For those of us who love creativity, hate waste, and enjoy watching our savings accounts grow, The Tightwad Gazette is a thrill a minute.  The author, Amy Dacyczyn, was termed the “frugal zealot” for her efforts to “promote thrift as a viable lifestyle.” The Tightwad Gazette was published back in the late ‘90s, but it’s still just as applicable today.  Her grocery costs of just $38.00 a week for a family of eight are still astounding, even if you take inflation into account.

Although The Tightwad Gazette emphasizes frugality rather than environmentalism, Dacyczyn, points out that most of her cost-savings efforts are eco-friendly. Her family rarely buys anything new, grows most of their produce, and limits their meat intake. 

Dacyczyn, a mother of six, started by selling year-long subscriptions for one dollar each to The Tightwad Gazette newsletter.  The business steadily grew until she was mentioned in Parade Magazine and subscriptions went through the roof.  She had to hire a small staff and eventually was wooed into compiling six years of newsletters into a three volume set of books.  (You can also purchase all three in one bound volume entitled The Complete Tightwad Gazette).

The book is packed with information about reusing blue jeans, brown bananas, mylar balloons and milk jugs—but it also contains wonderful information about preparing for baby on the cheap.  Next week you’ll find out how Dacyczyn spent less than $100 on raising her twins for an entire year.

This is how much I love The Tightwad Gazette: After checking it out three times and reading it twice, I’m actually planning on buying it!  Here at the Green Baby Guide, we’ve written about avoiding book purchases—but I’ll have to break our rule on this one!   She saves me far more money than I’ll spend buying The Tightwad Gazette—and of course I’ll buy it used!

If you’re a frugal soul with some eco-friendly ideas, you’ll want to  join our Thrifty Green Thursday blog carnival here at Green Baby Guide.  We’re looking for posts that offer earth friendly, budget friendly solutions that work. For more information, check out our open invitation here.