Most men do not. Please observe the illustration of her on page vii. It is self-explanatory. But for those of you who do not know her, then, we offer this description:

She is the mother who nearly froze to death sitting on metal gym seats at the football games every Friday night instead of watching from her car so that when her children asked, "Did you see me?" she could say, "Of course!"
She is the mother who sat up nights with a sick toddler in her arms, wiping up throw-up of hot dogs and cherry Kool-Aid and went to work the next day.
She is the mother who has a full-time job at home or at work or both and awakens early each day, all the while knowing her job will never end and will probably be much the same as yesterday.
She is the mother who can nurse a baby, sew on a button and monitor homework all at the same time.
She is the mother who tries to help with the budget, alone or together with a mate, but still comes up short every month.
She is the mother who gets her hair and nails done at the local beauty school and feels like a queen when she does.
She is the mother who reads the same bedtime story twice a night for over a year and who teaches her children their alphabet and how to tie their shoelaces before they start school so they won’t be behind the other children.
She is the mother who watches the news reports about the stock market but is really worrying about the washing machine repair bill due tomorrow and how much she has left from the budget to buy groceries.
She is the mother who laughs when the magazines do a story on inexpensive clothing for only $125 per dress, remembering how she broke out in a cold sweat the day she bought a dress to go to a wedding for $32.95.
She is the mother who passes by the name-brand clothes and groceries, knowing she can whip up something just as good or better without paying for a name.
She is the mother who may have lost her own mother but carries on bravely, just as her mother would expect her to do.
She is the mother who has had to maneuver bills like the Indy 500.
She is the mother who always has time for her family but never enough time for herself.
The Tightwad Twins salute her and dedicate this book to her.

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¬2003. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins by Ann & Susan Fox. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: HCI (August 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757301053
• ISBN-13: 978-0757301056
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read, November 13, 2005

By 

Carrie McCluskey "Susann" (Florida) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: More Than 1,000 Practical Tips for Women on a Budget (Paperback)

I enjoyed the book. I did wonder about some tips though. The crockpot meal ideas were for ingredients like canned soup and canned chicken that are already cooked. I wondered why such ingredients would need to be heated all day in a crockpot. To save opening cans and waiting for the food to heat at the end of the day, perhaps?

I also don't think dividing a house in order to take on a renter would be feasible for many people. There is the privacy issue, and any decent renovation to create a separate apartment would involve more than most women with "little time and no dime" could manage. Becoming a landlord isn't without complications such as necessary repairs and problem renters.

I also wondered about the business in a box. I think most women would be embarrassed to buy cheap potpouri at the dollar store, put it into baggies tied with ribbons and handmade tags and re-sell it at a vastly inflated price. Yes, people may feel sorry for someone who says they are doing this to help with family expenses. They may assume you have no money for food. This business is one step short of shaking a donation can on street corners. If a family member needs life-saving surgery I can understand doing it, but otherwise, no thanks!

However, I enjoyed the tips and the spunky attitude- the authors are experts at making the best of what they have and apparently know what it is like to have very little. As with any tip book, you choose the tips that are right for you.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The twins' bigger financial tips are fabulous and fast., December 23, 2003

By 

Sandra B. (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: More Than 1,000 Practical Tips for Women on a Budget (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book from the twins even more than any of the others. I have already started using the bigger life-changing ones and I look forward to next month when I will see the differerence in my finances when my house makes me money while I sleep. It is funnier than the others and I loved the success stories. They were my motivation to get busy. I look forward to seeing the twins on television as I have in the past. As the twins say: this book is not for everyone, just for people who really need to save some big money and have a small income. Double advice from them which is good for us out here in the real world. I love these girls!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only for Newbies, April 24, 2006

By 

Duchesse (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Money with the Tightwad Twins: More Than 1,000 Practical Tips for Women on a Budget (Paperback)

After reading this book cover to cover I found very few things that helped me (a self proclaimed tightwad).

The book had a few good "comics" but I could have waited for the Sunday funnies. The recipes are terrible. A few tips for cleaning and sprucing up the house, a few forms, i.e. budget, shopping list, menu planning, last will and testament, but nothing much else. The 5 big tips that can change your finacial life are not new to the seasoned tightwad but could possibly help the newbie. This book is a waste of time and money for the seasoned tightwad.