Living Well on Practically Nothing: Revised and Updated Edition

by Edward H. Romney

Living Well on Practically Revised and Updated Edition is for people who need to live on a lot less money. If you have been fired, demoted, retired, divorced, widowed, bankrupted or swindled - or you just want to quit your job and remain financially self-reliant - this book is for you. In it are hundreds of tips, secrets and necessary skills for living well on little money. Chapters Save Up to $37,000 a Year and Live on $12,000 a Year; Low-Cost Computers for Fun, Profit, and Education; Some Ways to Live on No Money at All; A Day of Cheap Living; A New Career or Business for You; Fix Things and Make Them Last; and Protect Your Investments and Make Them Grow. From cover to cover, this book is stocked with proven methods for saving money on shelter, food, clothing, transportation, entertainment, health care and more. The author left the "system" in 1969 and has worked for himself ever since. Let him show you how you, too, can live happily, comfortably and with complete

Genres: Nonfiction, Money

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1992

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are looking for a book to help you live a frugal, sustainable lifestyle, this isn’t it! If you are already living frugally then he has nothing new to add. He actually advocates some bad advice like renting is better than owning a home. His frugal food ideas offer poor nutrition decisions. (SPAM is not food, sorry) He advocates homelessness as a lifestyle. Not really conducive to raising a healthy family. He seems to have used this book as a platform for his own political and religious beliefs more than any truly helpful information. He is kind of out of touch and the book is really out of date. My favorite part of the book was the tree house idea on page 121.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

There was very little good advice in this book. He offers a few recipes (for those not blessed to be raised by Depression era parents), but they lack full quantities (especially for the sourdough recipe "Mix a pail of batter from flour and water and hang it up in a warm place until it ferments. Then add a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder) and one teaspoon of sugar, thicken with flour to a smooth dough, knead thoroughly, form as loaves and bake" Okie Dokie - how much flour to how much water? I can even guess, as he doesn't even say how many loaves this will make (or what size). Not very helpful.

He suggests dumpster diving, living in the wilderness, squatting, etc. He is homophobic (at one point suggesting Vermont is a bad place because (gasp!) they allow gays to marry). He is sexist (at one point he suggests that women who are living in the wilderness wear drab clothes and make sure that their hair isn't pretty (I guess to ward off would-be-rapist??? - Um, Yeah. Rape is an act of sexual attraction, not power and violence). He scoffs at liberal arts in college (heaven forbid people know how to think and research). His arrogant, uneducated, offensive opinions padded a great deal of this book.

What little advice that was useful was pretty much commonsense.

Read Jeff Yeager's books (the Ultimate Cheapskate). His books are less expensive, he is non-judgmental, he is funny and his advice is useful.

Skip Romney's out-dated, negative, offensive nonsense.

[Kimberly]

This book is exactly in line with how I have learned to live in Lawrence, KS. This book takes all those bad-ass, thrifty ways of yours and takes it to the next level.


*Note* There are some hilarious conservative rantings that go off the subject of "living well on practically nothing", but they are harmless.

[John]

Interesting read about how to survive with little or no income in a variety of situations. Some of the advice can be a little extreme, but it all seemed sound. Hope I never need to use it but it certainly would make life more slow paced.

[Trampas Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

if your already living frugally this is not the book for you. furthermore, the author is very cemented to old semitic cultural ideas.(think old school christianity) his nutritional information and prices are outdated as well and doesn't reflect our 2013 reality

[Nikki]

Although I have already skimmed it and am not a fan of some of the comments, and the overall political / social tone of the book~

[CB Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. No editing, he is racist, sexist and just plain ignorant. Telling people to dumpster dive for expired medication at pharmacies? Unacceptable.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author is a little more than unusual, but if you can get past that; this relatively odd collection of advice has little bits and pieces that most people will find useful.