Thrifty Living:

The McGraw Hill Publishing Company (Published 2004)

Written By Barty Phillips

United Kingdom

Review 4 Stars – Excellent Book

How the blurb describes the book:

Would you like to make your money go further?

Do you want to know how to cut your bills?

Would you like to find out how to make money?

Thrifty Living will help you to cut back on your spending and make money go further. Whatever your budget, it shows you how to make economies in every area of life, from clothes shopping to cleaning products, with plenty of helpful hints, practical commonsense and easy to follow advice.

Barty Phillips is a well-known author, journalist, lecturer and radio and TV broadcaster. She is the author of over 20 books on home and garden subjects, and lectures regulary to a variety of audiences.

Mr Home Budget’s Review:

The book starts out with a really good line “Some are born thrifty, some achieve thriftiness, and some have thriftiness thrust upon them.” And it’s so true.

If you want a book which covers everything and I mean everything, on how to save money, you have the right book here. It’s almost as if the author has looked at a normal family’s day-to-day life and asked the question about everything they did or touched, whether they could do it for less? There is nothing missed out.

Plus what is great about this book which other thrifty books fall down on, is this book very rarely repeats a saving idea. While a lot of books might repeat the same idea but in a different location, this one does not.

There are 15 chapters including:

The fine art of haggling

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Thrift in the home

Each chapter has a quick test after it. Just to see if you have been paying attention. And she sums up each chapter with the top ten tips from the subject. So you have the top ten all on one page.

Also a lot of books written on saving money don’t include a section on computers, iPods, iTunes, or other high tech appliances. This author is all across these modern day issues and tackles them head on.

However the book does feel a tad cluttered at times. It seems as though they have tried to fit everything in their limited space. This at times can be frustrating to the reader. It almost feels like this book could have been cut in half and sold as two different versions (a bit like Ghostbusters one and Ghostbusters two). But it is only a small grip. The book is also written for an English audience. So some tips will not make sense or don’t apply in Australia. But to be fair, 90% of the book does make sense.

There is no doubt there are examples in this book which will save you hundreds of dollars a year, if not thousands. A really good read.

Pros: Just when you think you have heard every great saving tip, along comes this book.

Very well written and covers a huge range of subjects.

Doesn’t ignore latest technology. Talks about computers, laptops, iTunes, and iPods.

Each chapter has a quiz at the end just so you feel engaged.

Cons: Almost feels like two books together. Was probably a bit too much information, if there is such a thing?

Written for readers in the United Kingdom, so some tips don’t apply in Australia. However, in 90% of things, any English-speaking person will understand.