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Looking for ways to cut down on your budget and expenses without cutting back on your lifestyle? Who better than Jonni McCoy, author of the best-selling book, Miserly Moms®, to help you and your family get the most out of your hard-earned money?

Jonni shows you how to get your whole family (even kids!) on the path to frugality. The rest of the book is jam-packed with literally hundreds of cost-saving tips, strategies, techniques, and recipes that will help your family cut your budget and lower your expenses without feeling deprived or left out.

This is a revised edition of the book and it has updated information and FIVE new chapters!

Below is the Table of Contents AND and excerpt from the book!

Full Product Review - Frugal Families by Pat Veretto, About.com Frugal Families Guide Rating -   Author: Jonni McCoy Jonni McCoy did it again, with her inimitable style and class. Here's the same sensible and compelling attitude as ever, as she explains how to decorate lavishly on a shoestring, how to teach your kids to handle money, save when you buy a car, make money at home and many more things we deal with every day. This third book of Jonni's is more focused on the nuts and bolts of daily living - insurance, pets, moving expenses, decorating, vacations - than her other two. (Miserly Moms and Miserly Meals). She thoroughly explains why and how to save in areas that were not covered fully in her other books. There are plenty of facts and figures without being boring (for those who are bored with facts and figures!) as well as plenty of old fashioned encouragement and philosophy. Did you know that the higher your income, the more likely you to have high consumer debt? It's true, and it's proven by the facts she presents. Did you ever wonder what it's like, in reality, to work at home? Jonni McCoy tells you straight out, and seasons it with wisdom and experience. I couldn't get by without mentioning her very thorough examination of insurance of various kinds. This section in itself is worth the price of the book several times over. If you follow Jonni's advice, you can save money and still have the insurance you need. It's not a big book, it's 238 pages including the index, but there is a goldmine between the covers. If you open it up and start digging, you can't help but be better off financially, and happier, too.

Table of Contents

(Titles in BOLD are new!)

Introduction/Frugality Runamuck                            

Getting Home                      

Making Money at Home

Inexpensive Family Fun        

Holidays with a Frugal Flare      

Decorating and Furnishing Your Home    

Fun In The Sun - Vacations             

Teaching Kids Financial Responsibility                       

Pets                         

Money, Money                    

Moving Right Along – Moving Expenses                             

Insurance                               

                Homeowners Insurance                               

                Car Insurance                               

                Life Insurance                               

                Medical Insurance                               

                Disability Insurance                               

                Vision                     

                Doctor Bills                         

                Hospital Bills                         

                Medications                          

                Dental Expenses                               

Electronics and Appliances / Help Around the House                     

Car Buying                    

Making Your Car Last                         

Consumer Rights / I Can’t Take It Any More!                 

Resources           

Index                     

Endnotes                             

Excerpt from Frugal Families

Frugality Runamuck

It is a great mistake to suppose that economy consists in buying the poorest articles and in making the table unattractive.

                - Anonymous, Buckeye Cookery, 1881

Sadly, frugality has received a bad reputation through the years. Unfortunately, this reputation keeps many people in financial . Some of these people are women who would like to be at home with their kids, but fear what frugality means. 

It’s understandable how people could get the wrong impression about frugality. We hear of frugal people suggesting uses for dryer lint (I think it belongs in the garbage can) or reusing plastic wrap. Some frugal folks wear stained and torn clothing in the name of frugality. Others refuse to tip waiters in the name of being frugal. These are examples frugality runamuck: of being cheap, not frugal.

True frugality should be a means to an end. It should have something to show for itself. I don’t see it as endless energy spent on minor savings. I don’t want my time filled with saving soap slivers and aluminum foil. To decide if a frugal activity is worth my time, I figure out what the savings will be for my time spent on that activity. I am frugal so I can be at home with my kids. I want to spend as much time with them as possible, so my frugality must be carefully chosen.

 If you are going to spend time being frugal, make it count for something. I spend time baking from scratch because it saves on my grocery bill. I shop resale clothing stores to save on clothing. I turn the thermostat down a few degrees to save on the utility bill. I do these things to afford my choice of staying at home.

I mentioned that frugal measures should be a means to an end. For some, the frugal choices they make are the end. They are frugal to be cheap, not to reach their financial goal. That's frugality run amuck.

We must choose how we fill our days. Nobody can do it all. Find the activities that save the most money and drop the rest. Your family and friends are more important. Play with your kids. Plant a garden. Read a book.

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Copyright © 1992-2006         Jonni McCoy      

ENDORSEMENTS
 
"I don't think there's another writer on the frugal scene that can tell it like Jonni can. She's an excellent teacher with a knack of putting across
the reasons instead of just the facts. That's what makes her books
invaluable to anyone who wants to live a more frugal life."
 
Pat Veretto
About.com, Guide to Frugal Living
 
 
"In her true fashion, Jonni has captured the heart of those who are seeking
help in stretching their dollars. Every chapter has loads of ideas to try to
maximize their spending efficiency. The first few pager will be well worth
the purchase of her book. A real winner."
 
Emilie Barnes
author/speaker
More Hours in My Day
 
 
"Frugal Families is filled with the kinds of 'must have' resources and
accumulated wisdom every young family should keep at its finger tips."
 
Sue Gregg
SueGreggCookbooks

"If you long to stay at home with your kids but fear the loss of your income, you need to do two things: First, read Frugal Families--then get the moving boxes ready. You'll be packing you things and heading home in no time!"

-Mary Hunt, editor of CHEAPSKATE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER and note author

"Authoritative, timely, and chock full of bite-sized information. Frugal Families will help maxed-out parents stretch the family budget in ways they never thought possible."

-Mike Yorkey, author of 21 DAYS TO A THRIFTY LIFESTYLE