Customer Reviews

The Tightwad Gazette III: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who has ever felt a little envious of a neighbor or said "Gee, I wish <I> could afford a house/staying home with the kids/starting a business/traveling/etc." MUST read one of Amy's books. The basic philosophy as I understand it is just this: skip the temporary, one-time expenditures and spend the bucks on a more lasting investment (house/kids/business/early retirement/whatever YOU dream of). I received an economics degree not too long ago, and I recognized Amy's philosophy immediately as essentially the basic "guns-or-butter" discussion from ECO101, the basic problem of limited resources and economic choice. The idea in class, as in real life, would be to MAXIMIZE the VALUE received for the dollars, not just buy whatever until you're broke and then figure out what you got for it.

More than any other author I have seen, Amy challenges her readers to examine their own values and utilize all of their creativity and intelligence to maximize the value they receive for their money. This is NOT a "don't shop when you're hungry, use coupons, and gee, try to pay down your mortgage" book. Amy provides an impressive array of real, creative, effective methods to slash waste of <all> resources: money, time and the enviroment. The books teach you to THINK in a "tightwaddy" (economic) way and take real control of your future according to your own value system, instead of just throwing out a handful of one-time-only "tips". I can honestly say it brought microeconomics home to me and changed my life.

When I saw Amy Dacyczyn on the Donahue show several years ago, I was kind of amused and thought it rather freakish and bizarre that she and her family live in such an extremist manner. I bought this book at a discount store (almost for its "humor factor"), and I must say, I was impressed with much of its content. I was particularly impressed with her no-nonsense approach to childrearing in this consumption-obsessed culture we live in. (Yes, maybe she does "make"/encourage her children eat foods that they "think" they don't like, but I would hardly consider that child abuse!) I really doubt, however, that most people could really go to the extreme that she and her family have gone to, simply because not all of us are type A, always have to be doing something personalities. But if we all could just incorporate SOME of these ideas into our daily living, we'd be better off.

As the successful founder of "The Tightwad Gazette," a penny-pinching newsletter, Amy Dacyczyn is the most dangerous woman in consumer America, the land where anything new is good, anything old must be thrown away, and you can't be too rich, too thin, or too much in debt.The Gazette is a combination of practical advice and investigative reporting, spiced with Dacyczyn's essays explaining her philosophy behind tightwaddery and debunking cultural myths. But the book is more than a collection of ideas on how to cut your family's food bill, shop for inexpensive clothing and in general obtain more for less. Dacyczyn's tightwadist philosophy is a unique mixture of New England make-do spirit -- epitimized by the phrase, "use it up wear it out, make it do or do without" -- and the consumer desire to have what we want. Being a tightwad does not mean doing without everything, Dacyczyn explains, but if you choose to do without things you do not care for, you can afford the things you want. Simple trade-offs like packing your lunch instead of eating fast-food, buying clothes at consignment shops, and haunting yard sales, can help you afford that car, that house, that trip that you really want. It becomes apparent from reading the Gazette that penny-pinching can be a full-time job, but one that can yield astonishing rewards to those willing to take the trouble to investigate it. Dacyczyn's books offer promising, even heart-lifting advice that can help families find the road to financial security. -- Bill Peschel

Other tightwad books are out there. Most of them are not by Amy Dacyczyn. Therein lies tjhe difference. Her books are original, well-researched, and full of ideas that will HONESTLY save you money. It's clear from the choices the Dacyzyns have made that they practice what they preach. The books are not padded with recipes, but those that do get included are usually good. I sorely miss the newsletter but reading through this book and the other two vols. is always a tightwad boost.

Anyone that is tired of having "more month at the end of the money" needs this book (and the other Tightwad Gazette books). There are many helpful money saving ideas in all 3 books. This book (and the other 2) are VERY MOTIVATIONAL when my "tightwad resolve" is slipping. I read these books over and over and over again. They will help the "budding" tightwad and the "old-hand" tightwad with new ideas or just remind you of things you already knew but forgot.

I have all three of the Tightwad Gazette books, and they are all fabulous. True, some of Amy's ideas are a little extreme, but, then again, do we all decorate our cookies with as much precision as Martha Stewart? The point is to go through the book and pick out the ideas that work for you. Using Amy's tips, I have managed to sock away enough money to fund an emergency savings account and pay for a trip to Paris.

I am just starting on the road to learning how to live on less, not because I have to; because I want to. There are some ways to save money listed in the book that I will probably never do, but overall I learned a lot, and enjoyed reading it while I learned. I purchased several other books on the same subject, but none gave me as much usable information as this book did. If you are serious about learning to conserve money, quit reading this review and order the book.

I picked this up because my husband and I had begun to think it might be a good idea for me to stay home with our two boys -- within five weeks I was at home, being a full-time mom! Amy Dacyshyn's book is humourous, concise, and inspirational -- thanks to her, we found we could easily afford to live on one income, and obtain a BETTER lifestyle than we had been working so hard to maintain with both of us tired and edgy after long workdays away from home! The ONLY downfall of this book is that it is badly organized and so packed full of information that it is difficult to find anything a second time -- I finally went through page by page and indexed it with post-it notes!

From her wise sense of investing time and money right to her real way with child rearing Amy Dacyczyn is doing something right. Teaching her children and her readers not to be wasteful is what it's all about. Sometimes I wish I was not allowed to push food around my plate - now I must re-educate myself and teach my own to value money, not give in to temptation when cruising down the grocery aisles and using all my resources wisely.

Where does Amy find all this info? She is absolutely amazing. Such an inspiration. I can't begin to compete on her level, but all the books have got me motivated to try harder. Although some of the tips and suggestions appear to be repeats from previous books, it doesn't hurt to read them over and over.