"Miserly Moms": A Book Review

Although there have been many books published about saving money, this book has always been one of my favorites. The reason I especially like it is that it is geared toward me, and women like me: moms.

About the Author

The author, Jonni McCoy, was raised in an affluent household and had no idea how to live a frugal lifestyle. She and her husband lived in the San Francisco Bay area, and at first, she did not think she could afford to be a stay at home mom. At the time, she was bringing in approximately fifty percent of the family income. But when her first child was born, she felt that being a stay at home mom would be best for her family. She did quit her job and committed herself to finding ways to save money for her family. And she wrote the book,"Miserly Moms," to share this great information with other mothers.

Why I Like This Book

I read this book, and many like it, when I was an at home mom, staying home with three children under the age of five. This was the first book I had read that encouraged moms to look at saving money in a positive light. Most books on saving money made me feel like a miser, scrounging away and hoarding those pennies. I don't like the image that conjures up. The book, "Miserly Moms," talks about believing that although to others it may look like we are "misers." In reality, saving money and making less expensive choices in such areas as food purchasing, housing, automobiles, gift buying, entertainment, etc. allows us more time to spend with our families since we don't have as many bills to pay. And also the pressure to work overtime for working husbands would be less with fewer expenses.

The book, "Miserly Moms," talks about believing that although to others it may look like we are "misers" that really isn't a bad thing. In reality, we are saving money and making less expensive choices in such areas as food purchasing, housing, automobiles, gift buying, entertainment, etc. By doing this, it allows us more time to spend with our families since we don't have as many bills to pay. And also the pressure to work overtime for working husbands is less with fewer expenses.

The book also speaks to taking ourselves out of the rat race and to enjoy our time with our children. It lays out various strategies in which to save money.

The biggest thing which the book helped me to do was bring about an attitude change which helped me stop feeling like a "miser" and see myself as a loving mom who as a consumer, had decided to take charge of my finances so that I was taking control of them, instead of my finances having control over me.

Recommendations

I highly recommend this book to any mom who either stays at home or goes to work, but wants to cut family expenses, mostly in the areas of household budgeting, to be able to spend more quality time with her family, instead of running the rat race.

Over the years I have still struggled with saving money and not looking like a "miser" to others. On a trip with another couple to Las Vegas a few years ago, I was to taken aback by the other's woman's extravagant spending, that it seriously made me think I must appear like a tightwad to her and may be dragging down the fun she was having on her vacation because I was always looking for ways to save money during the trip. But then I realized I had it all wrong and I was pretty sure there were other women out there in the world that would like to be able to find creative ways to save money too, instead of blowing it irresponsibly. So when I returned home from that trip, I started a blog about saving money and never looked back. (See my profile if you are interested in reading that blog).

This book, Miserly Moms, was a huge influence in my life and helped me to have better control over my finances in many areas, and to be proud to share that with others who are also trying to save money.

The original title for this book was, "Miserly Moms," but in 2009, Jonni McCoy wrote an updated version entitled, "Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in Tough Economy." Either book, old or newer version, is worth the read in my opinion.