I have a confession: I hero worship a few people. A few that most would consider normal (i.e., my Mom and Dad) and others from afar. One such person from afar that I hero worship is Amy D. For those of you not “in the know,” Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced “decision”), AKA “The Frugal Zealot” was an icon of the 1990’s. The United States was in a recession and people were looking for ways to cope and survive (as they are today). Amy started a newsletter called “The Tightwad Gazette” that within 6 years grew to 100,000 subscribers. In the days before internet blogging, this was a phenomenal success. Her practical advice is still invaluable to this day and “resurrecting” Amy’s ideas and suggestions are certainly timely in today’s environment.
Prior to the success of her newsletter and later her books, Amy and her husband lived on her husband’s Navy salary (at that time, averaging less than $30,000 a year) and raised 6 children. During those early years, and I quote from Amy’s book, they “saved $49,000, made significant purchases (vehicles, appliances, furniture) of $38,000 and were completely debt free!” Also during this time, they moved into a large rural New England farmhouse with an attached barn. This awe-inspiring record of Yankee know-how and ingenuity made people sit up and take notice, driving the success of the newsletter and later her books.
So, I’m devoting a whole section of this blog to my Hero Worship of “Amy inspired” ideas for living on less:
- living on less money
- spending less
- living with less waste (recycling, repurposing, reusing, repairing, re-evaluating, reducing, renovating, redefining, rejuvenating – how many “re” words are there anyway???!).
The end result of all the “less” is saving more and building financial security. I’m calling this section of our blog “Channeling Amy” and all the “Saving Mr. Lincoln” updates will also reside here.
I first came across Amy in the early ’90’s, probably in a magazine article (more on that subject later). By then, her newsletters were published in books and I acquired “The Tightwad Gazette” through Amazon {affiliate link} followed by “The Tightwad Gazette II”. She also published “The Tightwad Gazette III,” but by the time I got around to consider purchasing that volume, she’d released “The Complete Tightwad Gazette“, so I bought that instead. I “recycled” the first two by giving them to my sister-in-law many years ago, a thrifty Yankee herself.
Although her newsletter and books were written over 20 years ago, they are still very worthwhile reads. Of course, some of her ideas are no longer valid because of the internet and the unlimited resources available at your fingertips. But, these books aren’t about the individual item that you save on (for example: comparing certain brands of potato chips to choose the cheapest or using a coupon and shopping at a store that honors double-couponing), but the lesson that buying bulk potatoes and making your own results in significant savings (her article called “Spudgate or The Great Potato Conspiracy” on page 187-188 of “The Complete Tightwad Gazette“). Her “lessons” on “promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle” are the life lessons that translate across time, generations and even the internet.
On top of that, she’s funny and irreverent. Her books are assembled in newsletter format, making them an easy read because they are small snippets of articles, with stopping points along the way that adapt to our “toot sweet” lives. The fact is that squeezing in time to read ANYTHING is a valuable commodity to most women. I look at her books as the precursor to the “Dummies” books that are also written in similar, easily digestible snippets.
And, she includes more than 90 frugal, thrifty recipes – you just have to stumble upon them because they aren’t located in one section, but scattered throughout the book, like a newsletter.
Still today, you can purchase “The Complete Tightwad Gazette” on Amazon {affiliate link}. It’s a 900+ page tome (paperback) and the best value out there under $20! For those of you with a few dollars to spare, I think it’s a good investment. Although, Amy would call me on the carpet for that suggestion and tell all of you to check it out from the library!
Anyway, if you want to find out more about my hero worship of Amy, you can click on any of the links, which will take you to Amazon {affiliate link}. Or, you can click on the hyperlinks in this paragraph, which will also take you to Amazon {affiliate link}.
So, Amy, if by chance you read this, thank you for inspiring so many people and thank you for inspiring me!
Do you have someone you hero worship?
Disclosure: If you decide to make a purchase through my links, Amazon will pay us a commission for it. This does not cost you anything more. These commissions help to keep the rest of our content free, so thank you!
Tootles,
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(other book reviews)
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