I borrowed this book a few weeks ago from my local library. It has over 1,500 ideas for saving money, spending less, yet having more. Even though the book was originally published in 2000 by Yankee Publishing, I did not find the ideas presented to be outdated.

The book begins by discussing the frugal philosphy and then goes into the foundations of frugal finances. Topics covered including getting out of debt, living a debt free life, savings, taxes, finding funds for the larger life expenses such as education and retirement, and finally ways of increasing your income.

The book has detailed chapters on leading a thrifty lifestyle and goes through many examples including all sorts of ideas for saving on household expenses, buying furniture, decorating, lawn care, transportation costs, and cars. Other areas that are looked at in detail include spending less on hobbies and sports, decreasing pet costs, reducing child care expenses, and finding ways to save on health care.

I found this book to be extremely informative and well written.

Not Made of Money is almost 1 year old. It is hard to believe that we’ve been blogging for an entire year now. To celebrate this occasion, I will be highlighting some posts from the early days that most readers probably haven’t seen:

Do You Have A Budget Plan - Discusses ways to stay on budget.

How to Save Money On Your Home Energy and Water Use - A biggie in our household.

Our Philosophy of Debt Management - How being debt free has affected our lives.

I’ve written in the past how we are teaching the kids about finances. They each have their own tithing, spending, and saving jars. But just because they know how to divide their money, doesn’t really mean they understand much about managing money. We try to teach lessons just during everyday occurences and try to show our children that life is not about money, but money is a part of everyday life. Here are a few ways we are teaching them without really teaching them!

1. I have them check prices in the store. They like to look for sale signs, buy one get one free stickers, and especially the red target clearance stickers. I let them know what’s on the shopping list and they help to find the item and to compare the prices.

2. I talk about prices during shopping outings. If they see an item they like, I mention how much it costs and then compare it to something than can relate to (i.e. you would have to save all the money you get for your birthday to buy this!).

3. Playing board games that involve exchanges of money. Monopoly gives the kids a feel for buying and selling and in managing their money, even if it is only for play.

4. We let them in on our money conversations. The kids know that mom and dad take turns every week paying the bills. They hear our conversations about planned purchases. They see us give money to our Church and to other charity organizations.