Review of The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager

Beatriz — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:20:00 GMT

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

Review of Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life by Liz Pulliam Weston

Beatriz — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:30:00 GMT

MSN Money’s “Money Talk” columnist Liz Weston delivers comprehensible and coherent advice on managing every aspect of your financial life. Because much of her advice revolves around e-banking, e-billing, e-everything, this book will appeal most to younger but sophisticated beginners in personal finance.

Weston starts out with an extensive section on “Setting up Your Financial Life” which gives advice on how to attack your finances like you would any other project. She devotes chapters to spending plans, managing credit cards, retirement planning and investing, saving for college, buying insurance, buying homes and cars, and hiring financial advisers.

The chapter on credit cards was especially notable because of the unorthodox tactics she presents (but doesn’t advocate) and also because of her explanation about how the current statistics on debt are misleading. (Hint: it’s both better and worse than you think.)

Another stand-out chapter, “Be a Savvy Shopper,” is unusual to find in a personal finance book! This chapter contains valuable concrete advice on how to complain effectively when you feel you get bad service, and strategies for dealing with automated customer service systems.

Weston concludes with two chapters devoted to the mental aspects of money: how to change your mind-set and how to set goals for yourself. Especially effective is the final section on how to get what you want. Weston includes questions to ask yourself such as:

“What’s standing between me and what I want?”

“What’s my plan for overcoming each of these obstacles?”

“How can I make these changes happen sooner?”

She sums it up very well: “This is the one life you get. Make sure you get what you really want.”

The book ends with a brief but well-selected “Resources and Recommendations” section and a good index.

Note to DS readers: under the Savings Tips section of the appendix, she gives kudos to the Dollar Stretcher and its readers! “Publisher Gary Foreman, a former Certified Financial Planner, was running a “Web 2.0” community-fueled site many, many years before it became the latest Internet trend. Much of the content here is contributed by readers, and you can’t beat the extensive library of tips and suggestions for stretching a buck.”

Book information:

Easy Money:

How to Simplify Your Finances and

Get What You Want Out of Life

By Liz Pulliam Weston

FT Press

2008

ISBN 13: 978-0-13-238383-7

Author’s websites:

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Review of The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager

Review of Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life by Liz Pulliam Weston