Flashback Friday! The Complete Tightwad Gazette - Amy Dacyczyn

I was peripherally aware of The Tightwad Gazette through most of the 1990s. Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision"), a self-described "black-belt tightwad" was on a few of the daytime talk shows like Donahue and Oprah, promoting her monthly newsletter which was full of essays and tips from both Dacyczyn and readers on how to save money. Unfortunately, these TV venues with their clueless hosts and single-digit-IQ audiences tended to make Dacyczyn out to be wacky at best and bordering on child abuse -- a totally ridiculous and contemptible accusation -- at worst.

During this time, I was a stay-at-home mom. We didn't have much money. In retrospect, the newsletter would've been helpful; I was already manically sending away for zines every time Factsheet Five came out with a new list. When Villard published the first volume of The Tightwad Gazette, I cloudily remember seeing it at Waldenbooks and thinking that it might be interesting then promptly forgetting it as I headed over to the fiction section. I think that's called "disconnect".

Flash-forward to the summer of 2001. I was divorced and remarried by this time, and still kind of broke. I was also teaching an ESL course at Central Missouri State University, and our textbook had a unit about recycling. I remembered hearing that one of TTG's main features was different ways to use various household items, and thought that it would be a "fun" supplement to the chapter. I headed over to Hastings in Warrensburg and found The Complete Tightwad Gazette. For such a thick book, the price was really cheap: $13.95!

At home, I thumbed through and found the pages I wanted to copy and my class finished the recycling unit. We had a lively discussion about TTG's ideas: The Asians in the class thought that they were sensible. The Latinos thought they were good ideas, but too much trouble. The Saudis thought they'd never heard anything so stupid in their lives. (The Russians belligerently wanted to know why I was having so much class discussion and why I wasn't making them write essays every day.)

I didn't plan to read The Complete Tightwad Gazette, but the format of short articles and essays made it the perfect accompaniment for the chattering on the endless reruns on TV Land that Mr. Bybee preferred as evening entertainment. To my surprise, I enjoyed Amy's (she began to feel like an old friend!) essays about how she and her husband became tightwads. I read on, feeling unsettled in a positive way.

On page 87, there was an essay called "Seeking The Minimum Level". Amy's constant refrain was that we should sweat the small stuff, and pay attention to even the most minute expenses because pennies become dollars. "Seeking The Minimum Level" is a challenge to see "how low can you go?" throughout the day, giving multiple examples of ways to cut spending. Cool, I thought, going back and rereading the article again. Test yourself. See how tough you are. Way cool.

A few nights later, with a whole evening's worth of episodes of Bewitched blaring in the background, I experienced a paradigm shift. It was on page 232, and the essay was "How To Avoid Being Deprived". Deprivation didn't have to be deprivation. Cutting back was all about empowerment. Whoo!

I went on to finish the book, hanging on Amy's every word. The only time I felt a strong prickle of disagreement was...you guessed it...on the subject of books. Waste of money buying books that are available at the library. Waste of money because you usually only read them once unless they're reference books. Waste of space... I wanted to excel at tightwaddery, but I knew I'd never reconcile myself to her view about books. I'd cut like hell in other areas, but not this one. To her credit, Amy Dacyczyn was a strong frugal advocate, but she also allowed that not everyone felt the same about spending. For example, I could have cared less about her passion, which was her huge farmhouse with an attached barn.

After finishing The Complete Tightwad Gazette, I couldn't let it go and move on to the next book. I read it again. It soothed my mind and made me feel in control, so I read a bit every night before I went to sleep for a few months -- usually the last chapter in the book where Amy published letters from debt-ridden people who became successful tightwads and got themselves in control of their finances.

A fever seemed to possess me, and I couldn't get enough of reading about thrift and saving money. The next book I read was Your Money Or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, which poses the questions: "Are you a wage slave because of all the things you feel you must buy? Are you making a living or making a dying?" Then I read a book called Living On A Shoestring. I got interested in Scott and Helen Nearing and read The Good Life, as well as other books about the "back to the land" movement. Then I joined not one, but two online frugal groups, and participated heavily on their boards up until I went to Korea.

The first couple of months I was here, I didn't have much money since my job hadn't started yet, but I was able to weather that lean time with no problem because I was so thoroughly fixed in that frugal mindset. Also helpful was a box that arrived from home with some of my clothing, linens, dinnerware -- and my copy of The Complete Tightwad Gazette.