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The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less [Paperback]

Jeff Yeager (Author)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Departing from the get rich mantra of many personal finance books, Yeager, once dubbed the Ultimate Cheapskate by NBC's Today Show, instead advises readers to shift their priorities and live well on less in this sensible guide to frugal living. Yeager himself retired from a career as a nonprofit executive at age 46 by saving on expenses large (he and his wife renovated their home themselves and exercise and eat well to cut down on medical costs) and small (he soft-boils his eggs in the dishwasher during the wash cycle). Embedded in the sometimes juvenile humor and aw-shucks prose are some original ideas for conserving cash, such as trying a fiscal fast—going a full week or more without spending any money. Most of all, he urges readers to free themselves from the Money Step, the endless dance of having to earn more in order to spend more. By emphasizing the virtues and satisfactions of living cheaply, Yeager convincingly makes the case that frugality can free more time and cash for life's true pleasures—a passion-filled career, hobbies and giving back to one's loved ones and community. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A compelling—and highly entertaining—look at improving both the quality of our lives and the health of our planet by consuming wisely and laughing out loud."

—Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club

"People today think frugality is no fun. Jeff puts the lie to it. I recognize in him my own delight at concocting high joy, low cost solutions to life's challenges. Less doesn't mean deprivation--it means less stress, commuting, illness, loneliness and the other ills of our 'more is better' and 'it's never enough' culture. Enjoy!"
--Vicki Robin, co-author of the classic betseller,Your Money or Your Life

"Jeff Yeager's Ultimate Cheapskate book will not only save you a bunch of money, it'll put a smile on your face while you're doing it. Finally, there's no need to be afraid to face your finances. Jeff explains things in clear, easy-to-understand language all the while showing you how to get the last laugh on your money."

--Gary Foreman, Publisher, The Dollar Stretcher, www.stretcher.com

"What do we all want out of life? To enjoy it to the fullest! Jeff Yeager does a great job showing the way to enjoyment is to be free from debt and clutter, and to have a great time while getting there!"

--Janet Luhrs, author of The Simple Living Guide and the Simple Living newsletter, www.simpleliving.com

"I've read and reviewed dozens of personal finance books. This is the first one that is truly funny throughout. And Yeager's advice is solid, too!"

--J.D. Roth, GetRichSlowly, www.getrichslowly.org

“Slay your Enoughasaurus and learn to skip the Money Step with help from The Ultimate Cheapskate. Jeff Yeager's edgy humor and surprising insights make this book a very different read than the usual financial tomes. This guy takes thinking outside the box to a new level.”

-Gregory Karp, “Spending Smart” newspaper columnist and author of Living Rich by Spending Smart


"The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches, by Jeff Yeager, has landed a vaunted place next to my economic bibles, Your Money or Your Life and the Tightwad Gazette trilogy. Yeager -- between jokes -- advises readers to find financial security the old-fashioned way, by spending less than they make."
-Liz Soares, The Morning Sentinel
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway (December 26, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767926951
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767926959
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #22,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #5 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional
    #44 in  Books > Business & Investing > Personal Finance > Budgeting & Money Management
    #10 in  Books > Entertainment > Humor > Business

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The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less
66% buy the item featured on this page:
The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less by Jeff Yeager Paperback 4.4 out of 5 stars (116)
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The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means
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The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means by Jeff Yeager Paperback 4.1 out of 5 stars (18)
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10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget
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10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget by The Writers of Wise Bread Paperback 4.4 out of 5 stars (21)
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Customer Reviews

116 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (116 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Prepare for Revelations, February 28, 2008
By Aaauger (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less (Paperback)
I thought I was a miser. This book revealed that I wasn't. I've never been extravagant. But I learned that I bought unnecessarily on emotion, bought to compensate for time, bought to rationalize a high paying, unfulfilling job. So I tried Jeff's fast this month. I'm on Day 28 - no problem. Just as buying brings some enjoyment, I learned that not having credit card debt brought huge relief (close kin to enjoyment). In fact, not spending hours shopping and buying brought peace. What was amazing was the number of times I thought I needed something at the store - only to realize I had plenty of it at home. I am thinking about the supermarket fast for next month but am kind of afraid of what I'll find in the freezer.

More than savings tips like Tightwad Gazette, this book put money in perspective relative to my life and loosened its claws. The money and time that I'm saving are being put to much better use these days. Will I stick with it? Yes - I've gained far more than I've sacrificed and with less effort and resistance than I ever expected.

PS Read anything Clark Howard to complement this book.
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126 of 143 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre and unrealistic handbook for "saving" and living simply, April 10, 2008
By Concerned Citizen (Anywheresville, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less (Paperback)
This isn't the first such book, and it won't be the last given the coming recession. The last recession in the 80s gave us stuff like "The Tightwad Gazette", which was clearly an influence on Jeff Yeager, as well as "The Millionaire Next Door".

I wanted this book to be better than it is, because I think there is a lot of potential wisdom in living more simply and avoiding materialism, and a lot of practical stuff that people could learn in terms of saving money and avoiding the credit card trap. Unfortunately, if Mr. Yeager has some good tips, he is keeping them to himself. The most "Ultimate Cheapskate" has to tell you is either really simple ("buy a less expensive/house/tv, etc.") or flatout wrong ("the least expensive stuff is at big box stores like Sam's Club" -- WRONG!).

One big problem is that Yeager and his wife of 22 years are unusual, in that they don't have children. Don't get me wrong, it's a personal choice and I respect it. But he never really owns up to it (I had to read sections over twice, until I figured it out), and he never admits that many of his "savings" schemes would not work, or would work differently, if he had young children, or kids in college. Yeager brags, rather shamelessly, about things like living on just one income (his, while his wife's earnings are saved or invested) -- but you can't do that if one spouse stays home with toddlers, or if you have to pay most of one spouse's salary for day care. He also brags about paying his house off early, but again he has not had to support small children or pay their expenses, but could save/invest half the income of a DINK (dual income, no kids) couple.

Finally, he tells us that he's managed to acquire a net worth of $900,000, at age 48 (his wife is 54). But half of that is the over-inflated value of his home in a premium suburb (suburban Washington DC) -- when the housing bubble deflates completely, will his home still be worth almost $500K? And again, the Yeagers have not had to send three kids to college, which most people their age are working on. Furthermore, his chapter on investing -- which is high school level economics, so beware -- doesn't mention that the OTHER $400K of his "net worth" could disappear in an instant if he's bought stock in companies like Enron or Bears Stearn, or if there is a stock market crash. All that "cheapskate" arrogance could vanish in a flash.

I have found that other such "cheapskate" or "tightwad" books don't realize that if EVERYONE lived a simple and cheap life, then all the bargains and free stuff that the Cheapskate lives for would not be there, as everyone else would be competing for the same "cheap stuff". Right now, it's only available because OTHER PEOPLE are buying regular goods and services.

Some of the advice is really crappy, too -- Yeager shops heavily at Dollar Stores. I have found that such stores often stock sub-standard merchandise, such as outdated food items and defective items. They also rely heavily on imports from China! How does this help the US, address unemployment or save the environment? And as far as "big box stores" or "warehouse clubs" -- consumer magazines have exposed them as often not having the cheapest prices anyhow. You can do better by watching sales at your local merchants, or pairing sale prices with high value coupons.

One of the most offensive sections in the book deals with Mr. Yeager's glee at his paid up home, with a valuable, income producing rental unit. First, Yeager tells us he bought the home in 1986, when he was 28 and only earning (he claims) about $10,000 a year. Yet he somehow could afford a $157,000 house! This was expensive back then, and I don't see how someone with so little income could have ever qualified for such a big mortgage -- without heavy parental help, which he fails to mention. He's been coasting on the rental income for 22 years, but most of us really can't count on finding a house with a rental unit attached -- such homes are rare, and when they exist, they are costly. Unless Yeager tells us how much a comparable home, in 1986, would have cost WITHOUT a rental unit, we cannot figure out if the extra cost was justified by the rental income anyways.

This is a little like saying: "I can live cheaply because I was lucky enough to inherit a nice trust fund". Most of us are not willing to forgoe having children, or sending them to college and we can't magically find homes with lucrative rental units over the garage!

I picked this book up hoping for a handful of clever tips for saving money, and instead got a lecture about dumbass stuff like "shop at the Dollar Store". You'd get better, more practical advice from any old lady who lived through the Great Depression.

It would have been far more fair, also, if Mr. Yeager had admitted that it's much easier to save money and live cheap -- if you DO NOT have children...and that many of his "tips" are not applicable to FAMILIES. Or that stubborn kids or teens might be very resistant to not having any cell phone, internet service, cable TV...or to eating a diet of stale outdated canned goods from the Dollar Store.

The book is also greatly lacking in visuals, such as photos or even pie charts, making it a dull read. In short: you won't find any useful tips here if you are serious about saving money.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously silly, January 11, 2008
By Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less (Paperback)
This book is funny, but to buy it for that reason alone misses the point. Hiding behind the humor is the wise advice of a personal finance expert who knows there's more to life than just how much debt you can pile up on a credit card. Jeff Yeager's breezy writing is full of great -- and serious -- ideas, yet you never feel that he is preaching at you. As you read you feel inspired, even empowered.

One of his thoughts is to put yourself on a money fast for one week a year. You spend nothing for seven days, which gets you thinking about all the terrific things to do that are free, and makes you realize that you can easily do without many of the items you buy just out of habit.

The book's eye-opening premise is that, contrary to just about every commercial you see, your quality of life increases as your spending decreases. What awful news for MasterCard! And what a refreshing thought!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars waste of money
Maybe some will find new ideas in here but I didn't. As I am quite frugal already i expect that can happen and I read frugal books anyhow because even if a new idea doesn't pop... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Berni

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice and financial philosophy from a funny guy
Full disclosure - I used to work with Jeff and always liked the guy - especially the homemade margaritas he made for office parties. Read more
Published 20 days ago by S. Webb

5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift for someone that needs to learn the value of $$$$$
This book brings a different perspective to personal finance. Most financal books provide schemes on how to create wealth via the stock market and realt estate rather than on the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rene C. Abel

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read & lots of great ideas
I really enjoyed this book. Yeager's sense of humor make it a fun read. The book will pay for itself many times over with his tips for saving money every month. Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. Myers

3.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate Cheapskate
There are quite a few things the author suggested that I intend to try in an effort to live better on less money.
Published 6 months ago by R. L. Dennewitz

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, Great Tips and Overall Great Book
This is a great, entertaining and funny read, especially for those of you who value life more than money. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Riketa

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches
I have read over 50 financial/retirement books over the last 2 years and this by far is the most practical and enjoyable book I have read. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Financially Free

5.0 out of 5 stars Best read of the year!!
Buy this book. I felt hesitant, as the cheapo I try to be, but I don't regret plopping $10.00 to buy this book (on sale). Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ellyse Gillogley

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Cheapskate Book
The product was not quite what I expected but it sure is funny and written rather well but with a humurous prospective.
Published 7 months ago by Carole S. Stabile

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent advice
Yaeger's book makes a lot of sense and particularly at this time, more people should be following his advice. Life is too short to waste on stuff. Read more
Published 7 months ago by helen

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