99 Things to Save Money in Your Household Budget

Saving money is always a good idea, and I’d like to think most people love getting good deals. Mary Hance, a.k.a. “Ms. Cheap” wrote 99 Things to Save Money in Your Household Budget to help you do just that.

Mary Hance writes a frugal-consumer column for the Tennessean, a daily newspaper in Nashville, TN. She really knows what she is talking about when it comes to saving you money. This book is a great guide for helping cut back costs in your life to help you save more for what you really want.

In this book, you’ll learn how to make a budget, realize that nothing is a bargain if you don’t need it and won’t use it, how to make a credit card work for you and not against you, use garage sales wisely, and even how to go green to save you money.

The beginning of the book lists many great quotes which would be great to print out or write on something you’d see everyday. Among some of the gems:

“Never spend your money before you have earned it.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The key is to keep short-term wants from taking priority over long-term needs.” – Ginger Applegarth from The Money Diet

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” – Rabbi H. Schachtel

“Those who have little, if they are good at managing, must be accounted among the rich.” - Socrates

Hance explains some of the basics, which are essential for those new at being frugal, such as: having a budget, saying “no”, asking for a discount, saving money (even a little) each month, paying your credit card off, shopping at garage stores or thrift stores, doing it yourself (if possible), not smoking, etc.

One of my favorite new things that Hance mentions is to not waste money on extended warranties. I don’t usually purchase extended warranties anyways, but she shares that someone who wrote to her actually set aside (for himself) the money the companies would have charged for those extended warranties and then just gets what it is that breaks from that fund. Very smart idea!

When I first started out with credit cards, I would pay in full each month. However, “life” happened and it just didn’t end up that way. I am now trying to correct that and get them paid off, even if slowly, it is going down and not up – so that is a good thing. Hance suggest going to www.cardratings.com for comparing credit card perks and rates – something I plan on doing VERY soon.

I found 99 Things to Save Money in Your Household Budget to be quite informative and current for the ways to save money right now for many people. I learned many things and got great ideas on saving money from this book, and I consider myself to be quite thrifty even. If you’re looking to save money – this is a must read!


* Thank you to the publisher of 99 Things to Save Money in Your Household Budget, Turner Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this book.