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Clark's Big Book of Bargains/ Abridged

Clark's Big Book of Bargains/ Abridged

List Price: $16.98
Your Price: $11.55
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some good ideas, some terrible ones.
Review: Clark begins his book by saying that not all of the suggestions in his book are going to work for you. He admits that he doesn't use all of the tips himself. As a result some of his suggestions are accurate and useful, but a few are not.

I found these tips useful. He recommends using coupons where available. Shopping at discount food stores like Aldi's or SaveALot. Before you get major dental work done, get a second opinion. Eat before you go to the movies and avoid the concession stand. At a fast food restaurant get one or two items from the dollar menu instead of the big combo.

This suggestion seemed too extreme for anyone that actually enjoys video games. Follow this advice and your kids will be very disappointed. He suggests buying playstation one games instead of playstation two games because the graphics are all the same. That's like saying McDonald's food is just as tasty as food from the Olive Garden. A more reasonable suggestion would be to never buy a game when it is new for $50+ dollars. You can find most games on half.com for a reasonable price after they are a year old. Everything I have ever ordered there has worked perfectly. Also there are lots of new, quality games for 19.99 in the greatest hits collection. I never pay more than $20.00 for a game.

All in all a good book, it will probably pay for itself in a few weeks if you follow just a few of his tips. The best idea would be to read it in Borders or Barns and Nobles, it probably won't take you more than two hours, less if you skim.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not satisified
Review: I have to agree with the other reviewer. I listen to clark Howard as often as I can so I was very disappointed by this book. If you listen to the show and consider yourself relatively frugal anyways, you probably will not learn anything from this book. A lot of it seems like common sense to me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Very good Info!
Review: I like Clarks show. This book is great. I didn't really think it was a good idea to take your bottled wine to a fancy restaurant to save $ but the rest was really really good!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mostly common sense. Why buy common sense?
Review: I'm a big fan of Clark Howard and his other books and radio show. They contain oodles of great money saving info. Clark's radio show and books have saved me well over $900 this year with useful info I did not know about. However, this book was a letdown.

Most everything in this book was common knowledge or common sense. Example: Want cheap clothes, then buy them from a thrift store or discount store like TJ Maxx. Want cheap books, borrow them from the library, or buy them used on the internet. Too often the answer is buy used, or buy at a warehouse club.

I can't recommend this book unless you are a novice at saving money. You are better off saving your money and buying Clark's far superior book, "Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich in America", which despite its title is not a get rich quick book. That book has all sorts of useful and less known money saving ideas, and a lot of information on how to avoid getting ripped off.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mostly common sense. Why buy common sense?
Review: I'm a big fan of Clark Howard and his other books and radio show. They contain oodles of great money saving info. Clark's radio show and books have saved me well over $900 this year with useful info I did not know about. However, this book was a letdown.

Most everything in this book was common knowledge or common sense. Example: Want cheap clothes, then buy them from a thrift store or discount store like TJ Maxx. Want cheap books, borrow them from the library, or buy them used on the internet. Too often the answer is buy used, or buy at a warehouse club.

I can't recommend this book unless you are a novice at saving money. You are better off saving your money and buying Clark's far superior book, "Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich in America", which despite its title is not a get rich quick book. That book has all sorts of useful and less known money saving ideas, and a lot of information on how to avoid getting ripped off.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I love Clark, but this book is thin...
Review: If you've heard Clark Howard's show more than 5 or 6 times, the information in this book is going to be very redundant for you.

I love Clark Howard - I honestly listen every chance I get. His syndicated talk show is one of the most empowering consumer programs on the radio today, second only to Bruce Williams. But I would recommend passing on this book, and perhaps read another of his books instead.

The topics and advice in this book are not very creative. The book is organized by subject heading: best deals on medicine, clothes, cars and car parts, furniture, etc. Roughly half of the book is simply a pitch for Costco (if Clark isn't getting royalties from Costco, he should be!). This is not an exaggeration - he goes on and on and on about how he found great prices for shoes, clothes, books, music, hardwood floors, food, etc., at Costcos.

There are several problems with this recommendation. First, I think these wholesale clubs are way too expensive! If you're looking for creative ways to save money, there are MUCH cheaper ways about it (i.e., the internet, garage sales, flea markets, salvage yards, etc.). In the past, he's talked about saving a dime per stick of deoderant at Costcos, when one can buy a box of 100 sticks of deoderant on eBay for about $10 (I know - I did it last week!). Second, places like Costco & Walmart's Sams Club are destructive to the environment and exploit third-world and domestic labor...and many people (myself included) cannot support organizations like these with a clear conscience. Third, this recommendation doesn't really get radical about saving or conserving.

Instead of shopping at cheaper stores, how about shopping less? Our little country consumes nearly 2/3 the world's resources - we don't need more stuff! Instead of buying a new "energy-efficient" fridge, how about fixing the old one? Or finding a radical alternative (like my inexpensive solar fridge) that requires no electicity at all? These big corporations exploit workers and consumers, then convince us there aren't any real alternatives to mainstream consumption habits. Unfortunately, Clark's book doesn't question this model at all. If you want one that does, try: "Your Money Or Your Life", "Voluntary Simplicity", & "The Solar Living Sourcebook", just to name a few.

There are a few useful tid-bits in the book - like his recommendation for buying tires online at tirerack.com - but it sucks up about 4 pages (nearly an entire chapter) to make this one recommendation! And to make it worse, each chapter has a lengthy summary at the end, which simply restates (in bullet format) exactly what was said in the previous pages. This is extremely repetitive - I got through the entire book in less than 30 minutes, and didn't learn much at all.

Sorry Clark! Keep up the good work on the radio.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spend the least and get the most from it
Review: Spend the least and get the most from it; from TVs and clothes to cosmetics and drug prescriptions, with an audio which tells how to locate bargains, whether they be on the web or in the store. From saving money on event tickets to buying a car, Clark's Big Book Of Bargains will prove a bargain hunter's dream ticket.


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