The Complete Tightwad Gazette (Amy Dacyczyn)

I read this book page for page. It has so many great articles and suggestions. I love how the book reads; small articles and extremely witty. I read it every morning with my breakfast. It's amazing how much you can save with a simple suggestion or two. :)

The Tightwad Gazette is an old and out of print book. The Gazette was originally a newsletter and the book is compiled of articles from the newsletter. It was originally published in 1991 in the midst of the early 90s housing correction and recession and the Author was a fairly popular guest on game shows, news shows and the like. Now that economy is back in style I thought I'd give it a read. The main thing that's up to date is the philosophy, economy is a way of life, not because you are forced into it but because you want to live more financially free. Also economy is good for the environment. Learning to use things creatively and wisely saves energy and materials. Much of the information is out of date, several of the articles are how to write to companies to get information on products or services that can help you spend less. Now that the Internet is everywhere it would be easy to find things like bulk pasta and lists of child safety recalls. I got the book used on... Read more

I can't say a whole lot that hasn't already been said about this great book, but I wanted to add a quick note for those tightwads who are also into Flylady. I'm a radically frugal rabid decluterrer, and don't keep anything that I don't need or use regularly. This book has lived on my bookshelf (and sometimes in my bathroom) for over 8 years, just ready for me (or a visiting friend) to grab it for a quick read. It's filled with so much amazing information, that the top of the book looks like a psychedelic porcupine because of all of the multicolored bookmarks. Even so, I still learn (or remember) something fabulous, timely, and useful, every time I open the book. Information ranges from how to stockpile goods and how to get every last drop out of any container, to dumpster diving, time saving tips, and even baking from scratch recipes. Truly a must-have for any beginning or experienced frugal diva!

This book is 927 pages long. Of those 927 pages I found two new ideas for saving money. This book was a huge disappointment to me. Not only are most the ideas lame some are even illegal, like filling an old mail with a smaller mailbox, then pouring concrete into the larger one.....this is suppose to stop kids from using a baseball bat on your mailbox.......illegal! Try that and if the kid gets hurt by swinging the bat at your concrete filled mailbox you are going to get sued for the damages. It was a real bad book in my opinion. The ideas are not fresh and some are simply stupid, while others are a waste of time. I really did not like this book and I highly suggest you check it out at your library rather than wasting money on the book.

This is a brilliantly written, well-compiled manual for frugal living. It is extremely easy to read and very user friendly. I agree with other reviewers that this book is highly addictive. It's one of the few books I actually look forward to reading when I have spare time and I take it everywhere with me (which isn't an easy task!). I have gleaned many a valuable cooking tip and craft idea from its pages. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to cut expenses and be more self-sufficient.