By Kristen, on April 26th, 2012%  
Finally, I had a chance to sit down with Crystal Paine’s new book – The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. Crystal is the author my favorite frugal website – Money Saving Mom. I’ve been reading her blog for over half a dozen years now. She is always encouraging, positive and full of frugal ideas that have truly earned her the title of Money Saving Mom!
The Money Saving Mom’s Budget is exactly what the title promises. This book shows you ways to slash your spending, pay down your debt, streamline your debt and save thousands a year.
Crystal starts the book by outlining her 7 rules for success. These rules are as follows.
1. Set big goals and break them down into bite-sized pieces.
2. Streamline your life and cut the clutter.
3. Set up a realistic, workable budget.
4. Take the cash-only challenge.
5. Use coupons.
6. Never pay retail.
7. Choose contentment.
Crystal’s writing style is encouraging and convinces you that you can do anything you set your mind to in this frugal journey. The fact that her husband made it through law school without any debt, while she worked from home, and then they paid cash for a house in three years, makes her a voice to whom we should listen.
The Money Saving Mom’s Budget is full of many of the hints and tips you find on her website, but with more detail. I especially appreciate that Crystal writes from a strong Christian background. If you are looking for helpful suggestions on how to start (or continue) your frugal journey, go read this book!
Oh, and Crystal is donating all profits from the sales of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget to Compassion International. What an amazing gift!
If you are interested in reading reviews of other frugal living books, you can see all my previous frugal reviews here.
By Kristen, on March 6th, 2012%  
I recently read All in Good Time: When to Save, Stock Up, and Schedule Everything for Your Home - a new book by Mandi Ehman and Tara Kuczykowski. Since I follow both of their websites (Life…Your Way and Deal Seeking Mom) regularly, I was eager to see what more these fabulous ladies had to share. I was not disappointed.
All in Good Time is a book that teaches you how to be frugal – based on the time. It teaches how there is a proper time for everything, whether it is changing your sheets, calling for an appointment, or shopping for a new suitcase. I had always known this to be true but this book showed me exactly how true this premise is.
All in Good Time is an easy to read book as there are short sections with many bullet points. It covers so many topics that there is sure to be something for everyone in this book.
Some of my favorite things were this. I liked knowing that their stock-up laundry detergent price is 10 cents an ounce. It’s nice to have a formula to follow. That must be why I also liked their toilet paper principle. These ladies recommended paying 1 cent a square foot, or, more simply, $0.50 a double roll. I use the $0.50 rule already so it was good to know that I’m on the same frugal track!
All in Good Time also features hints for how to get an actual person on customer service, best back up your photos, declutter, and clean your oven.
Did you know that you can get a water heater timer to help lower your bills? I didn’t! Did you know that many utility companies have peak usage hours with lower rates for off-hours usage? I need to call my utility company to see if that is true of ours. Did you know that it’s not the threat count that matters but the type of thread used? Thanks to this book, now I know that, too!
All in Good Time is full of useful hints such as these. I highly recommend this book for everyone who is looking to save time and / or money!
By Kristen, on January 18th, 2012% 
It’s a new year with new frugal books to be read! There were several recently published money saving / coupon / frugal books that I was eager to read.
The first on my list was The Lazy Couponer: How to Save Over $25,000 Per Year in Just 45 Minutes Each Week by Jamie Chase.
Jamie’s promise that she can save you money with no stockpiling, no sales chasing and no item tracking is certainly appealing. She had many points that I agreed with – and a couple with which I disagreed.
Let’s start with the excellent points that Jamie made.
1. There’s always another sale.
Too often, I think we get caught up in catching all the deals – especially when we start finding good deals. If we miss a sale this time around, there will always be another one.
2. If you’re denied, don’t buy.
There will come a time at the checkout where someone will question your deals or coupons. It happens to the best of us. If you know your sales and that your calculations are right, don’t before afraid to walk away from the sale if the cashier doesn’t / can’t adjust the price. The more I coupon, the easier this is becoming. It’s all about confidence, really.
3. Sometimes it is less expensive to actually buy more items.
Here’s a case in point from my grocery trip this week. I could have bought 3 Motts individual applesauce packs at 3 for $5. However, I read my sales which said that when you buy 5 packages, you get an additional $5 off your sale price. I paid $3.35 and got 5 packages, rather than paying $5 and getting 3 packages. See how that works?
Now, let’s talk about a couple points on which I disagreed with Jamie.
1. Don’t stockpile.
Within reason, I think stockpiling is good. Now, I’m not suggesting hoarding by any means! If I can buy Kleenex for a quarter, I’m going to buy several boxes (with my coupons) even if I already have some at home. I know they won’t go bad and I know I’ll use them. If I have the money and space which aligns with my sale and coupons, I’m going to stockpile.
2. Don’t clip your coupons in advance. Rather, file your entire insert every week and only clip what you need.
This is a matter of preference. I know some couponers love this idea. I am more of the mindset that I’d rather clip as I get them so I’m ready. Either way works as long as you are comfortable with it and use your coupons efficiently.
3. You should chose one store and shop there only.
If I have the time and the sales are right, I often shop at two stores, due to their different coupon policies. If I only shopped at Meijer, I would miss out on some great Kroger promotions. That said, for many people this is the way of life. If you are going to shop at only one store, Jamie had some valid advice on choosing the right store.
The Lazy Couponer also has great abbreviation charts, and step by step directions of how to find deals. She also had lots of pictures of coupons with explanations about where they could be used and why.
All in all, this was a great first frugal book of the year! This book is perfect for those who think couponing takes too much time. Couponing takes as much time as you let it. You can spend a little time or a lot, and both can result in big savings.
I would highly recommend The Lazy Couponer for the experienced and inexperienced couponer alike. It was a great reminder to me that couponing can saving me large amounts of money in small amounts of time!
If you’d like to read about more frugal books I’d recommend, you can do so under my Frugal Reviews section. I’ll be back next month with a new review for you!
By Kristen, on November 23rd, 2011%  
It’s time for another frugal book review! With my 31 Days series in October, I skipped that month for a frugal book review. It’s a good thing because this newest book took me a bit longer to read. It was unexpected as I thought this one would be a quick read.
From the moment I read the title, Instant Bargains: 600+ Ways to Shrink Your Grocery Bills and Eat Well for Less by Kimberly Danger, I was intrigued.
When I picked up the book from the library, I flipped through it and thought it would be a fast read. There were lots of bullets and lists in the various chapters. For some reason, these lists took me awhile to work through. I’m going to say it is because there is so much information to absorb. Also, I’ve found that you can only read lists for so long before you need a break.
That said, Instant Bargains is a great place for beginning bargain shoppers to start. Kimberly had many practical ideas. That was the strength in this book. It is practical.
For example, Kimberly starts with a section devoted to price books. It reminded me of how important it is to know stock-up prices. It also reminded me that I need to update my price book. Perhaps in the new year?
My favorite tip section of the book was the chapter on Stocking Your Kitchen. I liked how she suggested to have a top ten list and always keep those items on hand. This would be where you start stockpiling. I thought this was a great tip! If you are curious, her top ten list included cereal, beef, chicken, canned / frozen fruit, canned / frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes / spaghetti sauce, cheese, pasta, flour / sugar / baking supplies, and bread. I’m going to have to ponder my top ten.
Instant Bargains also included a lot of homemade recipes – for meals, cleaning supplies and laundry detergents. Did you know you can clean your microwave by microwaving two teaspoons vinegar with two cups of water? Simply microwave a bowl with these ingredients for two to three minutes, remove the bowl and wipe the microwave clean. Impressive!
Now that I’ve finished reading Instant Bargains, I can say that I enjoyed learning some new things. For me, there were still many things that I knew, and a couple tips that I found redundant. For those who are looking for lots of ways to cut your grocery budget, Instant Bargains is the book for you!
By Kristen, on August 3rd, 2011% 
Every month, I share a frugal book review with you. I have much to say on living frugally but so do countless others. This month, I read Supershop Like the Coupon Queen: How to Save 50% or More Every Time You Shop by Susan Samtur.
Susan Samtur is known as one of the first “Coupon Queens” and has been featured on dozens of television shows for her shopping. She first published a book in 1979, called Cashing In At the Checkout. This book, Supershop Like the Coupon Queen, is her 2010 companion book.
Susan’s basic premise is that anyone can save 50% or more EVERY time you shop. I would mostly agree with her, but I think there are times when you have to get some staples where you can’t save 50% on flour, sugar and eggs. Although, perhaps I’m just not as good as a suppershopper as Susan!
The Supershopping System in Supershop Like the Coupon Queen is based on five steps.
- Get into the mindset.
- Choose your store.
- Use coupon power.
- Shop smart.
- Aggressive saving.
As Susan says, “The first step in becoming a supershopper is changing your mindset about how you spend money.” It’s true. The steps are simple enough and all practical.
Susan is also a big advocate of POP. No, not the soda drink, but rather this. Plan. Organize. Practice. This was the best, simple piece of advice in the book. Anyone can use coupons if they plan to use coupons, organize their coupons and practice using their coupons.
I liked the facts Susan shared throughout her book. For example, according the to the Coupon Council, only 15% of consumers use coupons regularly and 80% use coupons only occasionally. I hope you’re in the regular user group with me! Yes, it takes time but the time is well worth the money you save. Also, did you know that only 4% of shoppers are in the store between 9 pm and 8 am? Statistically, the least crowded shopping day of the week is Wednesday. Those are interesting coupon facts!
This was a short and easy read. Susan’s approach is a little different from other shoppers in that she encourages you to buy name brands (generics don’t have coupons). I think it is good to have a percentage of savings goal for your shopping trips. 50% may be my new number, thanks to Susan!
If you are interested in reading more of what Susan has to say, you can check out her book Supershop Like the Coupon Queen from your local library. I also noticed that it is on sale as a bargain book at Amazon right now. These prices can change without warning but it’s always worth a look.
Let’s all remember to plan, organize and practice with our coupons!
By Kristen, on July 13th, 2011% 
My frugal book review for this month was one whose title quickly caught my attention.
Shopping for free…it’s a dream, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice to do so? Most of us scoff that it could be reality. The title of this book gives us hope that it can be done!
 How to Shop for Free: Shopping Secrets for Smart Women Who Love to Get Something for Nothing by Kathy Spencer with Samantha Rose was an interesting read. I had it on my to-read list and it moved up once I had a discussion with Susan, my local Grabill librarian, about the book at checkout. Thanks again, Susan, for the recommendation!
How to Shop for Free was laid out by various places to shop for free. The majority of the book was devoted to grocery shopping for free, but there was quite a bit of the book dedicated to clothes and other household items for free.
The best part of the book, in my opinion, was the section on getting clothes for free. Until I read this book, I had not considered buying and selling clothes on ebay. Yes, this takes time but it seems to work for Kathy. Here’s what she does.
Kathy buys name brand clothes on clearance and sells them marked-up on ebay. She says that Gymboree kid’s clothes are some of the best sellers. This chapter certainly intrigued me, especially if you can find high quality clothes like these on clearance or at a garage sale.
While How to Shop for Free was mostly good, I must say that I did not care for Kathy’s language throughout the book. This book was certainly more secular than others I have read. If language does not bother you, perhaps you would enjoy this book more than I did. If you can overlook it, there are good pointers to be gleaned. That said, I’d recommend other frugality books before this one.
If you’d like to see some of those frugality books I do recommend, simply look under the heading of Books and Frugal Reviews on my header. There, you can read about all the frugal books I’ve read so far.
By Kristen, on June 8th, 2011% 
This month, I read the frugal living book entitled Shop Smart, Save More by Teri Gault. Teri wrote this book to help everyone learn how to shop and save.
The book begins by talking about what is a good sale. This was a great chapter as it reminded me of sale cycles. Good deals almost always come around again! Once you learn the sale cycles (as Teri explained), you can shop smart.
Once you know what your good sales are, you can begin thinking about stockpiling. I worry that there is a bad reputation to stockpiling. Stockpiling is not – should not be – hoarding. Rather, stockpiling is purchasing items at a sale price so you never run out and so you never have to pay full price.
These two chapters were my favorites, especially as Terri laid out the most common deals by months.
The rest of the book focused on cooking in the kitchen. This surprised me. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what I was expecting. There were some good recipes included, especially in the slower cooker section.
Overall, this book was just fine. It was a quick read with some good basics. However, I felt like Terri was trying to sell her website (The Grocery Game) too much.
I don’t use The Grocery Game. Simply put, it is a website that compiles the sales and prepares a grocery list for you. While it’s a great concept, I feel that we can do this on our own. Yes, it’s convenient but I’m not willing to shop only at one store and let someone else dictate my shopping. I like the game of it!
That said, this was still a good beginners book. If you have a free afternoon, you may want to pick up Shop Smart, Save More from the library. Right now, Amazon has it priced as a bargain book at $4.45.
By Kristen, on May 25th, 2011% 
This month’s frugal book review is a different type of frugal book. I read this one and wasn’t anticipating including it on my frugal list but it deserves to be. Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider is a wonderful book.
Organized Simplicity focuses on living simply. As Tsh wrote, “Simple living is about living your life” (p. 10). So many times, the concept of simple living seems unattainable. Tsh makes this concept truly that – simple!
The book begins by examining our American fascination with stuff. I found this statement the most profound. “When we have more stuff, we usually have less time for relationships with other people” (p. 30). If that isn’t motivating, I don’t know what is! Organized Simplicity shows you how to organize all the areas in your life from clutter and paperwork to schedules and money matters.
One of the reasons I classify this a frugal book is because Tsh shows how the financial aspects affect your ability to live simply. “It is infinitely easier to practice simple living when you don’t have any debt” (p. 70). How true! There are many practical suggestions included in this book to help you simplify your finances and get rid of debt.
My favorite part of Organized Simplicity were the templates and checklists included at the end of the book. There were daily dockets, all sorts of checklists and recipes for homemade cleaning supplies.
I also enjoyed the various famous quotes included throughout the book. I’ve always loved this quote by Elizabeth Elliot. “When you don’t know what to do next, just do the thing in front of you.” This quote, by William Morris, was particularly inspiring. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
In the world of organizing books, this book is in a class of it’s own. It’s simple, approachable, inspiring and encouraging. I’d highly recommend Organized Simplicity. It’s encouraged me and I think it will encourage you!
Remember, “Simple living requires work” (p. 108). This book is the first step to help you in the ongoing journey of Organized Simplicity.
By Kristen, on March 16th, 2011%  
Once a month, I spend time reviewing a frugal book. It is my hope that I can learn something new – or share something new with you. This month, I read Save Big: Cut Your Top 5 Costs and Save Thousands! by Elizabeth Leamy.
The title quickly caught my eye. Who of us does not want to save big? That said, this book was not one of my frugal favorites.
The basic premise of Save Big is this. You should save money on the five big expenses in your life, rather than on all the little ones. While I agree with saving wherever one can, I believe the little areas add up, too.
The five big areas to save, according to Ms. Leamy, are on houses, cars, credit, groceries, and healthcare. This book is set up so you can skim through the areas that are of interest to you.
The grocery chapter was of most interest to me, particularly since Elizabeth says you can save $21,051 , but I didn’t learn much new. Yes, I know to stockpile groceries. Yes, I know how to match prices. Yes, I know to shop on sales. Yes, I know to compare generic prices with name brands. Yes, I know to use coupons. Even knowing this, I do always like reading another perspective on a topic about which I am passionate.
My biggest frustration with Save Big was the fact that it seemed to discredit the little savings. If you are spending extravagently, them this book may help you. For those of us who already have a low interest rate, don’t carry a credit card balance and shop the grocery sales, then there are more encouraging frugal books to read. You can read more of my frugal book reviews for some ideas.
That said, if you are looking for big ways to save, Save Big would be the book for you!
By Kristen, on February 9th, 2011% 
I read another brand-new couponing book that caught my eye due to the title. This enjoyable book is called Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Joanie Demer and Heather Wheeler. While I have read a lot of couponing books and will continue to do so, this one stood out as a fresh perspective on a traditional topic.
The two authors – Joanie and Heather – are young, stay-at-home moms and the founders of TheKrazyCouponLady. They believe that reading this book can help you learn how to save $10,000 a year by couponing and stockpiling.
The book begins with a debate that my husband and I continually have. Whether you say Koo-pawn or Kyu-pawn, I think we can all agree on this. “No matter how you say it, there’s no better way to pay!” (p. 12)
Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey begins by explaining both the technical aspects of coupons and the history of coupons. It was interesting to learn that coupons began as a handwritten note attached with Coca-Cola in 1894. After that, the book continues on to the topic of determining how and when to best use coupons.
Coupons by themselves are great way to save money but coupons will save you the most when you stack them with a sale. That’s so true! I try to do so as much as I can because I’ve learned that the savings do multiply when you stack coupons with sales. In fact, these Krazy ladies suggest only buying items with sales and coupons. Their personal rule surprised me. “If it’s an item you don’t use routinely, make it your personal rule not to pay more than 10 cents for the item” (p. 20).
I appreciated their reminder that the “coupon race isn’t a sprint” (p. 34). There is always much to learn. You need endurance in this journey to save money by using coupons! This book teaches you how to begin saving at the grocery store today and how to save more every time you travel to the store.
These ladies are big believers in the value of a stockpile. While I don’t have near the amount stored on my shelves as they do, it is true that when you stock up on the products you use when they are at rock-bottom prices, you will experience tremendous savings. They teach you how to begin a stockpile as well as other FAQs you might have.
This book was a light and easy read while teaching about coupons in an enjoyable way. Whether you are a coupon virgin or an experienced krazy coupon lady yourself, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey is definitely worth a read!
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