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The Complete Tightwad Gazette
by
Amy Dacyczyn
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 w...more
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 w...more
Paperback, 976 pages
Published
December 15th 1998
by Villard
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I am fucking obsessed with these books. This woman is possibly the most sensible human being on earth. Come for the novelty tips, stay for the practical philosophy.
Synopsis: Amy Dacyczyn (aka the Frugal Zealot) published The Tightwad Gazette as a newsletter from June 1990 to December 1996. This book was created as a collection of all the tips and stories from the newsletters. It is split up into three parts (of which so far I have read only one) of about 300 pages each. The book covers ways to save money in hundreds of unique and imaginative ways.
My Review: This book has a long waiting list at the library so I was only able to cover Volume I du...more
My Review: This book has a long waiting list at the library so I was only able to cover Volume I du...more
Mindy Goorchenko
rated it
Recommends it for:
everyone! (except Bill Gates and similarly wealthy people)
Shelves:
home-economics
I have had my copy for more than a year from our church library (I guess this is my confession! I better bring it back so someone else can reap the benefits, because I've practically memorized the thing). If you are the kind of person who needs to find more room in your budget, or if you simply enjoy finding the absolute least expensive way to do anything, this book will entertain and educate you. I refer to it constantly. It has changed our financial situation from being scary and stressful to ...more
The MOTHER of all books on frugality! This author is VERY extreme in her frugality; and that behavior allowed her to be a stay-at-home mom of 6 (I think) kids on her husband's small salary.
Many things were to "out there" for me but at least 3/4
s of the ideas I easily adapted to my own life.
While I don't save tin foil or iron wrapping paper to use again I was very inspired by this book to implement a lot of her ideas.
I re-read this book about on...more
Many things were to "out there" for me but at least 3/4
s of the ideas I easily adapted to my own life.
While I don't save tin foil or iron wrapping paper to use again I was very inspired by this book to implement a lot of her ideas.
I re-read this book about on...more
This is a perennial read for me. I'm re-reading it now to get back into my frugal mindset in my new role as 100% housewife.
What makes this book unique is it gives you an overall theory on how and why to be frugal. She conducts psuedo-scientific experiments to test that something is actually cheap in practice and gets you thinking about places where you could be saving money that surpasses the normal "clip coupons" advice.
Trust me on this one, its an awesome ...more
What makes this book unique is it gives you an overall theory on how and why to be frugal. She conducts psuedo-scientific experiments to test that something is actually cheap in practice and gets you thinking about places where you could be saving money that surpasses the normal "clip coupons" advice.
Trust me on this one, its an awesome ...more
This is a book that I finally bought after checking it out from the library at least 10 times. I LOVE this book. Some money-saving tips may seem extreme or out-dated, but it got me thinking outside the box. It has changed the way I think about spending. I always had trouble putting it down. It gets you thinking back to the way your grandma probably thought about self reliance. The author's tone is a bit condescending and guilt-provoking at times, but if you can take it with a grain of salt...more
this book could potentially change your life (or, more specifically, your relationship to money, time, debt & a whole host of other things). it's a compilation of self-published newsletters that ms. dacyzyn published in the early-to-mid 90's about her frugal lifestyle. sounds like a snooze-fest, but she's an engaging writer who is not without a sense of humor. my mom used to subscribe to the newsletter & i remember reading it as a kid, which is part of the reason i re-read this as an adult.
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This 925+ page book has taken up a huge chunk of my reading time. So hopefully I'll be posting more frequently now that it's on its way back to the library! Anyway, this is sort of a thrift Bible; she's really taken things to their logical extreme. Her writing style is very conversational; she investigates the cost of things that most of us would never have the time to do. I loved her attitude - she was doing these activities as a way to make the most of her family life (without any overzeal...more
This book changed my way of thinking. Thrift is a rich and satisfying way of life, and it is connected with our relationships with community and the natural environment. There are so many gems here, so many ingenious ideas for saving money. I still have much to learn from Master Dacyczyn, but this book was my introduction to this radical way of thinking. And yes, I do think it is radical in our society that is so ravenous in its consumption. Be more inventive. Borrow. Share. Trashpick if you w...more
I am so pleased that I decided to buy this book. I was wavering about whether I could afford to give up work and raise my son full time on just my husband's salary and Amy showed me just how easy and fulfilling it could be. I do not do many (most?) of the ideas in the book, but it gives me the confidence that we should never find ourselves in a bad financial situation.
I have now been a SAHM for 4 months and am delighted with my decision. I will work again in the future but time wit...more
I have now been a SAHM for 4 months and am delighted with my decision. I will work again in the future but time wit...more
The Complete Tightwad Gazette is a 976 pages of frugal living tips compiled from 6 years of newsletters spanning the early 90s. I found most of the advice was worthwhile (especially the information about food/cooking), though some of the suggestions were for pennypinchers more extreme than myself.
This book had value beyond that of learning to live better. I found parts of the book outright humorous! For example, there is a section (written in the mid-90s) where the author discu...more
This book had value beyond that of learning to live better. I found parts of the book outright humorous! For example, there is a section (written in the mid-90s) where the author discu...more
Originally, I owned a couple of the individual paperback versions. I bought the combined hardback version in order to have the information in one place.
This contains a wealth of timeless information. It is an easy read.
The only flaw is the index. It is a bit quirky with the categories. Some pages referenced to are incorrect. There are some articles that are only listed once. For example, to find the recipe to make your own pre-wash spray you need to look under laundry and th...more
This contains a wealth of timeless information. It is an easy read.
The only flaw is the index. It is a bit quirky with the categories. Some pages referenced to are incorrect. There are some articles that are only listed once. For example, to find the recipe to make your own pre-wash spray you need to look under laundry and th...more
This book had some really good recipes. I especially liked the pizza dough recipe that you make in the food processer. Amy's story about how she and her husband saved up the money to buy their dream house was inspiring. But some of the tips are extreme. I doubt that I will be washing and reusing my baggies, even here in Germany where you have to sort every bit of your trash for recycling. I have three separate trash cans in my pantry. One for plastics and cans, one for paper and one for re...more
This was a pretty thick book, but it was easy to skip over parts that didn't apply to me, and when she was "investigating" something, I skipped over the details and just read the results. I thought this book was poorly organized, and she's definitely extreme (I feel sorry for her kids!!)- but I did find some great ideas I'm willing to try. I also liked her attitude about recycling and reusing. Most of us would never dare to buy used bed sheets at a garage sale- but how many of us ta...more
Now this would have made a good wedding present....just finding this now I can't believe someone didn't smack me upside the head and say YOU MUST READ THIS! So yeah...loved it. For the not-frugal it might be a little over the top and shocking but I absolutely loved all the new ideas and even more I loved seeing all the actual calculations for costs of things like using a bread machine over baking bread in the oven(although I'm still curious about the cost of having to run the a/c to cool a hou...more
A few good tips, but on the whole not an entirely useful resource. Many of her suggestions are outdated. There's a lot of "teaching you how to think creatively" sorts of articles that aren't practical to most people, but are supposed to help you get in the mindset of using what you've got creatively to solve problems rather than simply spending money. Eh... ok. But how many reminders do we need about that?
From a philosophical point of view, I have one major problem with...more
From a philosophical point of view, I have one major problem with...more
In today's economy, you really need to save a buck, right? This book has some useful (and some hilariously over-the-top crazy) ways to save money. I really have fun browsing it, though, because of the wit that goes along with all the wisdom.
Amy's essays on WHY she chooses to live with less pop up throughout the book, and are good nuggets to make a person reflect on what she wants out of life.
Now the reason I'm posting is because I can't FIND my copy. I loaned it to som...more
Amy's essays on WHY she chooses to live with less pop up throughout the book, and are good nuggets to make a person reflect on what she wants out of life.
Now the reason I'm posting is because I can't FIND my copy. I loaned it to som...more
I had been reading a variety of environment-related books, which segued into sustainable living and thrift books. I only read about 1/3 of this book (it is about 900 pages). There were only a handful of ideas that I would actually use, so I decided to cut my losses and put the book down. What I realized was the environmental argument is much more compeling to me than the thrift argument--i.e. I am much more likely to hang my clothes on the clothesline to reduce my carbon footprint than I am do t...more
I just read this to see if there were any good ideas for being more thrifty. Unfortunately, while the book was printed in 1998, the ideas were from many years earlier, and I found the book overall pretty useless. Maybe it's because I've been frugal for years and any of the good ideas in the book I discovered ages ago. For someone who doesn't live frugally, this book might be useful? For me, the day I start washing Dollar Store baggies to reuse and drying them all over my kitchen is the day s...more
This book truly was amazing. Amy Dacyczyn, "the Frugal Zealot," has definitely earned her title. Using the principles and meathods she outlines, she has made the perfect life for herself and her large family on a seriously tiny income. Even if you are less than zealous for tightwadery, you won't be able to help finding the articles entertaining and fun to read. You may even find yourself making a few changes here and there! At the very least, stick it in your powder room and wait f...more
Totally inspiring. This book isn't just about frugal living, but learning to re-see almost everything around you and ask, How can I repurpose that? How can I solve that problem in a creative way? What's amazing about immersing yourself in this book is that it forces you to reflect on how much of the way we (read: I) live is automatic, or unexamined. Instead of assuming that spending $80 at Target, buying a replacement toaster, or buying new clothes are all normal things to do, she shows how ...more
Amy Dacyczyn was one of the leading figures of frugality advocacy in the 90's. It all started with this newsletter, The Tightwad Gazette. It was just what people needed after the excesses of the 80's, and it caught on like wildfire. It really helps that Dacyczyn is so honest, ethical, humorous, and well-researched.
Tightwads get a bad rap. People go about it all wrong. They have an attitude of deprivation, that frugality is something poor people do. Dacyczyn changes all of that....more
Tightwads get a bad rap. People go about it all wrong. They have an attitude of deprivation, that frugality is something poor people do. Dacyczyn changes all of that....more
I stayed up way too late last night reading this book. I, apparently, am the last one to hear about it as Susan and Carol had already heard of it.
Honestly, we don't live a frivolous life and we already do a lot of things that people recommend. I didn't know people didn't use a towel more than once that has been on their fresh-from-the-shower-clean body. My single mom instituted that rule when I was about 11. We hardly ever eat out and my car goes only where is necessary. 95% of ...more
Honestly, we don't live a frivolous life and we already do a lot of things that people recommend. I didn't know people didn't use a towel more than once that has been on their fresh-from-the-shower-clean body. My single mom instituted that rule when I was about 11. We hardly ever eat out and my car goes only where is necessary. 95% of ...more
I had a hard time deciding what to say about this book...and after much thought, I think what it boils down to is that this book is innovative, a first of it's kind. And because of that, it is interesting and worth reading, but has a lot of problems.
What the reader should pay attention to are the articles about tightwad theory, any applicable reader-submitted tips, and probably the success stories. But there is far more that isn't worth reading, such as the endless and boring artic...more
What the reader should pay attention to are the articles about tightwad theory, any applicable reader-submitted tips, and probably the success stories. But there is far more that isn't worth reading, such as the endless and boring artic...more
This is considered by many to be the frugal living "bible." I found lots of the specific information outdated (food costs, little mention of internet,etc.). However, Dacyczyn's editorials throughout were terrific--she does a great job of distilling down the essence of stewardship, frugality, poverty v. wealth, and other related concepts. The book is huge--a compendium of 6+ years of her newsletter--and it's not terribly organized. A fun read, but sometimes hard to find a specific piece...more
Amy's crazy but she can write. I subscribed to her tightwad gazette long ago, and I shared them with all my friends. When her books came out, we shared them as well. We talked about how she was off the edge, but inspiring anyway. Sort of like reading novels -- if you know it's not true, you can enjoy the story. Otherwise you'd get sort of worried for how her kids will turn out. Maybe we're just jealous because my friends and I could never get that excited about being this cheap.
I love Amy Dacyczyn and this book!! Yes, some of her ideas are a little bit over the top but they get your creative juices flowing. I read this book when I was first married and it was a wonderful way to establish a frugal lifestyle. I haven't re-read it in a few years and probably could use a refresher read of it. Amy was so ahead of her time in the mid-90's with frugality and re-use, reduce and recycling. Some of these ideas may now be dated but the concepts are the same.
I have read this book cover to cover numerous times and I keep going back. Amy Dacyczyn created one of the most useful books that I've found. She covers such topics as how to save money, when to stock up on items, how to give things new life, and amazingly brilliant uses for things. One of my favorites is an egg substitute of soy flour that is cheap and is healthy for you. The best thing is, no one knows you substituted it for the eggs! This book is a must for everyone's library.
Actually, I read the three books that are complied here under one cover, but I've seen this omnibus collection. All newsletters should aspire to her high standards. Dacyczyn (pronounced 'Decision') is a remarkable writer, irrespective of her content knowledge. She's completely practical, logical, conversational and persuasive. I'm actually less taken by her money-saving-tips than by her original perspective. One example is her explanation of how saving money becomes as thrilling and rewardi...more
Love, love, love this book! I've had the three individual volumes for MANY years and have reread each one many times. The tips in the books are valuable and entertaining, but perhaps the most valuable aspect of the books is Amy's way of analyzing things. She explains her logic and methods, which you can then apply to just about anything that you're hoping to save some money on.....very solid, and often hilarious, advice. : )
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“Tightwaddery without creativity is deprivation. When there is a lack of resourcefulness, inventiveness, and innovation, thrift means doing without. When creativity combines with thrift you may be doing it without money, but you are not doing without.”
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4 people liked it
“The relationship between ethics and thrift can be summed up in one sentence. It is wrong to save money at the expense of others. Period.”
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2 people liked it
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