Rating: 
Summary: The kids are deprived, no matter what she says
Review: The only reason I did not give this book one star is because it actually does have some money saving tips an average person could use. Many people would save money by adopting some of the author's less radical practices BUT...
The kids must make an incredible number of sacrifices if the more radical approach the author suggests is to be taken. While it is great for the author that she was able to meet her goals, such as owning a farm house, and having six children, it seems like a terrible burden on her children. She brags about feeding her family leftovers such as a soup made from all the leftovers from the week thrown in a bucket in the refrigerator. That sounds like dog food. She gives her kids used toys for Christmas and they only wear secondhand clothes. If they want treats like potato chips they need to use their allowance. They only drink powdered milk, which I have tried and it tastes disgusting. The kids get baths "when they need it" not every day. The book is filled with things like this. It starts to sound like borderline child neglect and maybe psychological abuse as well. To me, one of the benefits of being financially responsible is to give my children a better life, not to make every day a miserable struggle for them. If that means never owning a farmhouse, so be it. My kids won't miss it and they will never think of me as a selfish mother who met my goals at their expense. As a stay at home parent I need to watch money carefully. As happy as I am to be home despite the sacrifices, I would go back to work if our quality of life suffered to the extent the author feels is acceptable.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Have for everyone between 12 and 90 yrs old..........
Review: Amy Dacyczyn has the knack of convincing you that saving money is fun. Her style is delightful! Her enthusiasm is highly contagious and funny. Beware - She may just change your life for the better! I have used many, many ideas from this book and bought numerous copies (many at yard sales, of course!) for friends and family. This is the type of book that you read over and over and over and over and over and over....not just for specific ideas, but also for the entertainment. Sure wish she'd write another one! P-L-E-A-S-E!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Saving Money !
Review: This is one book you won't want to miss! My husband and I started using Amy's principles on saving and saved $2,000 in 4 months! We were being nickled and dimed to death. Makes you see that you need to be more responsible and take care of what you own. Has a stain recipe that will take out ANY stain, thus saving you money on clothing. We now have more money for our 4 kid's college and are able to sponsor 3 children in third world countries through Compassion International. Thanks Amy!
Rating:
Summary: JUST BUY IT ALREADY...
Review: You will save the purchase price.. in things you will change about how you spend.. by the end of 20 pages... There is no better book on frugal ideas. Her warm and funny attitude are in every word. Preechy.... NO WAY... informative in every aspect.. you adapt what you need from this book.. she doesnt want you to do it her way.. her way worked for her.. she wants you to do it your way.. and she will tell you how to begin. her ideas are FRESH and they are so many in each chapter..Just buy the book already.. you will need it.. it is such a bible of info in every chapter .. you cant remember it all.. but she sure makes it easy to find it all when you want it with her index in the back.
Rating:
Summary: Save !!
Review: Other than the fact that Amy hates Tools.. and being a guy I love expensive computers, cameras and yes.. tools! This is a great book.Ever wonder how you can feed and cloth your pack of kids and get them all through college? Amy Dacyczyn beats the government estimates and gives you the tools to make the most out of less. This "Complete" Gazette is wonderfull. Amy even admits that she could continue to "rewrite" the same old stuff giving her a guarenteed income for life. Instead, this three volume book pretty much covers everything you need. Not only does it contain facts on saving.. she also gives you the "Tightwad" concepts that can be applied to running most any thrifty household. If you're struggling to make it on an income of over 50K a year you really need this book ;-) GENE
Rating:
Summary: Attitude spoils the content
Review: I am a schoolteacher -- and most of us are not known to be millionaires. I found a lot of good ideas in the TIGHTWAD GAZETTE, but I don't like guilt trips (shame, shame shame if you use disposable diapers) (shame shame shame if you want two incomes in the family). There are other books on the market that promote thrift and frugal living and they are a joy to read and make the reader feel good as opposed to foolish.
Rating:
Summary: Oodles of tips..smart purchase
Review: I've been busy marking pages as I read all the tips on saving money. And while my husband and I are already tightwads, in a good way, I was amazed at others ideas. This book is massive in size...nearly a thousand pages. If you're going to get one book on 'tightwadery', this is the bible.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Review: I LOVE MY BOOK!!!I want others to know how helpful this book is and how it can help.I am a stay-at-home Mom and I want the best for my family, but don't wanna go in debt to provide it. These tips are very helpful. In fact it is a value. You get three books for the price of one.
Rating:
Summary: The Frugality Bible!
Review: There is not much more I can add that the previous reviews have not already covered. This book has covered more territory than any that I have read at the library. They all seem like rip-off of TWG3 in comparison. This is another book that more than pays for itself. Everything is short, interesting, and to the point. Some of the ideas may seem bizarre, but make for a laugh or two! You will enjoy this book and find it extremely useful if you are trying to convert to a frugal lifestyle. If you are already very frugal, this book will inspire you to keep motivated!
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Summary: This is one of my all time favorite books!
Review: This book has had a huge, positive influence on my life. I read this book right before I quit my job to stay home and Amy Dacyczyn helped convince me I could do it. But if you are contemplating reading this book, be warned: it is highly addictive and potentially life-changing. I was already fairly frugal before I read The Tightwad Gazette. My husband and I used cloth diapers, shopped at thrift shops, bought secondhand and had only one car. Many of these actions came from our concern to live lightly on the earth, but had the side-benefit of saving us money. But when I read this book, Amy made me see how wasteful I was being in other parts of my life--throwing money away needlessly by spending too much on groceries, overinsuring my car, and overlooking the wealth of things that can be purchased very cheaply at yard sales. After I read this book, I immediately chopped about $100 a month off of my grocery bill, and IT WAS EASY! And I spent less time running back and forth to the grocery store and more time at home enjoying my family. I was so smitten with this book, that in the first few months after I read it, my husband got really sick of hearing about it. And he was a tightwad, too! For the last few years, I've been able to use some of Amy's recommendations for saving money, but I really had only scratched the surface in what I could accomplish. I was able to stay home and we were doing okay financially, but just okay--not great. Then earlier this year my husband and I got a wake-up call. Throughout our marriage, we had always managed to save money, even if only $100 a month. Our wake-up call came when we realized that for the first time in our marriage, not only were we not saving money anymore, but our hard-earned savings were slowly being depleted. Consequently, my husband was feeling a lot of pressure to work harder and harder, spending more time away from home and making our family life more strained. Re-enter the Tightwad Gazette. When I realized that we were losing money, I went into TOTAL frugality mode. First, I used Amy's suggestion to list everything we were spending, then I went over our spending with a fine-tooth comb and looked for places I could cut (fewer long distance calls, cutting back further on groceries, etc.). When I looked at the numbers, I estimated that we could be saving $500 a month. And we live near the federal poverty line! And we pay for our own benefits! Then I reread Amy's book (for about the 4th time), and this time I TOOK NOTES! When I was done, not only did I feel empowered, but I had 4 pages of ideas for new money-saving ideas to try--everything from new recipes to energy-saving strategies. I also realized some mistakes I had been making that Amy discusses at length. First, I had failed to realize that desparate circumstances call for desparate action. Second, I had been justifying a certain amount of wasteful spending on the basis of how hard we worked and how much we deserved it. Third, I had failed to set clear financial goals. Amy talks about the need to set goals repeatedly, and she is right. My new goal was to save $3000 by the end of the year. With this new goal in front of me, I felt completely motivated to start saving money. To make a long story short, in the 2 months since I have become (in Amy's words) a "Black-belt Tightwad," my family has saved approximately $900, with no dramatic difference in our lifestyle. And lest you think that the lifestyle that Amy promotes is one of drudgery and deprivation, think again. As Amy will tell you in these pages over and over, the life of a tightwad can be full and complete. My kids wear designer clothes (albeit second-hand). My home is filled with nice stuff (most of it bought at yard sales or 'treasure-picked' from the curb). My family eats healthfully--lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, many of them organic, with delicious home-baked goodies thrown in. And we even go out to eat from time to time (although not as often as we once did). Most people who would see my family on the street or visit us in our home would be shocked if they knew how well we do with so little income. Plus I have the added benefit of sleeping more soundly at night, not worrying that we will run out of money. This book is for non-tightwads, too. I've recommended it to some friends who are spendthrifts, and even they have loved it. So if you are at all interested in saving money or living a simpler, saner life, by all means read this book. But make your first truly tightwad move and don't buy it--go to the library first and read a copy. Amy even recommends that you do this. Then, if it is worth it, you can go ahead and buy it.
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