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The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less by Jeff Yeager
I almost missed the funniest part of this book, and you will too, unless you pay attention to the publisher’s credits page. You know, the page where the author, in the case of a novel, claims “this is work of fiction and is not intended to represent, etc, etc.” Yeager puts his own humorous spin on this disclaimer—a must-read! I think these few paragraphs alone justify the purchase price of the book, but you may disagree! (In which case, check out the book from your local library! I’m sure Jeff would approve of your thriftiness!)
Yeager’s irrepressible personality is inseparable from his advice; it’s hard to ignore his presence in the book, so if you don’t like him, you may not like reading about his ideas. This is a risky choice to make as a personal finance writer; sometimes the reader has a hard time separating the good ideas from the author’s voice. But it certainly pays off in Yeager’s case because his light-hearted approach to thriftiness is such an irresistible breath of fresh air.
Although other personal finance/frugality gurus also rely heavily on their personalities to put forward their messages, Yeager will probably not like lumped in with other “gurus” because he’s obviously a very independent-minded person and he advocates that contrariness in others as well.
I guess he’s best described as a frugal anti-guru. Yeager’s unique perspective on personal finance is to try to teach us how to be happy making less money, which he thinks we can achieve by “making choices, not…sacrifices.” He states “I believe that thrift can be learned, but it involves a process, a philosophy, a way of life, not just a checklist of ways to save money.”
This book is full of useful strategies, suggestions and points to ponder about everything from price bargaining to prepaying mortgages, from car shopping to traveling, from investing to philanthropy. Yeager uses his many years of experience as nonprofit agency manager and his inborn miserliness to help us learn how to make more from less in every aspect of our lives, with the ultimate goal of a better life for everyone on the planet.
Yeager may have said his piece here, but I think he has many more books in him yet. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!
Note:
Other Stretcher readers’ reviews of this book are available in the Forums section of the DS community under “Site, Product and Book Reviews:” http://community.stretcher.com/forums/23.aspx .
Yeager has also written about some of his ideas in the Dollar Stretcher. If you missed them, you can find his articles in the author index:
http://www.stretcher.com/menu/author.htm#Y
Make sure and visit the author’s website for more Yeagerisms:
www.ultimatecheapskate.com
Review by Beatriz Fernandez
Book information:
The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches:A Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less
By Jeff Yeager
Broadway Books
2008
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2695-9
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