City Chic: An Urban Girl's Guide to Livin' Large on Less (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I went to college in New York City, where a shoebox-sized room is considered ample space..." (more)
Key Phrases: urban girl, lip pencil, style icons, New York, San Francisco, Kate Spade (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bursting with random tidbits-e.g., bakeries often slash prices heavily right before closing; it's best to shampoo your hair every other day, not daily; blue is supposedly an appetite suppressant, thus not a great color to paint your kitchen-Willdorf's handbook for the chick-lit crowd actually contains lots of useful information. The glossy magazine vet (she's written for Glamour, Worth, Entertainment Weekly and Teen Vogue) provides a cheat sheet for 20-something women dealing with life on a budget in a big city. There are chapters on home decorating (complete with tips on seasonal curbside shopping); body care (suggesting exercises you can do anywhere); food and drink (listing cash-saving dinner options); and clothes (insisting "white tennies over tights are not an option here. Don't even think about it."). Of course, any woman who's lived in New York for a few months already knows the drill, but Willdorf's book may appeal to newbies and those considering making a move to a more urban environment.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

With tips like these, readers won't have to sacrifice much to put a big dent in their credit card balance.
(ForeWord )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402200544
• ISBN-13: 978-1402200540
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #516,095 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars but not terribly practical in the real world, December 15, 2004

By	Cherie Priest "Cherie Priest" (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

In Ms. Willdorf's magical world people don't have credit card debt, student loan payments, emergency vet bills, car problems or health issues requiring prescription drugs ... at least her handy-dandy budgeting lists never mention or account for these things. Must be nice.

While some of the hints and suggestions in this book are rather interesting, some of them were simply incorrect. For example, the author fusses about Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee costing $18/lb., to which I say "Ha." Not unless she's sleeping with the bean farmer (or, she's being ripped off with an undisclosed blend -- which is also possible). That stuff might *wholesale* for such a price, but if you're buying by the pound it's more like $50 a bag.

Also, there's a great deal of discussion on thrift store shopping and second hand acquisitions, but her estimates of furniture prices are ludicrously low. She *sounds* like someone who has been thrifting sometime within the last 20 years ... but the numbers she tosses off incline me to think otherwise.

All in all, the book was a quick, fluffy, pleasant-enough read ... but it wasn't half as informative as I hoped it would be. If you're *actually* poor, you may want to look elsewhere for your bargains. This book was written for poor women with poor friends who occasionally drop $600 on decorative pillows [an actual anecdote from the book, related as a fiscal coup].

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for this Urban Girl, January 4, 2005

By	lulubella (Chicago) - See all my reviews

If you are looking for a book on how to live on a limited income, this is not your book. Nina Wildorf seems to live in a world that doesn't involve student loans, car payments, or the idea of a savings account. Her rule of thimb for budgeting is 20% of your income towards clothes. This is not fical responsibility.

And only wash your jeans every 6 months so that they don't fade? Really? Am I the only one who thinks this is odd?

On the other hand, she does have some cute ideas for decorating on the cheap--I am glad to see that someone besides me goes dumpster diving!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Find, May 4, 2003

By	Cindy Milner (chigao, il) - See all my reviews

I don't know what those other reviewers are talking about. I found the book to be a fun read with lots of great, useful ideas. I definitely will refer to it. Plus it's a fun book for people who see it lying around on my coffee table to pick up and flip through for a few little morsels of info. Thanks for your book!