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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)

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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 . .

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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

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

Paperback: 959 pages
Publisher: Villard; 1 edition (December 15, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375752250
ISBN-13: 978-0375752254
Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 490 customer ratings
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #191 in Budgeting & Money Management (Books)
- #76 in Marketing & Consumer Behavior
- #32 in Consumer Guides (Books)

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5 star		75%
4 star		14%
3 star		6%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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This book is about learning to fish as opposed to having someone give you a fish and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2018

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Wanna change you life? This book is about learning to fish as opposed to having someone give you a fish and I HIGHLY recommend it... especially as a prequel to a book like Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (sorry for plugging there, just really thought this would go well before Dave's book, kinda like a stepping stone). Anyhoo… this book is not out of date. It has principles that work at any time.

13 people found this helpful

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marzipan

a historical piece of literature

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2012

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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.

88 people found this helpful

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thrifty to thrive

I loved these newsletters when I was raising my kids so ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2017

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I loved these newsletters when I was raising my kids so I bought this complete set 20 years later and it was well worth my $8 even though some of the ideas are outdated, many like how to dry pail cloth diapers, to be waste friendly and environmentally conscious are well worth the look. I especially love the recipes for muffins, leftovers, play dough and other kid activities. I am impressed with how frugal this woman was and her kids all seemed well rounded. If you can't find this at your local library you should definitely buy this especially if you have kids.

8 people found this helpful

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dbaks

Not the average savings book

Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2014

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I, for one, wanted to use some of the ideas that previous generations used to save money. That is the point here and I appreciate it. Although some methods are outdated now, the author can't be faulted for that. 98% of them are still relevant. So what if it tells you to write to get a copy of a list but you can find it online now? I get that not everyone wants to use a tuna can to make a cookie cutter, but some people do! There are other books offering the same ol same ol suggestions... make meal plans according to the sale flyers, save on your auto insurance, turn off the cable tv....these are different and some may find that quirky.

In the book, Amy says that we rarely have chances to save large lump sums of money, but we have chances to save small amounts everyday. It's true. She is very creative and methodical in her approaches. She tells you how much hot cocoa costs from a can, from the packets, from this homemade version and that homemade version. There are breakdowns of why she only purchases new vehicles to how to decide when to pay more for certain items. One story involves her daughter wanting purple boots. They found the same kind of boots but in green for 10% of what the purple ones cost. The daughter protested and Amy explained to her that the purple ones were 10x as much, so unless she truly loved the purple ones 10x more, they really weren't a good value. The daughter went with the green ones and ended up liking them better.

She tells of shortfalls when her kids complained about bland school lunches and how she would spice them up. She lists several uses for simple things like paperclips or what to do with the last of the jelly. It really is helpful in good times, but even critical in hard times. I won't ever get rid of this book.

41 people found this helpful

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ZanyMomofFour

Just a classic

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2020

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When I was newly married, my mom had subscribed to Amy's newsletter. I was visiting, and read all of the issues that she had. I was hooked! I married young and we didn't have a lot of money, but I found out how to stretch and make do with what we had, all because this "counter culture" lady wrote a newsletter. I identified with Amy because we were a military family too. I used so many of the tips, and learned so much, we lived abundantly on very little. I bought the books over the years as I saw them (on sale!) in book stores. I didn't know there was a "complete" tightwad gazette until just recently. It is a compilation of her newsletters. I just sat down and re-read it, and while it is somewhat dated, (landline telephone and calling overseas on off hours comes to mind) most of the advice is still relevant (make your own casserole or muffin combinations) or now, with toilet paper shortages, (step on the roll and it will not spin as fast so you use less) seemingly visionary! I owe a lot to this lady and her book.

2 people found this helpful

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Ms. Cathy J. Bryant

You get your money’s worth, and then some

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2018

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This was written before the internet age, so about 10% of the info is outdated. The rest, however, is pure gold. This book paid for itself when we did our first supermarket shop after reading it - with no dip in the quality of our purchases, either. It’s enormous, but written in such an engaging, honest and fun style that it’s really enjoyable. We’re saving a lot of money because of it - as in saving actual money in the bank. Thank you, Amy.

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Paul Howard

Everything you wanted to know about frugality but were afraid to ask.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2018

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I wish I had come across this years ago. Too much about kid’s stuff for the child free but hugely inspiring nevertheless. There are endless tips on the subject of penny pinching but the real value of this book I think is the attitude of the Frugaleer. Most, if not all, of the tips are now contained in all of the various Frugal Living websites out there but to have them all between the covers of a book really is something. Of course it is best if you can buy this book second hand!

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C. Green

Fantastic money saving philosophy and guidelines

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2014

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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.

2 people found this helpful

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ggee

Very good for practical tips and advice

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2018

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A hefty manual! Very good for practical tips and advice, although some of it is now dated. There are lots of references to the USA shopping market, but there is plenty for the UK reader. Lots of readers' illustrations included which make the book an enjoyable read.

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Dot

very happy with this item

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2019

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very happy with this item

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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2017

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Great ideas if a bit dated in parts the basic premise is good and she writes well, I am enjoying the book.

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Alex

Good service

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2014

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The book was in good nick, and my mother was thrilled (it was a present for her). While I may not be an expert on the contents of the book, the book was securely packaged and an excellent price.

One person found this helpful

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Mrs. K.

Disorganised

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2019

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Book is very difficult to use or read

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JANE PENNOCK

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2017

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excellent book as described

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MRS ANN PIERS

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2016

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A brilliant book and a first class service,thank you.

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Amazon Customer

Good Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2017

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Very interesting book! Am working my way through it, and picking up tips

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Julie hill

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2015

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Very interesting book wish I'd known about it years ago

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Amazon Customer

Interesting read, needs a table of contents though.

Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2019

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This book is interesting to flip through. The tips found inside are useful, although many of the tips are just common sense, common knowledge things. The book is also fairly dated, but that's not really the authors fault as it is an old book now.
My biggest complaint about this book is that it lacks any sort of index or table of contents. Due to this, it is impossible to find anything relating to whatever topic you would like to learn about. This is an inexcusable omission in what otherwise would be a good book of reference.

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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

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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!

3 people found this helpful

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Ajita Chakraborty

Good book

Reviewed in India on January 26, 2017

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It is a collection of newsletter published by the author from 1990 to 1996. What I liked in the book is the writer's use of common sense to save money. She saved money to fulfil her dream to get the life she wants. It is very commendable, I think. However, it is written in American context and therefore lot of things are not applicable for Indians. Still, I think it is an interesting read. It is recommended for everyone who is searching for ways to cut expenses and save money.

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