Spouse gave me back the book. I'll repeat some of my earlier comments and gather it all into one post.
Yeager and his publisher know that it's useless (and profitless) to try to improve on Amy Dacyczyn. There's no talk about saving aluminum foil or rinsing out plastic bags. But he does suggest leading a cheaper lifestyle, and with less spending pressure then everything else works out.
He's tired of the "financial advice" about clipping coupons and skipping the daily latté. In fact, he claims that it's not worth the effort and it might even poison your motivation. Heresy! Heck, it's worth reading the book just for the trash talk about Suze Orman.
He focuses on lifestyle and achievable goals. So this book won't help you find double-coupon deals or give you a detailed list of frugality tips. Instead it advises hopping off the [-]consumptive[/-] consumption treadmill and designing your life around work & activities that don't require lots of money or stress relief. He's more Cheapskate Zen than Frugal Zealot.
He's cheap where it counts. The book's biggest financial advice is to avoid the endless dance of the "Money Step": stop earning money just to buy material possessions, and then earning even more money to care for and upgrade them. We don't have to settle for less, but he suggests learning to be content when we get to "enough" and to slay our inner consumer's "Enoughasaurus".
Since he's a cheapskate, his program only has six steps instead of 12:
1. Live within your means at age 30, and stay there.
2. Never underestimate the power of NOT spending, including calculating your "RONI"-- return on NONinvestment.
3. Discretion is the better part of shopping, including the "What the hell was I thinking?!?" waiting period before major purchases.
4. Learn to do for yourself what you could pay others to do for you.
5. Anyone can negotiate anything, even a "nice guy" discount.
6. Pinch the dollars and let the pennies pinch themselves.
He uses statistics to show how lifestyle creep has seduced this generation into living larger than our parents, let alone our grandparents. He points out that much of our spending offsets itself. Americans blow huge amounts of money on nutrient-poor convenience foods, followed by equally huge amounts of money on healthcare & medications. His advice is to eat cheap (which tends to put healthier food on the menu) and to get cheap exercise starting by doing your own chores & maintenance and then taking walks or bicycling. That automatically cuts down on the grocery bills, the fitness center dues, the homecare staff, and the rising bodyfat/blood pressure issues.
Buy a home, not a castle, and stay put as long as possible. "Finish in a starter home" by customizing it to your heart's content instead of constantly stepping up to bigger & better. Pay off the mortgage for peace of mind as well as for less dancing of the Money Step. He's a big advocate of modest landlording, especially when it's adjacent to your home.
He suggests living without a car and telecommuting-- or at least minimzing car expenses with used vehicles, public transportation, bicycling, & nearby work. People who can't take those steps in their current homes/lives should move or change their lives to reduce their expenses, which will probably also reduce their stress and lead to better health.
He even advocates skipping technology upgrades, or at least staying one 1-2 levels behind. He doesn't own a cell phone, and one chapter contrasts the Amish philosophy with the typical American consumer. He suggests hobbies that also serve a purpose, like woodworking or home maintenance, and that our entertainment should focus on free activities instead of hurling large wads of cash at [-]Disney[/-] consumer experiences.
Yeager even suggests putting investments on autopilot and getting a life. (More Suze trash-talking.) Think long term, go heavier on equities through low-cost index funds, and maximize the tax-deferred savings.
Go enjoy life instead of endlessly seeking the money to buy a "better" one.
Even if you already "get it", I'd highly recommend reading the book for its presentation, its interesting statistics, and its humor. It's fast & fun. People will find it a lot easier to be around Yeager than Dacyczyn.
We just splurged on our own copy of the book for our teen. Hopefully she can learn to avoid the Money Step, and she'll never have to scale back to get to "enough".
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