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Miserly Moms: Living on One Income in a Two-Income Economy
by Jonni McCoy
Bethany House, div of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids MI 49516. Paper, 247 pp. ISBN: 978-0-7642-2612-0.
Many books offer freedom to working mothers by suggesting home-based businesses or "cottage careers." Miserly Moms stands out as a personally-tested approach to simply cutting costs so you can stay at home and be a parent, not a distracted breadwinner.
Much of this well-organized book is the story of the family of author Jonni McCoy, and their transition from two incomes to one while living in one of the most expensive areas of California. The tale is told in an adventuresome spirit with plenty of surprises. Those warehouse clubs don't always have the best buys! Nor is it necessarily thrifty to make everything yourself. Mrs. McCoy's careful comparisons uncover many hidden costs and confusing methods of pricing.
She also offers an interesting perspective: "I look at saving money as a means to an end. It is a job I perform in order to pay for my staying at home... if I compare [my grocery bill savings] to the value of a part-time job, my budget cuts have proved to be more profitable. A 20 hour per week job paying $5 per hour (less taxes, babysitting, and other expenses) would provide only $80 per month. That's only $1 per hour profit. I 'earned' more than that by applying my guidelines..." In the chapter on how to convince husbands to follow a spending plan, she notes that by quitting her job she dropped over $10,000 in yearly hidden expenses, and by applying her miserly guidelines just to grocery shopping, she was saving her family more than $8,000 a year – and it only took her 7 hours a week of planning, shopping, and cooking to achieve these savings!
In addition to her "Eleven Miserly Guidelines," McCoy offers money-saving recipes, menus, sample shopping lists and charts for strategically reducing one's household budget. She even gives instructions for making your own low-cost insect repellent, baby wipes, finger paint and many other items.
This is a very handy, practical book. Not only does it encourage "living the abundant life" (John 10:10) by keeping your eyes on your personal ideals and family goals, but it inspires by the simple achievement of one woman who earnestly desired to spend more time with her children.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonni McCoy wrote this bestseller as a wife, mother, homemaker and homeschooler. Her wise message placed her in demand as one of the leading experts on shopping and frugal living. She has been featured as a money-saving guru by the Wall Street Journal, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, Woman’s Day, BottomLine Business and many others. Jonni holds a B.A. in Speech Communications from UC-Santa Barbara, and worked for 10 years as a senior buyer for several major electronics corporations. Jonni and family now live in Colorado Springs, CO.
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