The Complete Tightwad Gazette (Paperback) Customer review:
"This book has had a huge, positive influence on my life. I read this book right before I quit my job to stay home and Amy Dacyczyn helped convince me I could do it. But if you are contemplating reading this book, be warned: it is highly addictive and potentially life-changing.
I was already fairly frugal before I read The Tightwad Gazette. My husband and I used cloth diapers, shopped at thrift shops, bought secondhand and had only one car. Many of these actions came from our concern to live lightly on the earth, but had the side-benefit of saving us money. But when I read this book, Amy made me see how wasteful I was being in other parts of my life--throwing money away needlessly by spending too much on groceries, overinsuring my car, and overlooking the wealth of things that can be purchased very cheaply at yard sales.
After I read this book, I immediately chopped about $100 a month off of my grocery bill, and IT WAS EASY! And I spent less time running back and forth to the grocery store and more time at home enjoying my family. I was so smitten with this book, that in the first few months after I read it, my husband got really sick of hearing about it. And he was a tightwad, too!"
Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers: An Industry Insider Explains How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage or Re-Fi Praise for Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers
"Carolyn Warren better get a bodyguard. Her new tell-all on the mortgage industry exposes so many of the lending industry's favorite frauds, every loan officer from Seattle to Miami is going to be gunning for her! Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers is like a map that guides you around the carefully camouflaged landmines laid by lenders. And it gives you simple, step-by-step directions for saving tens of thousands of dollars. If you're looking for ways to save a king's ransom on your mortgage and monthly payments, you simply must read this book."
—Clayton Makepeace, founder and President, The Profit Center
"Finally someone from inside the mortgage industry has come in from the cold and laid out the 'dirty little secrets' of the home loan business. Read this book and you will be less likely to get fleeced on your next mortgage application."
—Kenneth Harney, Washington Post nationally syndicated real estate columnist
"I wish I had read this book before I started investing in real estate. Carolyn Warren has identified all the major dangers amateur real estate investors need to be aware of and provided many useful tips for getting the right price and the best financing."
—Michael Masterson, New York Times bestselling author of Automatic Wealth
"Ever wonder if you're paying too much for a home loan? Carolyn Warren spills the beans and shows how lenders make excess profits, how consumer costs are hidden, and what you can do about it. This is a guide well worth reading before searching for a home loan."
—Peter G. Miller, nationally syndicated real estate columnist
"Wow! Educational and fun to read! Getting a mortgage without first reading Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers is like going into the forest on a dark night without a flashlight. Carolyn shines the spotlight right on every trouble spot. I'm putting it on our 'must-read' list."
—Dan Barnett, CFO, enSphere, LLC
Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve, and Protect the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial FutureL.A. Times and MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston knows money and she knows credit, and in this information-packed, no-nonsense book she gives you just about everything you need to know about that "open sesame," that shibboleth of numbers, that Holy Grail of liquidity--your credit score!
First, what is your credit score and why is it important? It's a three digit number ranging from 150 to 950 (p. 16) that creditors use to determine whether you are a good risk. If it is low, they won't lend you any money, meaning you can't buy a car or a boat or a house unless you pay cash; and if it is somewhere in the middle, you'll pay higher interest rates than those with a higher score.
Second, how can you find out what your score is? As Weston explains there are three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion that calculate "real" credit scores (either FICO or NextGen). You can contact them over the Net or by phone (Weston gives addresses and phone numbers), but here's the rub....
Dining on a Dime: 1000 Money Saving Recipes and Tips Customer review:
"No, the competition doesn't exist. Yet. But if it did, Tawra Kellam would win hands-down.
Dining on a Dime is not just a recipe book. It's a book that teaches you how to combine meal planning with savvy money saving. Kellam shows readers that it's possible to feed a family and eat healthy nutritious meals without having to do without, live on lentils and canned tuna, or clip every coupon in the Sunday circulars.
During a time when higher gas prices and other economic factors affect household budgets negatively, one of the easiest areas to manage is food spending. By preparing more meals from scratch and cutting back on trips to fast food establishments and restaurants, you can easily save up to $10,000 in one year. Dining on a Dime will help you do that.
As an aside: I met Tawra Kellam four years ago at a women's fair in Wichita, Kansas, and she's every bit as funny and entertaining as her books. She really walks the frugal living walk, and anyone could learn a lot from her."
