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I am a moderate spendthrift on my way to becoming a tightwad and I love this book! We all need to rethink our purchasing habits and ditch our consumer-driven lifestyles and this book has inspired me t

I am a moderate spendthrift on my way to becoming a tightwad and I love this book! We all need to rethink our purchasing habits and ditch our consumer-driven lifestyles and this book has inspired me to do just that. Even though this was written in the nineties, the ideas are still relevant today. Yes, some of the ideas might be a little extreme for some people, but it will depend on where you are on your journey to becoming more frugal. This book is for anyone trying to create a simpler more frugal lifestyle not just those starting out. I read this book many years ago as a young adult and recently read it again. In the past few weeks, I have cut my food bill by hundreds of dollars! I am eating out less, spending less time at the grocery, planning ahead, cooking from scratch and spending more time with my family. It has also reminded me to consume less rather than buying more junk that needs to be recycled. You might think that I have more time than you. I work full-time, I am in the process of finishing my master’s, have a husband and child, and volunteer in my community. Amy suggests buying clothes secondhand. Some people think you are hurting your children by doing this. I am not sure these people have gone to thrift stores in recent years. I buy my child clothes from thrift stores, yard sales and from retail stores. She always looks really great and her clothes are generally the more expensive name brands purchased at a tiny fraction of the cost. Her secondhand clothes actually look nicer and are in better shape than some of her newer clothes that fall apart! I also dress mostly in secondhand clothing. I am a college administrator and have to dress professionally every day. Over 75% of my clothes come from thrift stores and I am complemented all the time on how I look (and often by fashion forward college students). In fact, most of the women in my office and many of the college students I work with now buy clothes at thrift stores. Most importantly, this book reminds you that spending time with your family and doing what is best for them is more important than spending money on them. I have always thrown amazing parties for my child, but have always made the birthday cake and decorations like Amy does. My child has never suffered and I am usually answering parents questions on how to plan parties on a budget. However, I have never been able to do it for as cheaply as $25 or less. I am working on it. My point is that this is a great book with tons of ideas that you can try or not try. It has certainly helped me change my outlook on my spending habits and the time spent with my family. P.S. My bank account is currently a lot fatter than it was a couple of months ago.