Tightwad Gazette

[lsg]

Has anyone ever read the Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. *It has all kinds of money saving ideas. *I got mine used, so I have saved money already. :)

[theresehirko]

I borrowed it from the library and made lots of notes in my little book.

[Shamrock1121]

I have all of them and got the first one when it came out in 1996. Some ideas are super, some are pretty odd or out-dated. My copies have all kinds of post-it-notes coming out of the top.

I often pick one of the books up off the book shelf and will browse through it while watching TV in the evenings to refresh my memory. I read completely through them at least once a year.

One of the best ideas I got was using the PRICE BOOK. Page 31 of Book One.

Other good ideas:

-Three Ways to Save (Bk. 1 - pg. 39)
-Bread-Crumb Cookies (Bk. 1 - pg 130)
-The Stain Recipe (Bk. 1 - pg. 272)
-Buddy Burners (Bk. 2 - pg. 106)
-Refrigerator Dough (Bk. 3 - pg. 19)
-Purchase Test (Bk. 3 - pg. 78

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I've enjoyed mine ;D.

-Karen

[theresehirko]

I use my price book all of the time. That's how we figured out that except for Bob's medication, we weren't saving enough money at Sam's Club to justify the membership fee. I buy almost all of my produce at the farmers market. I get emails on Friday telling me will be there and I do with the minivan filled with boxes and laundry baskets and then can nonstop when I get home.

Farming may be in my bloodline, but it definitely skipped this person. I have tried numerous times to grow a garden. We would need to be on sentry duty to keep the animals from stealing the food. We are thinking of building a greenhouse to have a barrier around the garden, but it will have to wait until I graduate and get a nursing job. We are barely making it right now with tuition and me not working.

[hillbillygal]

I borrowed one from the library and enjoyed reading through it. I have my eyes open for used copy of my own. I'd like to have it to flip through from time to time.

[anna]

I like them very much. I have all three and try to read thru them each year. One of the best things about them is they teach you to think differently about spending your money.

[miss_Lynne_57]

I have all three. I haven't read them in a while, I think I'll pick one out and start reading it today.

[MotherCharlotte]

I borrowed all the Tightwad Gazette books from the library last year and I really enjoyed reading through them. There were a few recipes and ideas that I photocopied (including the bread crumb cookies!) but mostly what I got from those books was not specific ideas, but a new way of thinking about money. I never used to be all that frugal, but since reading those books I have changed my ways and now I am always thinking about how I can save money here and there.

I don't use a price book, but I do write down all the sales from the flyers I get since there are a lot of grocery stores close to me. And then pretty much all I buy every week is stuff on sale, unless it's a staple like flour or eggs. And I make everything from scratch.

[knucklehead]

One of the most significant things we got from the Gazette is that it is best to have a reason for the frugal lifestyle, or a goal in mind. The Dacyczyn's live a couple towns over from here and their goals include a big house in the country. We applied the idea to specific things like being satisfied with brewed canned coffee every day (often for pennies per can, thanks to couponing) and saving the Dunkin' Lugnuts iced coffee for treats on trips.

We decide whether we can live with less on just about everything or whether the specific item needs to be higher quality. I do not by junk tools but I also do not have a lot of shop tools, and those I have are better used models instead of new ones. I'm still running a 9.6 volt cordless Makita drill, not a 24V. I use a lightweight Porter Cable circular saw that was made in the 50's and has better bearings than new ones - and I paid $25.00 for it at a yard sale. Same for household things like heating systems and plumbing; we don't buy gold bidets but we buy quality stuff and I install & maintain it.

The point is that we do not have to have the cheapest for everything but we should target priorities in spending.

[denham]

I got the big book with all editions at the library last year. It more or less got me started on frugal living. It has some good ideas but like others I'd say it just got me into the frugal mindset more than anything. I did keep track of prices for awhile but eventually I sort of figured out what the low prices were for the stuff I bought all the time.

The biggest change for me was buying used clothes instead of new. I probably spent <$50 on new clothes last year which for me is a HUGE step. I am managing to eat well, pay for grad school, and pay off undergrad loans without going further into debt.

Probably my most-used thing has been the build your own muffin recipe.

[Saoirse]

I have all three. Some of the info is dated, but they are very motivating. Excellent books for everyone and a must have for every parent with young kids. If you don't have a set, you can find them on ebay.

[knucklehead]

Very good comments here about the inspiration a book can give. We find that to be the most valuable thing in a lot of informative books we sample: they reframe our perspective or introduce us to a new mindset. It has actually become a great learning tool. Now, when skimming books at the library or bookstore, or studying procedures or a new website, I look first for that perspective or theme if you like. Once you get the idea or big picture of where someone is coming from, it often leads to your own personal creativity taking over.

eBay Tightwad Gazette search (http://search.ebay.com/tightwad-gazette_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40)

[RNMOM]

I bought the complete set on amazon after reading this thread. It was so fun to read. Some of the stuff made me laugh because there is no way I'm going to make a hammock with the little plastic pop ring thngys, but still, that someone is ingenious enough to come up with that is amazing.

There were so many things that I already do, but it got me thinking about my attitude. How I really don't want to contribute to the land fill problem. I've always been a bit of a tightwad, but I was inspired to do even better.

I took it to work and a couple of the ladies I work with starting listening to me as i read a paragraph or two, pretty soon they were saying, "let me look at this" . There's one lady who when out and bought one.

[hillbillygal]

;D I finally found a copy of the gazette to buy! I was going through some of the yard sale stuff at my church this evening and I spotted The Tightwad Gazette II on a table. I grabbed it up and tried to pay for it right then but the woman running the sale said to pay her on the day of the sale. HooRay!!!

[rae-dean]

i remember when Amy went on to i think it was phil donahues show and everyone put her down so much.why?cause her kids worn 2nd hand clothes.i thought how goofy.
i taped when her and her family were on tv.it is so fun.they show the home they owned off and it was so cute.i love anything she writes about...also carla emerys book too.

[Duchesse]

This is THE SAVINGS BOOK of the century. I have to agree with one book reviewer on Amazon who said, "Nobody is cheaper than Amy."

If you can't save money with this book, you're not interested.