Tell us Tuesday is a weekly question and answer feature… I throw out a question on a frugal topic, and you answer! Feel free to leave any links to posts that you’ve written in the topic in your comments.
I’m a big fan of reading and I read whenever I find the time, which is a lot less often than I’d like now, to be sure! Along with reading fiction, mostly chick lit via BookMooch, I read a lot of nonfiction. And of course a book (or two books to be exact) was my introduction to frugality: The Tightwad Gazette, otherwise known as the pennypincher’s bible! There were some other books that helped me with my frugality along the way, especially some that you might not typically think of as being frugal.
I bet most of you have read the same frugal books as me (The Tightwad Gazette, Dave Rasey, Your Money or Your Life), but what are some other, maybe unexpected, books that you have read that help you to be frugal?
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{ 16 comments }
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery is an invaluable resource for someone who wants to grow vegetables, keep chickens, try worm compost… anything. This is the ultimate handbook in self-sufficiency. My Grandma had the first edition, and now my mom and I own the 9th. We refer back often during canning season.
.-= Kayla K at Kayla K’s Thrifty Ways´s last blog ..Put “The Lovely Bones” on Your Netflix Cue and Enter to Win the Book =-.
Okay… you may find this a bit crazy, but reading David Rakoff’s “Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems” not only gave me a great laugh, it reminded me of how much we waste on absolute nonsense. I highly recommend it.
The Little House on the Prairie series. Whenever I get an unnecessary urge to shop, I think about Laura and her one tin cup!
.-= Amy Reads Good Books´s last blog ..Uncommon Arrangements =-.
“Living More With Less” by Doris Janzen. I also love the cookbook!
Do my mom’s emails count?
Seriously, though, my first thought when I read this was “The All-of-a-Kind Family.” A series about a big family of girls around the turn of the century. They have enough. But that’s about it. Still, they don’t care.
I also thought of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” I hadn’t thought of Little House on the Prairie but that’s a great one, too!
Anything where people live carefully as a basic fact of life, and they don’t notice/care. It’s a good reminder that we don’t need nearly as many things as we think.
.-= Abigail´s last blog ..Should you correct others’ mistakes? =-.
The "More-With-Less Cookbook" is a big inspiration for me. It's all about cooking with basics, buying staples in bulk, and consuming less overall. Really, it's about more than just cooking – it's about a simpler life.
I second both the TG and Carla Emery’s book. I also am inspired by homesteading books like those by Helen and Scott Nearing and Homesteading Adventures by Sue Robishaw. While I live in the city I am really inspired by these stories, and many of the techniques used to save resources by homesteaders also help me save resources and money.
.-= Jenny@Turnip Money´s last blog ..Two-Hour Tuesday: Frugal Breakfasts =-.
I would say Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.. I know it sounds very unusual, but it did help me to think about frugality -among with many other things obviously- even when I first read it as a teenager.
OK, the best by far is ‘The Complete Tightwad Gazette’ by Amy Dacyczyn, I bought it several years back and still read it for when I get in a rut. It’s an easy read and hard to put down! It’s the most used book in my home.
Well, duh, I should have read thru all your post before I posted my response! With 4 kiddos I sometimes miss reading everything… The book (other than the Tightwad Gazette) that I enjoy is ‘Where’s Mom Now That I Need Her?’ by Betty Rae Frandsen. It has a lot of tips and advice for ‘kids’ that have moved out of the home for the first time and need ‘mom.’ I also refer to this book frequently, it has a lot of recipies, but also advice and tips.
Olivia- I have three kids and I shudder at how much I miss!
I have read and reread The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. Not only is it full of ideas for simple living and green living, it really encourages me to be mindful with my money and time. Anytime I feel myself start to 'slip' into free spending, a few chapters of this book pulls me right back.
yay for the Frugal Zealot! I love meeting/reading about other folks who love The Tightwad Gazette.
More With Less, a cookbook written by Mennonites is a great book to help us save money on food and it challenges us to change the way we think about eating. Plus the recipes are awesome. 🙂
.-= amybeth´s last blog ..New favorite tightwad site =-.
I’ve read the Tightwad Gazette, but recently 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget from the bloggers at WiseBread.com. This book actually helped me to decide on becoming more frugal.
.-= Aspiring Millionaire @ MyMillionairePlan.com´s last blog ..Goals for January 18th, 2010 =-.
I have the Gazette open on the arm of my chair right now! I love rereading it for frugal grounding. One of my favorites is “Living the Simple Life” by Elaine St. James. It’s all about making your life simple. Mostly simple is frugal, right?
The Complete Tightwad Gazette’ by Amy Dacyczyn, I bought it several years back and still read it for when I get in a rut. . It has a lot of tips and advice for ‘kids’ that have moved out of the home for the first time and need ‘mom.’ I also refer to this book frequently, it has a lot of recipies, but also advice and tips. sports picks