O Magazine has a monthly feature called “Five Books That Made a Difference to [Famous Person]” in which some celebrity waxes poetic about the five books that made them who they are today.
O hasn’t come knocking, but I’m not too proud to swipe a great concept; as promised, I’ll tell you about the books that most shaped my world view.
We’ll start with the most influential:
The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle
Voila! A big, fat book about saving money and living well with an excellent blend of specifics and general concepts, process and philosophy.
Topics include dating, car maintenance, weight loss, interior decorating, recipes (the Universal Quiche, Muffin, Casserole, and Pilaf recipes are particularly valuable), meticulous cost comparisons (Paint or siding? Can dishwashers and bread machines pay for themselves? Which kind of tape is cheapest per 1/8″?), ethics, planning weddings and funerals… … sound principles, somethin’ for everybody, and 17 pages of amazing reader success stories to end this 959-page book with a bang.
Author Amy Dacyczyn defends frugality as the means through which all manner of people can achieve all kinds of goals. Dacyczyn’s dream was to find, buy, and restore a rural pre-1900 New England farmhouse (with attached barn)— on one income. YOUR dream may be to backpack across Asia, own a Steinway for every room, or become a stay-at-home parent. The principles in The Complete Tightwad Gazette can help.
I have only one complaint; the index isn’t sufficiently thorough. Keep a notebook or stack of bookmarks nearby to mark important articles.
Now for good news! Because the book is eleven years old, your local library (free knowledge!) and used bookstore are likely to have copies. I studied my mother’s copy, then the library’s, and only THEN did I shell out $3.50 at a used bookstore for a massive tome of my own.
Having been raised in genteel poverty, I’m a passable tightwad. Why, I was even debt-free… right up until three days ago. Still, every few months I find myself getting careless about money, drifting toward the mainstream spending habits of my friends. I always turn to the Tightwad Gazette to help me pull my life back in line with my goals and ideals. Whether you’re a novice or blackbelt tightwad, you can learn from this book.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be curling up with my [secondhand] copy of this glorious book and a mug of [clearance-priced] tea, seeing what changes I can make to improve my life and my bank balance.
Care to join me?
ONE Steinway would be nice! You make me want to go back and reread my mother’s copy.
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Never heard of this book before. It sounds pretty cool. I’m the good one of my family with money (my sister isn’t, though). The thing is that I’m still learning how to spend my money on things that I need without feeling guilty after it…. =)
thanks for letting us know! =)
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Wow! I need to find this book!
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I recall this book, although I do not yet own one of my own. Hmmm… I shall have ot start looking about town for a copy of my own.
…HEY! That’s only one book! Where are the other four? Is this just the first installment in a glorious series-o-blogatude?
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Oh! Nevermind~ I just spotted the “Part One” at the top of the post. Dee Dee Dee~!
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Ming has been going back over this book because of the little peanut we’re expecting. I’ve only read bits and pieces of it… but yes, great book!
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I remember the author has twins while she was doing the newsletter that became this book. She noted that pregnancy/nursing saves you $$$ on “feminine products” for quite some time, but not as much money as the resulting babies cost in the long run.
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I spent such a long time tapping out a comment on my iPhone and it got deleted!
For some reason that book reminds me of the bread machine cookbook I used to have. I’m horrible with money despite being brought up by an amazingly thrifty mother. That woman could make a roll of scratchy one-ply toilet paper go a loooong way. And I’m pretty sure I developed corns on my fingers from squeezing out the last drops of toothpaste.
Now that I’m a grownup with my own home I always buy super soft quilted TP which I use quite liberally and I replace the toothpaste tube well before it’s empty. Nature over nurture, I say.
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Phoebe – Every home should have one—- Gazette OR Steinway, possibly both.
Smiley Woman – Some guilt is good and useful, some is just self-torture. I usually can’t tell the two apart.
Redd – If you want the truth, I haven’t come up with the other four books. This could take awhile.
Jay – The author had six children, she knows allll about affordable peanut-raising. =)
mum – She also cites a Chinese proverb about how going to bed early to save candles is improvident if it results in twins.
Pravit – Man, I HATE losing comments/emails! I feel your pain.
Interestingly, the Tightwad Gazette doesn’t advocate one-ply toilet paper, theorizing that a person simply uses twice as much. Haven’t tested this personally, but I think you’re right about nature vs. nurture. I suspect we all have our areas of cheapskatitude and recklessness. =)
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I LOVE that book! I was a little disappointed to find I was already using a great many of the ideas therein – so i didn’t suddenly start saving oodles. I guess already saving oodles for years is even better. It’s amazing how ingenious one can suddenly become about saving money around the house once you move out and have to pay for those things yourself. (I remember when I was in High School I tweaked the thermostat in my room so it would SAY it was on 65 degrees when really it was on 80. Dad was really upset about this for some strange reason.)
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If you’d been a reckless spendthrift, the book would have changed your whole world view.
When I started dating Mr. Jaunty, he never checked unit pricing. He’d spend $50-70 dollars a week on groceries. I was AGHAST. He has since changed his ways.
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