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Rating: 
Summary: If you are a new sahm this book is for you!!!
Review: 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 groundwork, but I'm home with my two children now. The suggestions in these books helped me to lay that foundation and now that I'm home, to be able to stay there by practicing a frugal lifestyle.
Rating: 
Summary: A Helpful Book
Review: I am not a beginner at thrifting, but this book was still helpful to me. Yes, a lot of the information can be found elsewhere and some of it seems recycled from The Tightwad Gazette, but the plus of this book is its arrangement. Related items are grouped together, so the book has a flow and builds on itself. I found myself making notes as I read it, and I came across several ideas I had not run across anywhere else (starting at the most expensive grocery and ending at the least expensive, for example). I liked the recipes a lot. We are vegetarian and the vegetarian recipes sounded appetizing and interesting, not bland and boring. I also liked the fact that the author makes no secret of the fact that the miserly lifestyle is not her hobby. The Tightwad Gazette intimidates me sometimes because of the amount of enthusiasm the author has for rooting out even the most obscure methods of tightwadding. Tightwadding is not my hobby, it's a necessity so that I can stay home with my kids, and I'm glad that there's someone else out there who feels the same way and is unashamed!
Don't get me wrong, I love The Tightwad Gazette, and it is truly the thrifty bible. But Miserly Moms will find its place on my bookshelf, too.
Rating: 
Summary: A very gentle introduction to "thrift"
Review: I checked out this book from my local library, and read it all. On the whole, if you are just beginning your journey of thriftiness and cost-cutting, it's not bad. It has some common ideas to get you started, and makes the thought and processes of cutting costs more "palatable" to the average upper-middle class people she aimed it at. But pretty soon, you start thinking "where else can I cut costs in my life? Where else is my hard-earned money being wasted?", and here is where the book stops being useful. At this point, you'll need to move on to some other books, most notably the Tightwad gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision"). There are also numerous resources on the Internet. I would recommend this book to someone just starting out on their journey of thriftiness, or as a gift to a young married couple of middle-to-upper-middle-class background, who have never really had to worry about money before. It would not be very helpful to someone who is already a dedicated and experience cost-cutter/bargain-hunter.
Rating:
Summary: A very gentle introduction to "thrift"
Review: I checked out this book from my local library, and read it all. On the whole, if you are just beginning your journey of thriftiness and cost-cutting, it's not bad. It has some common ideas to get you started, and makes the thought and processes of cutting costs more "palatable" to the average upper-middle class people she aimed it at. But pretty soon, you start thinking "where else can I cut costs in my life? Where else is my hard-earned money being wasted?", and here is where the book stops being useful. At this point, you'll need to move on to some other books, most notably the Tightwad gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision"). There are also numerous resources on the Internet. I would recommend this book to someone just starting out on their journey of thriftiness, or as a gift to a young married couple of middle-to-upper-middle-class background, who have never really had to worry about money before. It would not be very helpful to someone who is already a dedicated and experience cost-cutter/bargain-hunter.
Rating:
Summary: Good tips and resources
Review: I checked this book out from the library and don't plan on buying it for my home library. This book would be more helpful to an urban, younger woman just starting to save money. Jonni is whiny about scaling back, and doesn't have a clear understanding of frugality. She clearly feels the loss of income and misses "the good life". (Her quote) Her self-righteous attitude about what she has to do without, is odd I think. One has to wonder about her subtle "Tightwad Gazette" put downs too. What's with that? And all that's in the beginning of the book! Once you get past the "feel my pain part" it's an upbeat and helpful book. It deals more with housekeeping issues, ie: grocery shopping, meal prep, children, holidays etc. So if spending, or wasting food isn't the area you need to work on, you may want to pick another book. The recipes she offers here are for basic foods that most people buy, but could make at home far more cheaply. Ice cream toppings, salad dressings, granola etc. She does not offer recipes that are odd or time consuming. I have tried the recipes for household products and they are good. Her list of resources for other authors/experts is worth reading this book alone. It was VERY helpful. If you're a mom with grown children just learning about saving money, this would be a good start. The BASIC tips offered here are SUPER helpful, her attitude almost ruins a good book. If you're a guy, and would like more "guy oriented" money saving books try Gene Logsdons' books.
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful book
Review: I found this book to be helpful when I made the transition to being a sahm. I especially like her kid friendly tips (ideas on how to save on birthday parties, crafts ,etc) and her recipes.
I went ahead and bought Miserly Meals because I liked her recipes that much.
I still use this book as reference at least two times a week.
Rating: 
Summary: avoid - there are better books out there
Review: I purchased this book directly from the author, at our church in
Colorado Springs where we all attended. I paid full list
price! I bought it for my wife but it was a disappointment. My wife says that she could have herself written a better book. 1) the advice is general and commonplace - cut coupons, double up coupons, look for travel deals on the internet etc. 2) there is a recipe to make your own toothpaste which is completely unnecessary. You can get very cheap brands of toothpaste with half of the trouble. 3) the recipe to make granola - it clumps together like rock! This book is an imitation - not the real thing. Save your money, avoid.
Rating:
Summary: Useful and motivating
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Through creative cost cutting and by eliminating work-related expenses, Jonni McCoy saved her family over $18,000 a year, and could give up her job to stay home with her kids. This book details how she pulled it off. Much of it is devoted to saving money on food, but she also offers tips to save on everything from household cleaners and cosmetics to medical expenses and vacations. Her advice on getting spouses and children to mend their spendthrift ways will be helpful for all families looking to live well on less.
Rating:
Summary: The most well-used book on my shelf
Review: When I got this book, we were definitely facing some tough financial times. The ideas for saving money on food (something everyone has to buy!) were very valuable and helpful. Overall, I thought it was an excellent book and would definitely recommend it to someone who wants (or needs, as in our case at the time!) to save money.
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