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Amy Dacyczyn

The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle Paperback – December 15, 1998

by Amy Dacyczyn (Author)

4.6 962 ratings

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At last—the long-awaited complete compendium of tightwad tips for fabulous frugal living!

In a newsletter published from May 1990 to December 1996 as well as in three enormously successful books, Amy Dacyczyn established herself as the expert of economy. Now The Complete Tightwad Gazette brings together all of her best ideas and thriftiest thinking into one volume, along with new articles never published before in book format. Dacyczyn describes this collection as "the book I wish I'd had when I began my adult life." Packed with humor, creativity, and insight, The Complete Tightwad Gazette includes hundreds of tips for anyone looking to save money or get out of debt, such as:

Travel for tightwads • How to transform old blue jeans into potholders and quilts • Ten painless ways to save $100 this year • Picture-framing for pennies • A comparison of painting versus re-siding your house • Halloween costumes from scrounged materials • Thrifty window treatments • Ways to dry up dry-cleaning costs • Inexpensive gifts • Creative fundraisers for kids • Slashing your electric bill • Frugal fix-its • Cutting the cost of college • Moving for less • Saving on groceries • Gift-wrapping for tightwads • Furniture-fusion fundamentals • Cheap breakfast cereals • Avoiding credit card debt • Using items you were about to throw away (milk jugs, plastic meat trays, and more!) • Recipes galore, from penny-pinching pizza to toaster pastries • And much much more . .

Print length

959 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Villard
Publication date

December 15, 1998
Dimensions

7.31 x 1.62 x 9.19 inches
ISBN-10

0375752250
ISBN-13

978-0375752254
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Though tightwad seems like a derogatory term, author Amy Dacyczyn wants to assure you that it's okay to be a penny-pincher. This self-styled "Frugal Zealot" wrote and published The Tightwad Gazette for over six years to spread the frugal gospel. Each issue contained tips from her personal experience and from her many readers. The wealth of information contained in all these issues has been compiled into one volume for the first time. You'll find literally thousands of ideas for saving money, from the simple or practical to the difficult or bizarre. On the simple, practical side, Dacyczyn advises would-be tightwads to keep track of price trends at several stores in a "price book" and to buy in bulk when prices are low. Other, stranger offerings include tips for turning margarine-tub lids into playing-card holders, old credit cards into guitar picks, and six-pack rings into a hammock or volleyball net. More helpful are inexpensive recipes for making homemade versions of pricey, well-known products and ingenious ways to fix broken or damaged items. The book's disorganization encourages browsing, but the detailed index will point you to the exact page for specific items. Dacyczyn's occasional "thriftier than thou" tone is balanced by the friendly support for frugality that infuses every page. She even reminds her readers that it's okay to "sweat the small stuff"--because this small stuff is the essence of frugality. --C.B. Delaney

From the Inside Flap

At last--the long-awaited complete compendium
of tightwad tips for fabulous frugal living!

In a newsletter published from May 1990 to December 1996 as well as in three enormously successful books, Amy Dacyczyn established herself as the expert of economy. Now The Complete Tightwad Gazette brings together all of her best ideas and thriftiest thinking into one volume, along with new articles never published before in book format. Dacyczyn describes this collection as "the book I wish I'd had when I began my adult life." Packed with humor, creativity, and insight, The Complete Tightwad Gazette includes hundreds of tips and topics, such as:

¸ Travel for tightwads ¸ How to transform old blue jeans into potholders and quilts ¸ Ten painless ways to save $100 this year ¸ Picture-framing for pennies ¸ A comparison of painting versus re-siding your house ¸ Halloween costumes from scrounged materials ¸ Thrifty window treatments ¸ Ways to dry up dry-cleaning costs ¸ Inexpensive gifts ¸ Creative fundraisers for kids ¸ Slashing your electric bill ¸ Frugal fix-its ¸ Cutting the cost of college ¸ Moving for less ¸ Saving on groceries ¸ Gift-wrapping for tightwads ¸ Furniture-fusion fundamentals ¸ Cheap breakfast cereals ¸ Avoiding credit card debt ¸ Using items you were about to throw away (milk jugs, plastic meat trays, and more!) ¸ Recipes galore, from penny-pinching pizza to toaster pastries ¸ And much much more . . .

Three books in one--a $38.97 value for only $19.99!

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Villard; Copyright 1998 edition (December 15, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 959 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375752250
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375752254
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.43 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.31 x 1.62 x 9.19 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #22,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Consumer Guides (Books)
- #33 in Marketing & Consumer Behavior
- #101 in Budgeting & Money Management (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 962 ratings

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Rox1958

Loads of information

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

So much information on just about anything. Great for saving money

Helpful

Pajama Momma

It's really outdated. I bought it in 2002 and it was outdated then

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

If you want to have CPS called on you, some of the suggestions in this book are geared for you.
Using a bread bag as a cloth diaper cover is one of them. I mean, I dunno, I'm sure this book was good during The Great Depression, but it wasn't helpful to me in the crash of 2008. I did give it 3 stars for ingenuity.

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marzipan

a historical piece of literature

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2012

Verified Purchase

I have read the other reviews and most of them are polarized - people either really love this book, or they really hate it. The people who love this book seem to be typing from a place of nostalgia and/or are already tightwads; whereas the people who hate it can't stand the author's personality or consider her methods extreme. There has to be a middle ground somewhere.

First for the good stuff.

Amy Dacyczyn is smart, funny, creative, and articulate. Her style is direct and honest, which is refreshing. It cannot be understated that she blazed the trail of tightwaddery during a time when openly trying to save money meant incriminating onself with the pain and shame of poverty. Dacycyzn not only changed our national dialogue about the practice of thrift, she also served as a role model for current and future economic nonconformists that refused to acquiesce to the status quo.

If I were to rate this book on that, and the feelings of nostalgia it creates when I pick it up and start reading, I would rate it a 5. However, this book is also a product, and people read reviews to make a decision whether or not to purchase it. That decision would be based on how useful it might be to someone who is reading it for the first time in the deuce-tens.

Starting with five stars, I subtracted one star because the book is clearly, painfully outdated. Dacycyzn retired in 1997, so at the time of writing this review; the information in this book is at least 15 years old. Businesses, addresses, and in some cases products (like floppy disks) are going to be a thing of the past. Not that google couldn't pick up where Amy left off, but the reader still has to flip and wade through it all.

I subtracted another star for the lack of organization. This is an issue I see a lot in the reviews, so I kept it in mind when I got my copy in the mail. Keep in mind, the book is an edited compilation of newsletter issues dating from 1990 to 1997 in book form. So there is no section, for example, kids projects and another for holiday projects. Each book is sorted by season, but considering there are three books compiled into one; trying to find "Christmas" in 900 pages will still be a chore. Trying to find "Christmas crafts" or even "Christmas recipes" will be even worse.

There is an index, but it's not much help either. I don't have the time or motivation do do a comprehensive check of every entry, so I decided to try to look up something people might want to refer to very often. I chose the universal bread recipe, because bread is a major staple in the American diet, and it is one of the most useful articles I found in the book. I couldn't find the entry to it in the index. After scanning under "recipes," I looked under "food" which told me to look under "specific foods" (ironically, the very last suggestion listed). I managed to find it under "bread", but it was not under "Universal bread recipe." It was under the "yeast" entry. I cannot understand how finding an extremely useful recipe for bread can be so hard, when she has an entry for "Janet Reno." Yes, Janet Reno. So I flipped to the entry and found her giving a critique of a Senator taking on the cereal companies for railroading generic brands. Uh, what? Not only is taking on corporate abuse of power important (yes, even for breakfast cereal), to put an entry in the index so readers can see you railing against it seems ridiculous.

Another complaint I saw a lot was that her tone is "preachy." I disagree. There were a *few* entries where she implied that people who didn't delve into tightwaddery as deep as she does are somehow lazy, incompetent, or childish by wanting instant gratification. I don't agree with the handful of times she steps into this; but I didn't find it pervasive enough to subtract another star. I also found several places where she makes it clear that she supports anyone who lives within their means, regardless of frugal choices. So the idea that she is some kind of psychological dictator is unfounded, at least IMO.

This doesn't mean I agree with everything in the books. The books seem to be written for prospective homemakers of two-parent middle class families. She strums the "hard work" harp as though socio-political factors such as race, class, or gender discrimination have no bearing on if someone achieves personal success. There is an article about space, but it does not address people who really need to save money but live in unusually small spaces such as motel rooms, efficiency/studio apartments. She says in Tightwad Gazette II that she doesn't want to publish recipes - yet food is a major expense that cannot be excluded, only better managed. She will say that frugality is about building skills, but only publishes a few universal recipes for people to build a frugal skillset in cooking.

So no, this is not a perfect book; but it is still a good resource if for no other reason than to get people to think for themselves and think of ways to save money.

156 people found this helpful

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Vanessa

Very pleased and glad I found it

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

I received my copy today, and I agree the print is smaller than I would prefer, but I have horrible eyesight and was able to read the print with my regular glasses (bifocals--ugh!!). Undoubtedly, my reading glasses will make it much easier to manage, but if I can read the print in my hardcover copy without them, I consider it acceptable. I, too, was a subscriber of the newsletter back in the day, in fact my (grown) children are probably about the same ages as Amy's. I loved the newsletters then and still love them today (I donated the actual newsletters when the books came out since I didn't feel I needed both). I won't address the lack of organization issue since it's been done to death here; life is short, and I'll live with that issue.

As for some of the information being outdated: Amy wrote it in the 90's and a lot has happened technologically since then. Get over it! Shall we "update" all of the old classics because times have changed since they were written? No, of course not. We read and enjoy them in their historical context. If you have a bit of imagination, resourcefulness and can "think outside of the box," you can re-frame some of the outdated advice to fit the new technology. Having said that, I would be interested in Amy's take on some of the new stuff that's happened in the almost 20 years since she ended the newsletter. Just saying, but she didn't give a blanket, "Nobody needs a computer"; she basically said one should carefully consider whether one needed a computer or not. You cannot assume that, given today's situation, her advice would still remain the same. In fact, there are, indeed, Luddites out there who refuse to own a computer. I don't think Amy is one of those.

As for questionable content, Amy specifically stated that she doesn't follow every suggestion in the book. A lot of the suggestions were sent in to her. For instance, in the case of the homemade baby formula, she strongly suggests that breastfeeding is best, if possible, but, barring that, commercial formula is best and one should consult a doctor before feeding homemade formula. She wasn't advocating it just putting it out there. She never said it was a good idea.

I bought my copy used (great, tight copy with almost mint dustjacket, by the way); Amy would be proud. I've never run across one in a thrift store or at a yard sale or I'd have bought one there. Her books are also not available at my local library. Actually, from the comments here, I was half expecting to re-injure my (formerly torn) rotator cuff in lifting it out of the box, but although it's a hefty book, it's not as huge and heavy as I was anticipating. I have the three separate books but just recently found out there is a book that also includes the issues left out of the first three books.

I, by the way, recently read interviews online of Amy's daughters, and they all stated that they wouldn't trade their childhoods. They sure seemed like delightful, well-grounded, well-adjusted young women to me. They all claimed to be frugal, though not "black belt tightwads." So much for Amy's parenting practices backfiring on her.

18 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

LunaZorge

Good read

Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

Some things in the book are outdated as in developing camera film, reusing vhs etc but the bulk of the book is still relevant today. I got a used copy and it is like new.

One person found this helpful

A. I. McCulloch

Ok, it's American, it's dated - it's still a great read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book was published at the end of the last century, and some of the material is ten years older than that. It's unashamedly North American in its outlook, with no references to European material.

Yet for all that it is still a goldmine of nuggets of advice on how to live frugally.
The nature of the newsletter format means that the tips and hints on saving cash are scattered through the book at random, but a very good index makes tracking them down easy.

This is back to basics old-style money saving, and none the worse for it. Yes, it's out of date in many ways with so much of it pre-dating the Internet- but much of the advice here will never date. A money saving recipe for pizza sauce, for example, will still be current in twenty years time.

Worth getting - and the sheer size of it makes it a good buy. It's a BIG book!

6 people found this helpful

Pickle Princess!

What a FAB collection

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

I was told about this book by a dear friend. Many years ago in the US she apparently collected the books when they were 3 single items. After hearing her stories, I purchased this big old thing. I've not yet gone through the whole book, however the ideas etc are brilliant for the most part.

Nostalgia for the win.

4 people found this helpful

JPMGORHAM

value for money

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

good reference book. its so big

Ernestina

Fantastic money saving philosophy and guidelines

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is my dip into book.
I go back every so often and delve.
There are many many ideas for saving money .
If you are trying to decide whether to stay at home or go to work and use childcare, this is a good book to read as the writer has evaluated both scenarios.
The Author is American but the philosophy is the same everywhere and she gives numerous tips for living on low incomes.
The sections on kids clothing and on grocery are excellent.
I think this was originally 3 books and was compiled from years and years of a newsletter that she published at home and sold by subscription.
It is well worth the money to have this in your frugal book arsenal.

4 people found this helpful

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