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The Complete Tightwad Gazette | 
 enlarge | Author: Amy Dacyczyn
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $14.11
You Save: $8.84 (39%)
New (24) Used (24) Collectible (1) from $12.22
Avg. Customer Rating:  206 reviews
Sales Rank: 1868
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 976
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 9 x 7.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 0375752250
Dewey Decimal Number: 640.42
EAN: 9780375752254
ASIN: 0375752250
Publication Date: December 15, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ALL BOOKS ARE BRAND NEW
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Amazon.com
Though tightwad seems like a derogatory term, author Amy Dacyczyn wants to assure you that it's okay to be a penny-pincher. This self-styled "Frugal Zealot" wrote and published The Tightwad Gazette for over six years to spread the frugal gospel. Each issue contained tips from her personal experience and from her many readers. The wealth of information contained in all these issues has been compiled into one volume for the first time. You'll find literally thousands of ideas for saving money, from the simple or practical to the difficult or bizarre. On the simple, practical side, Dacyczyn advises would-be tightwads to keep track of price trends at several stores in a "price book" and to buy in bulk when prices are low. Other, stranger offerings include tips for turning margarine-tub lids into playing-card holders, old credit cards into guitar picks, and six-pack rings into a hammock or volleyball net. More helpful are inexpensive recipes for making homemade versions of pricey, well-known products and ingenious ways to fix broken or damaged items. The book's disorganization encourages browsing, but the detailed index will point you to the exact page for specific items. Dacyczyn's occasional "thriftier than thou" tone is balanced by the friendly support for frugality that infuses every page. She even reminds her readers that it's okay to "sweat the small stuff"--because this small stuff is the essence of frugality. --C.B. Delaney
Product Description
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 with new articles never published before in book format. Dacyczyn describes this collection as "the book I wish I'd had when I began my adult life." Packed with humor, creativity, and insight, The Complete Tightwad Gazette includes hundreds of tips and topics, such as:
Travel for tightwads How to transform old blue jeans into potholders and quilts Ten painless ways to save $100 this year Picture-framing for pennies A comparison of painting versus re-siding your house Halloween costumes from scrounged materials Thrifty window treatments Ways to dry up dry-cleaning costs Inexpensive gifts Creative fundraisers for kids Slashing your electric bill Frugal fix-its Cutting the cost of college Moving for less Saving on groceries Gift-wrapping for tightwads Furniture-fusion fundamentals Cheap breakfast cereals Avoiding credit card debt Using items you were about to throw away (milk jugs, plastic meat trays, and more!) Recipes galore, from penny-pinching pizza to toaster pastries And much much more . . .
Three books in one--a $38.97 value for only $19.99!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 201 more reviews...
 Applicable even now May 6, 2008
Written from 1990-1996, this complete Tightwad Gazette is a little dated in some areas. I laughed when she talks about saving money on encyclopedia sets, or writing off to a company to get more info. LOL. The internet has truly changed how we do things. However dated, the overal strategy to saving money and being frugal applies. I've gotten so many ideas that are usable today. I've already cut my food bill in half, in the last month since reading the book. I look at money in a whole new way now. There are so many ideas, that reading the book once, isn't going to cut it. I've decided to buy the book, instead of checking it out at the library. It's a worth-while investment.
no other book necessary for a true tightwad April 25, 2008
Amy Dacyczyn changed my life. In a good way. (:
There are many books out there about living frugally, but I have yet to find one that covers so comprehensively the everydays ways that we have to save money. The authors dry wit, the informative newsletter articles, and the comprehensive index in the back make it easy and enjoyable to use. I have dogearred my copy so much, it looks like the family bible!
I would recommend the Complete Tightwad Gazette as an excellent gift for a newlywed couple or for someone who earnestly wants to cut back on their expenses and will need a permanent reference around the house to help them make economic decisions. (Or, if it is just for you...perhaps the library is your best choice? I know Amy would approve!)
The only other book about frugal life that I have found helpful ( and mainly for the monthly grocery shopping/meal planning suggestions that they make) is "America's Cheapest Family".
Concerning investments...I would recommend anything by Dave Ramsey or Beth Kobliner.
You buy "Tightwad Gazette", "America's Cheapest Family", Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peach Univeristy" together and you will have a trifecta of frugal happiness. (:
This book Saved my family March 14, 2008
The Tightwad Gazette was originally a newsletter that was sent out in the early 90's. Then later, the archives were compiled into books. Three to be exact. This book was actually a compilation of the three Gazettes. This is why sometimes the book seems contradictory. One moment she says that it's good to do a certain something, then later say that it was a bad idea. So you do have to weed through all of the information to get what you need.
Anyway, the moment I saw that all three were compiled into one book, I had to get one for myself. Both because I needed it for reference (my mom had misplaced hers in their last move) and for nostalgic reasons.
When the recession hit in the 90's, my parents were one of those hit the most. With a huge mortgage, four kids and a measly unemployment check, they didn't know where our next meal was coming from. There were times when we heated hot water on the stove because my parents couldn't afford to fill the propane tank, and this was long before the oil prices went up.
Enter the original first edition of the Tightwad Gazette. Yes, we had hand-me-downs. Yes, we had cheap food and at first, it was only cheap food for a while until the chickens were mature enough to lay and the Garden was ready for harvest. The chickens were mature for quite some time before the garden was complete, so our diet mostly consisted of 1 of the 101 ways to serve eggs. Later, my mother acquired the second and third editions and we used them as well.
Her kids are probably just older than I am and I do believe she mentions the teenage years at the end of this book. It's not in the originals because she was able to retire before they were too old.
 Cut your household costs March 4, 2008
If you're looking to cut your daily living costs and you're not afraid to think outside the box, this is the book for you! There's plenty of ways to do so in this comprehensive volumne. You'll find seasonal ideas as well as tips for keeping the kids on a budget. You can overlook the way-out-there ideas, but overall, you can really cut your household budget--from dressing the kids to shopping for groceries--with many tips from this book.
Don't lend this book out!!!!! January 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you are having financial problems, or just want to use your money wisely, buy this book.
Just don't ever lend it out.
The author gives specific money saving ideas, but as importantly, tells ways to modify them for your situation and how to determine how much money you are actually saving with each strategy.
I use it all the time, reread it constantly, and give copies to everyone who is having financial problems or just starting out on their own.
If I ever lost my copy I'd buy another...actually I have!
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