Miserly Moms: Living on ONE Income in a TWO-Income Economy

by Jonni McCoy

Book Overview

Designed to help families live on one income, the book is packed with ways to reduce expenses and expose hidden living costs.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764226126
• ISBN13: 9780764226120
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

a dream can become a reality

I first learned of this book from a friend of mine who managed to stay at home with her three kids, and buy a new house and live off her husband's income (in southern CA!) I am now a stay at home mom with a very limited income and two very hungry boys. With the help of the principles in this book and her wonderful cook book, I can now make healthy meals cheaply and still make them delicious! the money my husband and I have saved while applying her principles have gotten us completley out of debt and putting money into savings. We still can afford to take one nice vacation and several (practically free) weekends a year! thanks to this book, my dream, became reality!

A great resource on reducing expenses

For anyone who wishes to stay home with their family, this is a terrific resource on how to lower expenses. The author was once a senior buyer for Apple Computers, among other firms, and you can see this working experience in her thorough and analytical approach to family frugality.The fact that the book is called "Miserly" Moms may be slightly misleading (it initially put my husband off, which is why I mention this). "Miserly" indicates stinginess, penuriousness, lack of generosity. By no means is this the message contained in this book. Rather, it shows many ways families can cut expenses in order to meet a particular goal: that of having one parent stay home with the child(ren).In fact, the author's approach is to find those areas where she can make the biggest dent in expenses in the least amount of time. Approximately half of the book is dedicated to saving money on food, since for most families with two parents working outside the home, cutting back on food expenses offers the biggest opportunity to save a lot of money quickly. Her first principle is not to confuse frugality with depriving oneself. The reason: if you think you're depriving yourself, you cripple your ability to make long-term changes. Rather, she presents frugality as a choice, made every day in many different ways, both large and small. (Example: Would I rather have this Starbucks coffee and muffin now or would I rather do without them, if that is what it takes to be home with my children?) This principle is reflected throughout.There's also a great chapter in this book on raising frugal children.I would recommend this book in conjunction with another book called You Can Afford To Stay Home With Your Kids. I felt the latter book was stronger in helping the reader to break down his/her particular monthly expenses and make a budget ahead of time. Also, I felt that book included more discussion on what would-be-stay-at-home-parents can expect once home...while it's true that there are huge emotional payoffs to feeling that you're making the greatest possible contribution to bringing up your child(ren) by being home with them, nothing but nothing is all sunshine and roses. Two funny examples these authors cite are that your children will have more opportunities to drive you bonkers once you're home with them and that if you never liked housework, you will not magically find yourself liking to scrub the toilets and you may find yourself doing it more often.In my own case, I felt that these two books taken together made a GREAT partnership. You Can Afford To Stay Home With Your Kids has more to offer families prior to making the transition from two incomes to one (in my opinion). Miserly Moms shines in showing many, many specific ways families can reduce expenses without sacrificing quality...which of course is valuable both before and after making the transition.Oh, yeah... I bought both books about a year and a half ago. It took about a year to lay all the g

Useful and motivating

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I checked it out from the library thinking it wouldn't be worth purchasing. Some of the ideas are definitely ones anyone who reads about frugality is already going to be familiar with (keeping a price book, buying in bulk, etc.) I've noticed other reviewers comparing it with "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" (basically the bible of frugality and a must have.) But this book is a different philosophy than the CTG. She's not frugal because she loves it and finds it fun, it's strictly a means to an end. Frankly I thought it was pretty motivating. Our family is frugal, but not extreme. I felt I could relate to her. The recipes and resource sections are quite useful. There was some things I didn't agree with (getting rid of her freezer.) Over all I liked the layout of the book. It's simple and easy to understand. I think this would be particulary good for someone new to being frugal. I think the CTG book can be a bit daunting in that respect. I would definitely recommend that anyone considering purchasing it should check it out from the library first.

Helped Me Save Thousands Per Year

I first read this book a few years ago when I was working full-time and thinking about becoming a stay-at-home-mom. After reading this book and putting some of the advice into practice, I cut thousands of dollars from our spending annually. For example, I used to spend $150 a week on groceries for a family of 3 (at that time). We now have 4 people in our family, and spend about $70 a week! THAT'S $3,100 A YEAR SAVED just on groceries.Her analogy on what it costs to work as opposed to staying at home went a little overboard. But generally, her message that most American families CAN afford to live off one income came across loud and clear -- and, having been through the transition myself, I couldn't agree more!Having led a similar lifestyle as Ms. McCoy's prior to quitting the work force, I could absolutely relate to her struggles and determination to spend less, so therefore I "heard" the advice she was giving. If you put into practice just a little of what is in this book (especially in attitde towards money and cutting on groceries), you will save thousands per year.A previous review speaks to the fact that this book contains much information that is in other books on this subject. True, but basically they're all the same (just like workout videos!). The personality of the author and your ability to relate to their particular situation is what determines if you like the book and their advice. I personally thought Ms. McCoy was smart, determined, and had conviction, so I admired her.I highly recommend this book to beginners!

Most used book on my shelf!

I don't think of myself as much of a counter-culture type. While I enjoy reading them tremendously, I've dicovered that many of the frugality books on the market don't talk directly to "my" world. I'm just a regular mom who wants to stay home with my children full-time while they're young. I'm afraid over the years of my husband and I both working, I became a bit spoiled by the luxury of living on two full-time incomes. When I decided to stay home, a lot of the things that I'm sure our mothers and grandmothers took for granted were actually quite foreign (and brand new!) to me. I learned a lot of things about cutting back and living frugally the hard way... but then I found things got a lot easier for me after I purchased McCoy's book. I was having a struggle saving money on groceries, but Jonni's common sense approaches to eating and shopping have really helped me. I suppose someone who's used to living simply and frugally may find much of this book "old hat," but for those of us who are new to this adventure, Miserly Moms is a life line that can keep our families from drowning in a sea of debt and discontent. Thanks, Jonni McCoy! After reading this book -- written from the heart of one mother to the real life of another -- I feel like Jonni has become a dear friend.