1,001 Bright Ideas to Stretch Your Dollars: Pinch Your Pennies, Hoard Your Quarters, Collar Your Dollars

Cynthia Yates is an inspiration for anyone that wants (or needs) to tighten their belts without feeling completely deprived. Her upbeat attitude and sense of humor make this a fun read. Her tips range from grocery shopping and cooking tips to gift giving to entertaining to big ticket items to maintaining things we already own, and more. This book has many good ideas that are easy to implement. Ms. Yates makes you stop and think how a lot of things we think of as necessary can be either done without or obtained in a more intelligent way. Nothing fancy here-just common sense and a well thought out approach to making it in a tight economy, especially helpful if you are new at scaling down. She is a Christian author who is quick to tell her readers that God comes first in her life, however her ideas work well for anyone who sees a need to get a grip on their spending. To fully benefit from this book be prepared to "roll up your sleeves."