Okay another book review and another dummies book. The winner of the Personal Finance for Dummies is Cindy.  Cindy please contact me at livingalmost at gmail dot com.

This time it’s Frugal Living for Dummies by Deborah Taylor-Hough.  Again I will be drawing the winner next Wednesday night 10/30 @ 10 pm.  So please leave a comment for a chance to win the book!  We all know the ultimate frugal living guide is the Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.  But here’s a new book to read for extra frugal ideas.  Again divided into 5 parts, I’ll be reviewing the 5 different parts of the book. Also realize it’s a large enough book that reviewing it in depth would make this post too long.

Part I: Getting down to Basics

Chapter 1 starts out with asking the reader to assess their financial standing. What that means is determining how much debt they have and starting a budget to get out of debt.  Also start living a frugal lifestyle.

Chapter 2 talks about getting your whole family involved in the frugal lifestyle.  This can be difficult if your partner and child are not willing to make sacrifices.  The chapter gives tips for how to help your children become more frugal and learning good life lessons.

Chapter 3 really gets into getting out of debt and setting up a budget.  It talks about cutting up credit cards and setting a realistic budget.  It also says to track what you spend and really stick to a budget.  My one issue with this chapter is it only looks at credit card debt as bad. It does not really address the issue of car loans or even student loans, which can hinder becoming financially fit.

Part II: Eating Like a King

Chapter 4 guides us through saving money while grocery shopping. It explains the switchroo trick, how to use coupons, and actually discusses whether it’s worth stockpiling food.  The key of this chapter I feel is that it finally asks the question many frugalites forget, is it worth spending the money to buy with a coupon if you don’t like it or won’t use the product?  Sure it’s cheap, but it’s still money spent if you don’t use it.

Chapter 5 and 6 talks about preparing meals.  Now that you’ve learned to grocery shop, it’s time to learn how to cook. This chapter makes suggestions for cheap and easy lunchs. It gives tips on how to stretch the grocery budget with leftovers.  It also suggests growing your own food and making your own mixes instead buying them.  Also these chapters gives extremely useful tips on how to freeze food. I really found it helpful.

Part III: Funding the Frugal Family

Chapter 7 looks at how to decrese the cost of kids.  I don’t think that kids need as much stuff as they sell for them.  But I know that many people are dying to buy everything they are “told” they need.  The truth is that for many items except a car seat, can be gotten second hand or used.  The books gives tups on how to get deals on clothes, toys, etc.

Chapter 8 gives parents tips on how to cut down school costs.  Nowadays it seems like kids are in multiple different activites and expected to foot the bill for everything. Also the chapter gives tips on savings for older children going to prom and college as well.

Chapter 9 talks about looking good for little.  This is in regards not only to personal hygiene and toiletries, but also eating well and working out. The book suggests instead of going to a gym with membership, bike or run outdoors.  Being healthy is not a luxury but a necessity. It will improve your quality of life in many different ways.

Chapter 10 talks about cheap family outings.  It makes suggestions on field trips you can do as a family. The chapter also suggests trying one month out of the year doing a free only month.  Where you do activities that are free for the month.  So no camping, movies, etc.  It also suggests avoiding having drinks while out and how to vacation on a dime.  I think these are great suggestions.  But I have to say that camping is one of the cheapest options for vacationing, even if it costs $10-25/night for the campsite fee and the cost of getting there in fuel.

Chapter 11 makes the suggestion on how to celebrate the holidays frugally. It talks about making the holiday celebrations less about the gifts and more about the celebration.  It makes very wise suggestions about setting limit.  Honestly, I think that holidays have become overrated. And everyone ends up spending way more money than they could ever want. It’s ridiculous.  I mean do people really use all the Christmas presents they get?  Or do they even need them?  I love the suggestion about donating to charity instead of giving and receiving gifts.

Chapter 12 focuses on celebrating special occasions frugally.  Specifically weddings or a new baby.  They make great suggestions on how to save on planning your wedding.  I think that one of the big ways to save on a wedding is to have a breakfast, lunch, or brunch reception. You don’t have to pay a premium for dinner and people are less likely to get drunk on your dime.  But maybe I’m just being cheap.

Part IV: Enjoying a Frugal Home and Hearth

Chapter 13 talks about saving money by doing it yourself.  That learning how to maintain and repair your home can save you tons. True, but also realize what you cannot do and pay for professional help is my suggestion. It cost more to fix the mistake you made than to have paid someone in the first place.  Also in this chapter the book makes suggestions on how to save on a pet.  Honestly if you are cheaping out on a pet, don’t get one.  They are very expensive and if you aren’t willing to pay for a good quality of life I don’t think a pet is something people should get.

Chapter 14 discusses cutting utility and service bills. That means looking for the best deals on your cell, cable, and home phone bills. It also asks you to determine if it’s worth replacing old appliances for newer models because of the improved energy efficiency.

Chapter 15 focuses on saving money on big ticket items. It specifically looks at buying or renting homes that you can afford.  This chapter also talks about buying used versus new cars.  It says it’s better to buy used cars because they depreciate when driven off the lot. I think more importantly is buying an affordable car, meaning not too large a car loan.  Which was not mentioned in the previous chapter.  This chapter also talks about getting deals on car rentals and appliances.

Chapter 16 attacks the reasons people normally give for not wanting to buy used items.  They refute the typical arguments of it’s dirty, out of date, unattractive, etc.  The book gives great suggestions on how to determine the quality of the item you are debating buying used.

Part V: Part of Tens

Chapters 17 and 18 discuss how to give frugal gifts and say I love you cheaply.  I think that these are great suggestions, but money doesn’t buy love or happiness.  If you are satisfied with what you have is the most important thing.  I wonder if as a society we aren’t too materialistic, and thus there has to be chapters devoted to frugal gift giving. Sometimes the best gifts are gestures or thoughts as simple as cleaning the house while your friend is sick.  Or baking cookes for someone feeling down.  But there are great suggestions for keeping a limit on gift giving.

I hope you enjoyed this review and will leave a comment for a chance to win the book.