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Frugal Living for Dummies
Books: CookBooks: Frugal Gourmet: Item 3
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Frugal Living for Dummiesby Deborah Taylor-Hough
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112 of 125 people found the following review helpful: Glad I borrowed this at the library, August 6, 2003 Reviewer: A readerIt's not true, as another reviewer suggested, that Dummies books can only be expected to be of use to beginners in a topic. I've been online for years and still got something out of Internet for Dummies. I've used Ebay quite a bit and still got something out of Ebay for Dummies. In reading Frugal Living, however, I kept noticing glaring omissions that would have been so easy to include if Ms. Taylor-Hough would move into the 21st century. She mentions library booksales as a source for cheap books but doesn't include the website that lists virtually all upcoming library booksales throughout the country. (In fact, she mentions libraries several times but never suggests taking advantage of the free programs for kids and adults that most libraries offer.) She does not mention Amazon or any other online sources for inexpensive used books. She doesn't mention using the library for free internet access. She doesn't mention how to find inexpensive computer equipment or cheap internet services providers to use at home. She mentions pulling out traditional games to play with the family, and buying them at yard sales. But what if you've lost the rules or buy one where they're missing? There are websites where you can get the official rules if you've lost them, but she doesn't mention this. She doesn't mention the existance of online coupon codes, getting grocery coupons from manufacturer and other websites, or online price comparison tools. She mentions saving on restaurant meals by drinking only water, but doesn't mention how you can get deeply-discounted restaurant gift certificates on Ebay. She discusses cooking; no websites. Stain removal; no websites. In a budgeting section she mentions no websites about budgets, just one for a charity she apparently wishes to promote. There are good websites on virtually every topic she covers, and she only mentions a few. The worst omission concerns mortgages. We are living in an era of record-low mortgage rates and she only gives one short paragraph to refinancing. All she says is to ask your banker or mortgage company for details. No hint that online mortgage-payment calculators, mortgage comparison tools, or general advice are available online at all--let alone references to specific websites. We are in the midst of refinancing and if all goes through we will be saving $300 a month. You'd have to work very hard at traditional "frugal living" to match a savings like this, yet the author glances right over it. There is the outline of a good book here, but as it stands it could have been written in the 1980's. Frugal Living has come a long way since The Tightwad Gazette, but from this book you wouldn't know it.
Book Description
Feel like you’re trying to dig out from under a mountain of debt without a shovel? Tired of working your tail off just to break even? Is the high cost of living taking all the joy out of life? Unless you’re one of the top two percent of wealthiest Americans, all of the above should sound painfully familiar. While they’re trying to decide between the ski lodge in Telluride and the Tuscan villa, for the rest of us, it’s an endless litany of corporate lay-offs, stagnant wages, crushing credit card debt, skyrocketing medical costs, exorbitant utility bills, the high cost of higher education. And they call this “the good life.” Is there a better way to live? Can you get what you need and what you want without killing yourself to get it? “Absolutely,” says frugal-living guru Deborah Taylor-Hough, and in Frugal Living For Dummies, she shows you how.
In this warmhearted guide to living the good life on less, Deborah shows you how to live within your means and enjoy doing it. Among other things, she shows you how to:
- Eat like a king on a peasant’s budget
- Take the sting out of gift-giving
- Dress well on a shoestring
- Save big bucks on family expenses
- Slash household expenses
- Save on medical expenses
- Involve the whole family in saving money
- Save more for the things you want
From basement to attic, cradle to grave, Frugal Living For Dummies covers all areas of life with common sense advice and guidance on:
- Working with your partner to achieve financial goals
- Going to the grocery without being taken to the cleaners
- Quick and thrifty cooking techniques
- Providing kids the basics on a tight budget
- Putting kids through school without going broke
- Looking good and feeling good on a tight budget
- Frugal holiday fun year round
- Saving money around the house and driveway
- Finding quality in pre-owned merchandise
Packed with tried-and-true techniques for cutting costs and stopping the insanity, Frugal Living For Dummies is the ultimate financial survival guide for the rest of us.
Book Info
Includes tips to get the whole family involved in saving money. A helpful guide to living the good life on less. Softcover.
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