The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less

Forget self help books. This is the only book that has ever really brought about changes in my life... I have read all kinds of books that are supposed to help you change things in your life, but were so far fetched or full of "theory" or horse crap that they didn't help much at all. Especially the financial books that already require you to have loads of money to make a little more of it. I have a low paying job and very bad spending habits. After this book, I still have a low paying job and now a LOT more money! And I do not feel like I am depriving myself. Mr. Yeager has simply pointed out many areas where frivolous spending adds up BIG TIME, like fast food. My 5$ fast food meals did not seem like much at all, but twice a day for thirty days was costing me over 300$ a month! Plus the bigger priced meals for weekend dates. This is A LOT for an underpaid person to be throwing away!!! But here is the best part - as soon as I started eating the cheaper and healthier grocery store food - I started losing all the excess weight I put on with all that high calorie junk food!!! I have been able to take a couple of very memorable road trips just from the fast food savings alone that I would not have been able to even consider taking. Now I have more money - AND a slimmer waist! And another thing I learned from this book is about the miracle of white distilled vinegar! For cleaning, weed killing, fruit fly catching, and hundreds of other very cheap and VERY USEFUL uses! (And baking soda also!...) It is not just a book with tips for buying things cheaper, it is about your outlook on money and it makes me feel a hell of a lot more empowered than I ever have about my money. I never realized how clueless and careless I was with it. And the "get rich" books were only telling me how to invest money that I didn't have because I was spending it so poorly... I don't recommend this book to people who are trying to get rich. I recommend this book to people like me, who need to learn how to spend what they have wisely, which is step one on the road to a better financial life. And I know an awful lot of people who always have money to blow on a super sized combo meal but can not make their water bill payments. This is a MUST BUY for anyone like me! And to think it all started from a book about being cheap - now my life is so much richer in so many ways! -Phil

I thought I was a miser. This book revealed that I wasn't. I've never been extravagant. But I learned that I bought unnecessarily on emotion, bought to compensate for time, bought to rationalize a high paying, unfulfilling job. So I tried Jeff's fast this month. I'm on Day 28 - no problem. Just as buying brings some enjoyment, I learned that not having credit card debt brought huge relief (close kin to enjoyment). In fact, not spending hours shopping and buying brought peace. What was amazing was the number of times I thought I needed something at the store - only to realize I had plenty of it at home. I am thinking about the supermarket fast for next month but am kind of afraid of what I'll find in the freezer. More than savings tips like Tightwad Gazette, this book put money in perspective relative to my life and loosened its claws. The money and time that I'm saving are being put to much better use these days. Will I stick with it? Yes - I've gained far more than I've sacrificed and with less effort and resistance than I ever expected. PS Read anything Clark Howard to complement this book.

I was expecting a list of tips on (possibly uncomfortable ways) to shave a few pennies off the budget. This book is much more. It shows how often spending less money is actually more fun and rewarding than buying stuff. Most importantly, its probably the funniest personal finance (or the author would probably say dont-finance) book i've read. My favorite parts of the book were: - Explaining "The Money Step" and how to avoid it - Prioritizing what items to be cheap about and what to not sweat - its just the biggies that really matter - Restoring honor to do it yourself-ing - how living on more is often more of a sacrifice than living on less The author recommends the book "Your Money or Your Life" which i think is a good complimentary book. It lays out the whole idea of seeing how you trade your life energy for money - (so make a good trade!). I feel this is a great next book because it takes that idea and gives more day ways to implement this idea of really spending your time and money on what matters. Also, it is cool to see a big push in the book on the significance of giving back and volunteering. This book had a great affect on me. I was already a believer in most of the ideas but it provides both good reminders and puts a lot of different ideas in one whole story that is fun and easy to read.

This book is funny, but to buy it for that reason alone misses the point. Hiding behind the humor is the wise advice of a personal finance expert who knows there's more to life than just how much debt you can pile up on a credit card. Jeff Yeager's breezy writing is full of great -- and serious -- ideas, yet you never feel that he is preaching at you. As you read you feel inspired, even empowered. One of his thoughts is to put yourself on a money fast for one week a year. You spend nothing for seven days, which gets you thinking about all the terrific things to do that are free, and makes you realize that you can easily do without many of the items you buy just out of habit. The book's eye-opening premise is that, contrary to just about every commercial you see, your quality of life increases as your spending decreases. What awful news for MasterCard! And what a refreshing thought!

I don't usually buy personal finance books since most are unpractical, preachy, or unoriginal. Jeff Yeager's The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches, I'm happy to say is none of those things. Unlike most financial experts, he lives by his advice. And, although I pride myself on my frugality, his book gave me a ton of ideas to implement, including: - to live within my means using the salary I make at 30 years of age, and to continue to live by that standard of living even after my salary increases. So, if I make 40,000 when I'm 30 and 45,000 when I'm 35, I should live as I did when I was 30 and save the rest. - to establish a mandatory waiting period when using my discretionary spending, of a week or so, to determine if I truly want what I think I want. - to skip the gym and get outside more...also, to do chores (like washing the car) that burn calories. - to eat according to the food pyramid (more pastas and rice, less sugars). It's actually cheaper to buy healthier foods like pasta than it is to buy processed foods. If you're interested in not only saving money, but by being satisfied with what you have, this book is for you.