Saving Money Is Easy (A Month By Month Guide To Ditching Debt and Building Wealth):

ABC Books (Published 2011)

Written By Cath Armstrong

Australia

Review 4 Stars – Excellent Book

How the blurb describes the book:

Make your money work for you! Australia’s Queen of Thrift and creator of popular website http://www.cheapskates.com.au/, Cath Armstrong, returns with Saving Money is Easy, a month-by-month guide to organising your finances in hard economic times.

From the start of the school term, through to tax time and on to Christmas and Holidays, Cath shares sterling advice garnered from years of experience on how to have fun and still save on lunchboxes, family entertainment, Christmas presents and much, much more. Find out how:

Be organised and save money * Fill your kids’ schoolbags for less * Enjoy a family holiday without going into debt * Make your own cleaning products and save * Get the best price for big-ticket items * Make your garden work for you * Save money for emergency expenses * Stock your pantry for cents * Clothe your family at bargain prices * Throw a huge party on a tiny budget * Beat retailers at their own game * Stress less about money and enjoy life more *

A follow-up to the bestselling Debt- Free, Cashed-Up and Laughing, Cath Armstrong’s essential guide Saving Money is Easy will show you how to ditch debt and stockpile cash, all year round.

Mr Home Budget’s Review:

There was a line in this book which made me chuckle. Cath Armstrong writes, “My mother-in-law can stretch a dollar till it screams.” After reading the whole book, I would love to meet her mother-in-law, because trust me, Cath Armstrong’s thriftiness is truly amazing. She has tips for absolutely everything. And talk about stretching your dollars, each of hers are well and truly stretched to the limit. She could truly be nominated for the cheapest person in Australia (in a good way).

The great thing about this book is it doesn’t hit you with all the savings in one go. It breaks down things to try and implement savings month by month. This way, as the year goes on you don’t just save a set amount of money each month, the amount saved actually snowballs.

Your whole family can prepare in the current month for the following month’s moneysaving ideas. For example, one month Cath has you doing a Garage Sale. You can forward plan this, so that you get more customers on the day and therefore a better outcome.

There is not a subject that goes untouched in this book. Some things will have you scratching your head, thinking she will never be able to help you reduce prices in this area. But Cath always rises to the challenge; she thinks outside the square and tells you how you can save money. Time and time again she comes through with the goods. Plus throughout the book, she has saving tips from her members off her website. She is constantly giving a different perspective on how to save money.

Cath brings back the art of making your own food. Forget purchasing strawberry jam; get it for less than half by making it. What about making your own cleaning products? These products are cents for a litre rather than dollars a litre.

One of the bits which really opened my eyes is what Cath calls the five stages of cheapskate:

Spendthrift Extraordinaire: (Level one) buys brand names

Fiscally Conscious (Level two) buys brand names on sale

Bargain Hunter (Level three) has switched to cheaper or generic brands

Novice Cheapskate (Level four) makes own at home using commercial mixes

Champion Cheapskate (Level five) makes own at home from scratch

How she uses these in the book is:

Cordial

Spendthrift Extraordinaire – buy brand name, make up according to directions

Fiscally Conscious – dilute brand name to half strength

Bargain Hunter – buy generic

Novice Cheapskate – make your own

Champion Cheapskate – drink water

Or

Takeaway pizza

Spendthrift Extraordinaire – buy from the pizza parlour, have it delivered

Fiscally Conscious – buy from the pizza parlour, pick it up

Bargain Hunter – buy from the pizza parlour with a discount voucher, pick it up

Novice Cheapskate – switch to fresh pizza from the supermarket

Champion Cheapskate - make them at home and have three for the price of one bought

A good read, very worthy of your library. The tips in the book will pay for itself by the end of the first month. Make your New Year’s Resolution to save money the cheapskate’s way.

Pros:

Every few pages, you will say, "I can use that tip right away.”
Makes you really think where you are spending your money down to the last cent.

Cons:
While the cooking tips are not hard, if you burn water you might struggle.