Sunday Spotlight: The Frugal Queen

Back when my husband and I first got married, money was tight.  Not an uncommon thing for most newlyweds.  I remember watching a morning news show and they were interviewing a woman, Amy Dacyczyn.  This woman was living the frugal, or tightwad as she called it, lifestyle.  Her family of eight lived well on one income in a time when most of the country was barely makin it on two incomes. 

She was promoting a new book called The Tightwad Gazette.  I was so amazed at how she was able to save so much money in every aspect of her life that I purchased her book.  I read it from cover to cover the first few days I had it!  Some of her ideas were a little over the top (just read the book for yourself to see what I'm talking about) but many of her ideas were very do-able for our lifestyle.  I then started subscribing to her newsletter until our first baby was born.  By this time Dacyczyn had "retired" and her and her family continued to live frugally in Leeds, Maine. 

When I started getting back into the frugal resources with the birth of our second child, the first person I looked up was Dacyczyn to see if she had started back her newsletter or was maybe blogging about the frugal lifestyle.  I found an article about her and her husband.  They still live in the same house in Leeds and still practice the frugal lifestyle.  Their grown children are also living frugal lives with thier families.  When asked what their feelings where with the huge wave of frugal living that was combing the nation, they both were not surprised and hoped that people would continue to find their own frugal ways of living.

The Tightwad Gazette books are a must for anyone who is trying to be frugal.  Amy Dacyczyn is the true Queen of the Tightwads!  These books will absolutely amaze you!  I have two of these books and have just about wore out the cover of one while the other is all marked up.  I have pulled these books back out and are using their advise again.  I highly recommed that you purchase these books or borrow them from the public library.  Amazon has all four of her books for sell at great prices.  If you only have the budget for one, go for The Complete Tightwad Gazette. This is the complete set of her newsletter The Tightwad Gazette. 

Let me know what your thoughts are after reading this book.  And just think, frugality has been around for quite a while!