The Complete Tightwad Gazzette
Amy Dacyczyn
I think the Complete Tightwad Gazzette is absolutely the best Frugal Living book available. It is a great mix of specific money saving strategies, and articles about "Tightwad Theory" for the planners in the group. This books is a collection of all three of her volumes on thrift. You get three for the price of one!
Until I read her first book back in the 1990's, I thought I was "the Queen of Cheap" but she has me beat by a major mile. This woman washes her sandwich bags! She washes her foil. She wastes nothing! In our house the standard by which we judge whether we are meeting true frugality of trash removal is whether Amy Dacyczyn would throw the object away.
This set combined in one binder gives you the full range of her writing from her newsletter on money saving, and the many reader hints and tips that she received over the years. In this way you get ideas about all aspects of household management from bank savings to uses for those weird little plastic clasps that hold bread bags shut.
And this book also serves to inspire people who really want to get control over their household expenses. Whenever I want to make a major household purchase, I stop and look this book over to get other ideas to achieve th same goal. I freely admit our family does not spend as carefully as the Dacyczyn's, and I'm not sure we would want to. Their thrift level is also their hobby.
However, if you want to see the level of thrift that is possible in this materialist world and get lots of good practical tips on saving money then --this book is a "must read!" It would also make a great gift for any family you know who is struggleing with financial issues.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SAMPLE PAGES or click the picture below
