Rating: 
Summary: A sound theory and great help putting it into practice
Review: Anyone who has ever felt a little envious of a neighbor or said "Gee, I wish could afford a house/staying home with the kids/starting a business/traveling/etc." MUST read one of Amy's books. The basic philosophy as I understand it is just this: skip the temporary, one-time expenditures and spend the bucks on a more lasting investment (house/kids/business/early retirement/whatever YOU dream of). I received an economics degree not too long ago, and I recognized Amy's philosophy immediately as essentially the basic "guns-or-butter" discussion from ECO101, the basic problem of limited resources and economic choice. The idea in class, as in real life, would be to MAXIMIZE the VALUE received for the dollars, not just buy whatever until you're broke and then figure out what you got for it.More than any other author I have seen, Amy challenges her readers to examine their own values and utilize all of their creativity and intelligence to maximize the value they receive for their money. This is NOT a "don't shop when you're hungry, use coupons, and gee, try to pay down your mortgage" book. Amy provides an impressive array of real, creative, effective methods to slash waste of resources: money, time and the enviroment. The books teach you to THINK in a "tightwaddy" (economic) way and take real control of your future according to your own value system, instead of just throwing out a handful of one-time-only "tips". I can honestly say it brought microeconomics home to me and changed my life.
Rating: 
Summary: Never thought I'd buy an an Amy Dacyczyn book, but....
Review: From her wise sense of investing time and money right to her real way with child rearing Amy Dacyczyn is doing something right. Teaching her children and her readers not to be wasteful is what it's all about. Sometimes I wish I was not allowed to push food around my plate - now I must re-educate myself and teach my own to value money, not give in to temptation when cruising down the grocery aisles and using all my resources wisely.
Rating: 
Summary: don't waste your money
Review: I am just starting on the road to learning how to live on less, not because I have to; because I want to. There are some ways to save money listed in the book that I will probably never do, but overall I learned a lot, and enjoyed reading it while I learned. I purchased several other books on the same subject, but none gave me as much usable information as this book did. If you are serious about learning to conserve money, quit reading this review and order the book.
Rating:
Summary: Real tightwads shouldn't waste the money
Review: I cannot imagine that there are so many people who would put some of these suggestions to work. This book is definately for the cheapest of the cheap and not someone looking for easy ways to save a buck here and there on groceries, etc. The book is just a collection of articles sent in by readers on how they save money and some of them are just NUTS!! If you really want to save money just use some common sense and self-control and DO NOT waste good money on this book. I absolutely refuse to put together a list of what my children will need in terms of clothing for the next 100 years, complete with measurements of sizes and then show up at yard sales at 6am every Saturday in the summer. Unlike some, I consider the time consumed with these tactics to be worth more than a pair of $3 jeans from a yard sale that I will then save for 5 years or better and make all my kids wear them. Sorry for being so harsh, but I really do not like this book!
Rating:
Summary: great resource for the new to thrift crowd
Review: I got this book as I was leaving work to become a stay at home mom. I can't say that I will use every idea she recommends but it does have some good ideas in it. For example, it may be cheaper not to coupon solely but to combine it with keeping a price book and only using coupons for items you would buy normally. As far as the editorials on child rearing and the environment go, I simply paged thru that though I don't disagree with her sentiments. I do wish the layout would be more organized but that is solved by simply reading the book and using the index. Not a bad read altogether and quite informative. If you already frugal, this may not tell you anything you don't know. For those of us novices, this is a great start.
Rating:
Summary: A Cheapskate's DREAM
Review: I have all three of the Tightwad Gazette books, and they are all fabulous. True, some of Amy's ideas are a little extreme, but, then again, do we all decorate our cookies with as much precision as Martha Stewart? The point is to go through the book and pick out the ideas that work for you. Using Amy's tips, I have managed to sock away enough money to fund an emergency savings account and pay for a trip to Paris.
Rating:
Summary: Tightwad philosophy and practical tips at their best
Review: I have read all of Amy's books, and love her straight-forward philosophy on creative saving and the thrifty lifestyle. I have recommended this book to all my friends who are looking for new ways to save. Some people may find a few ideas in this latest book bordering on the extreme, such as "dumpster-diving". However, she explains that everyone has different comfort levels of tightwadding. The book contains so much practical and valuable information, it was well worth my money. I highly recommend it for the nouveau tightwad.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty extreme for most normal people
Review: If you think a good way to save $ is buy broken-down shoes for your kids at garage sales and feed your family 25 cent mac & cheese dinners this is for you. For the rest of us the majority of ideas here are a bit on the extreme side. She preaches about how much $ she saves by not working at home - yeah but she has to drive to all those garage sales, bulk stores and thrift shops.One telling comment was in the "time is money" chapter, "Since we don't live near any relatives we don't spend [i.e. waste] time visiting all the time." Oh but they do "need" a large house and antiques. This is an obsession, beyond normal thriftyness. If you're looking for realty-based info try Mary Hunt or Larry Burkett. The key is managing your $ properly - not dressing your kids like the cast from Annie.
Rating:
Summary: Amy at the top of her form
Review: Other tightwad books are out there. Most of them are not by Amy Dacyczyn. Therein lies tjhe difference. Her books are original, well-researched, and full of ideas that will HONESTLY save you money. It's clear from the choices the Dacyzyns have made that they practice what they preach. The books are not padded with recipes, but those that do get included are usually good. I sorely miss the newsletter but reading through this book and the other two vols. is always a tightwad boost.
Rating:
Summary: don't waste your money
Review: This is the third book in the Tightwad Gazette trilogy that I have read. Thank goodness I found it at the library and did not pay for it! I enjoyed the first two books. I got some good ideas from Amy and grinned at the ideas that were too extreme for my family. I respected her choices in life and it helped me to think about the purchases I made and the effect I had on our environment. However, in the T.G. III, I found her to be overbearing, selfish, and a little crazy. She preaches about parents living frugally to enable 1 to stay home with children, however she admits to spending very little time with hers unless they are interested in helping her with her "save money" projects. What about your children's own interests? How about spending a little of all the time you have with them? Her quest for saving has not only shown her ability to spare her pennies, but her time and heart as well. She brags about Not: 1. volunteering 2. reading to her children 3. spending time with family 4. socialize etc. This sounds very lonely to me. I'm afraid that Amy's quest for money has allowed her to become as greedy as the people she condemns as "spendthrifts". At Amy's house, it's all about Amy and what Amy wants.
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