Pogue's Basics: Money: Essential Tips and Shortcuts (That No One Bothers to Tell You) About Beating the System

Pogue's Basics #3

by David Pogue

Following the success of the New York Times bestsellers Pogue's Basics: Tech and Pogue's Basics: Life comes the next book in the series: Pogue's Basics: Money which will be a timeless reference book of 200 simple tips and tricks for making managing your finances easier. This book will shed light on the best ways to save and make money. Everyone gets stressed out doing endless research to try and figure out where to get the best deals on a product, in this book David Pogue will help you spot savings and avoid costly scams. From buying plane tickets, booking hotel rooms, buying a car or house, or doing your taxes, there are tips and advice here for every financial decision you make. Instead of making uninformed or irrational decisions when it comes to money, Pogue's expertise in consumer advocacy will inform people of the best products and websites to use to save yourself money.

The perfect book for holidays, Pogue's Basics: Money will be accompanied by black-and-white photographs and illustrations throughout the book, collecting all the tips and tricks in one place for you to easily access.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Personal Finance, Self Help, Reference, Money, Business

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2016

About the author

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the weekly personal-technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. His funny tech videos appear weekly on CNBC. And with 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how- to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the "For Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music). In 1999, he launched his own series of amusing, practical, and user-friendly computer books called Missing Manuals, which now includes 100 titles.

David and his wife, Jennifer Pogue, MD, live in Connecticut with their three young children.

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Pogue needs an intervention with these Basics books. I really liked his first book about technology and found it very helpful but the tips and tricks in the life and money books are either so firmly in the public consciousness or easily available as to be unnecessary in a book.

The projected savings are overhyped, exactly like the coupon books I get from the warehouse club where I'm a member (spoiler alert, he recommends looking into warehouse club memberships). The book's cover always lists the total "savings" of all of the coupons ("$3, 287 in savings inside!") but the problem is that you have to buy three different laptops, five different TVs, eight brands of diapers and two varieties of coffee to earn those dubious savings.

If you can borrow the life and money books from the library they're worth perusing but don't spend your money buying them. I really do like David Pogue and I think his intentions are good but these last two books are a bit much.

[Alex Hoeft · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had a photographic memory so I could remember literally everything said in this book. Pretty much every other page is dog-eared due to good advice. I’m ready to start saving money!!!

[Ryan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of worthwhile tips in here, I’m sure I’ll often use the index to circle back. The major hitch is that the book was written for an American reader, so a decent amount of tips and almost all examples are not relevant for a Canadian.

[Tim Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read something nonfiction real quick to make sure I keep learning things.

Most money books give you the standard list of rules: spend less than you make, pay off your debts as quickly as possible, save early and often, and blah blah blah.

There's a little bit of that here but Pogue's focus is more about how to be responsibly irresponsible when blowing your paycheck. He includes couponing sites, sites where you can buy gift cards at a discount (from people who won't use them) and many other great tips.

Who knew that AAA offered discounts on prescriptions? I didn't and man oh man, I am looking forward to getting my AARP card! Tremendous discounts for AARP members.

Anyway, it's a departure from the norm of finance books but does have some great tips for saving money on things you are going to do anyway.

[Fooie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book title should have “in the USA” - because approx 90% of the information relayed here isn’t really applicable anywhere else. Large chunks of it are also either outdated by now (book was written pre-covid), consist of basic common sense, or not really suitable for everyone (depending on your current income and stage of life). Projected savings also tend to be really exaggerated.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a how-to book full of money-saving tips covering everything from coupon “clipping” websites to how to sign up for a paid clinical drug trial. It’s more of a reference book you’d want around the house than a cover-to-cover read to borrow from the library, but the latter is the way I read it anyhow. It was informative, and the tone was light enough to make it readable, but I’m glad to be done with it. I took notes, so who knows? Perhaps some of these tips might add up to some savings.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a lot of information about when to buy certain items for cheaper during the year. Always check sites like RetailMeNot.com for deals. You can buy movie tickets at discount prices from multiple places. Looks for surveys at the end of receipts. There are coupons sites like Coupons.com or RedPlum.com or SmartSources.com. Scan barcodes in stores on Redlaser or ShopSavey to see if it’s cheaper online. Best Buy will price match. Do NOT get the extended warranties if it’s bad it will dip within the free window for returns. Amazon Prime offers a lot of different services like music, movies, free shipping, photo storage…ect. Price check stuff on CamelCamelCamel.com to see if it goes on sale during a certain time of the year.

Credit Cards can be used to pay taxes. You can always ask for lower interest on credit cards just ask. Pay off your credit card ALWAYS.

You can sell your gift cards if you don’t plan on using them at CardCash.com. You can also buy gift cards there for yourself at less than face value. If you have a visa gift card that doesn’t have that much money on it you can buy am amazon gift card for that exact amount.

You can own or rent solar panels to power your house. If you rent you will just owe the solar company who will install and maintain them for free for a contain rate each month. Try and run your washer, drier and dishwasher during the non peak hours that your electricity company offers to save money on energy. LED light bulbs are they way to go and will last way longer than other bulbs. You can get reusable gift wrap bags that come in all different shapes and sizes that have drawstrings so you can reuse them over and over again. Try using an electric kettle to heat up your water instead of the stove. Angies List lets your review companies that you have serviced so if you are in need of a service look them up and read the reviews. Flowers can last longer if you put them in sugar water (6 teaspoons in 32 ounces of water: you can also put a few drops of silver nitrate in the water and it will also 4 more days (don’t touch or drink it!!!)

If you are in the market for a new laptop trying looking for refurbished ones. You can buy your own cable modem for internet so it will save you every month from renting it from internet companies. If something is not being used unplug it from the outlet!!

The worst way to exchange currency when traveling to a new country is at the airport it’s best to use your credit card but always call and ask what the transaction fee it. UberX is much cheaper than Uber Black. Buy Disney tickets online NOT in person OfficalTicketCenter.com sells discounted tickets. DisneyTouringBlog.com is a good website to see what rides are worth using a FastPass for. If you ever want to order room service DON’T you want to go downstair and place a to go order at the hotel restaurant and have them call you when it’s ready to pick up. You can look up discount plane tickets at Tripcombi.com for flights that may have a layover in one city. When booking a cruise try and buy them during January or February and make a deposit on it. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity offer one-day sales every week visit CruiseCritic.com/bargains. You can also book your next cruise on the ship. You can do a one way cruise (they do this if they are moving the ship somewhere else) but you will have to fly yourself back visit RepositioningCruise.com. You can order a bottle on a ship (cheaper than a glass) and they will save it at the restaurant for your return. You can book your own excursions without needing to go through the cruise ship. Make sure to read the reviews CruiseReview.com before booking. If for some reason you can’t use your hotel room list it on RoomerTravler.com and name your price.

You can download GasBuddy on your phone and it will tell you the gas prices in your area. You can find the invoice price of a car you want at TrueCar.com so you know what the dealership payed for it. Sell your car yourself you will make more money on it than trading it in-to find what your used car is worth use KBB.com. You can compare insurance rates online at TheZebra.com or InsuranceQuotes.com.

When going grocery shopping us MyGroceryDeals.com to see what is on sale. Or us the app called Favado Grocery Sales which does the same thing. Use Coupons.com or GrocerySmarts.com to get more free coupons to use at the store. GroceryiQ app is a shopping list that when you can the item it will correspond a coupon with it.

When shaving make sure and dry the blades because water causes them to rust. Use a small amount of rubbing alcohol to dry your razors after use to make them last longer.

Yipit.com will show you massive deals on experiences along with a lot of other things. Fiverr.com is a website that has creative jobs at very cheap prices (I will create a resume, write you a song, draw a picture, ect).

FindFocusGroups.com to find people that want your opinion on a product and get paid for it. ClinicalTrials.gov is a website that allows you to participate in clinical studies. You can donate Plasma up to twice a month look for donations centers at DonatingPlasma.org.

Go to ClaimDog.com to see if you have any left over money that you don’t know about. You can sign up for AskTrim.com and it will give you a list of all the things that were charged to your credit card.

{Some of the advice I didn't agree with like the separate bank accounts and credit card tricks but overall there was some good information that was given.}

[Aden Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really great, practical tips in this book, ranging from how, where and what to buy, to little hacks that you can do to save money here and there. The biggest problem with this book, however, is that it's just too geocentric to the US. I understand, American author, most things these days are centred around the US etc. but a large amount of the information was just not applicable to me as someone who lives in Australia.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag. The good things about it are going to make it very dated in a year or two. For example, I had no idea that Amazon had super cheap options such as it's Warehouse and Outlet pages, and ended up finding a pair of binoculars I have been wanting for WAY cheaper than the average price they go (I still didn't buy them, don't have the money right now). And people are missing out if they don't know about camelcamelcamel.com.

But this book is mostly how to waste your time looking for deals. Sure, he promises that these things AREN'T time-consuming, but if you weren't using them before, then they are going to take up some time learning and using them. RetailMeNot is a good example. Sure, you can just not use it until you decide to go buy something, but you are going to miss deals that way. And there aren't that many deals on there, but you still have to sift through them. And figuring out all of the deals for traveling are seriously complicated, even in this little book. If you don't travel that much then many of them aren't even worth the time spent on them.

And at least one tip was totally incorrect, and another tip suggests using unroll.me. Well, they want full access to your email. A quick Google search of that website also shows some serious privacy issues that website has. And they WILL sell your data, it's right in their Terms of Service.

I'm also tired of the general view of the authors of these money books that people aren't getting these deals because they are just lazy and stupid and have no idea how to look for them. How about we have better things to do then looking on multiple sites for POSSIBLE coupons to clip? And then you can hold onto a coupon that's going to expire, waiting for a possible sale to show up. It's doesn't always happen. Trying to find deals is time-consuming no matter what and if you are poor you are simply going to have less time to spend on doing that.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was made for my style of "listicle (list-article) reader". Each chapter is generally introduced, then it's rapid-fire tips: Shopping Hacks, Food Hacks, Your Body, and more. Many bullets throughout the chapters are attributed to famous/celebrity/otherwise-renowned wealthy people, so their advice has some clout.
My favorite chapter was actually the last chapter: Financial Brain Hacks. Most notably, here Pogue digs into into (the lack of) rational decision making around spending and saving. He emphasizes consistency between your psychology and usage of money to bring greater savings, reduced stress, more flexibility and liquidity. These are good things.

Not a 5/5 because everything wasn't amazing. Save multi-paragraph introductions to chapters, it really is listicles throughout; I suppose there's no other way to get 200 tricks into a text. I simply thought the author could have had greater flow, and maybe craft a light narrative through conquering your money life. Instead, the book read like it was written in distinct parts then glued together, book-ended by introduction and acknowledgements.
Nevertheless, the advise is sound. I had already employed many of these tips into my own life, so it was fun/affirming to see them here e.g. higher deductible plans, where you're paying yourself the difference (increasing liquidity and being able to afford the deductible, simultaneously).

It's worth a purchase, as you'll be able to pick it, flip to a chapter you've been thinking about (say, "Food and Drink", if you're thinking that tri-weekly mocha frappe is going up in price), read for 30 seconds, and walk away with something to contemplate.
Save yourself some money and buy this book.

[Teji · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a good “reference” books of tips and tricks—a few of which I knew but several I didn’t know or haven’t used consistently—for saving money when buying a wide range of goods and services. I think that it will get dated as it references a lot of websites—and websites tend to come and go.

Quotes
“…we tend to shop for things relatively, rather than assessing each offering’s value independently. That effect is even more powerful when it comes to purchases whose value is hard to measure—like homes, paintings, or bottles of wine…We’re hopeless at comprehending big numbers. Our brains are trained to understand things through perceiving them. As we perceive small numbers all the time…Our experience is built on small numbers, so our ability to understand big ones is severely challenged…Recognizing this blind spot in your own brain can help you make smarter decisions with your money…Decision making is exhausting. Economist Daniel McFadden has written about many of the ways that commonsense laws of economics break down when the human brain gets involved…Losing money affects us twice as much as gaining it…If we were purely rational creatures, we would make decisions now that would benefit us the most later…” – Intro

“All prices are made up…in a capitalist system, every price, for every product and service, is arbitrary…” – Intro

[Jonathan H. MONTES · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was inspired by my annotations. To view all my detailed annotations you are welcome to join my Patreon page (John Lawchamp). For $0.99 you can read my favorite lines and excerpts from the book with additional personal thoughts. The annotations are released once the review of that book has been posted on Goodreads. Why spend $15.00 on a book you are not invested in when you can explore the main topics for a fraction of the price? Visit Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Lawchamp

John Lawchamp’s Review:
This book was entertaining in the way we see how much we can save money by taking a few action steps here and there. This book goes through everything imaginable in ways you can save money. It does not bore you with the things you should already know, such as exercising to save thousands on medical bills and doctor visits. Instead, it covers how to save money on electricity, or how to save money by sinking your razors in alcohol for longer life. They do this in barbershops, and that's how they make a profit and save money too. There are great ideas in this book, but in my annotations I only wrote those which I found most helpful. Go ahead and check them out on Patreon.

[Aki Stepinska · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read all three books from the David Pogue series - Technology, Life, and Money. The Technology one was probably my favorite.

The Money book is from 2016, which is a bit dated. Some products and websites no longer exist. However, it still has some valuable tips, but I think of them as more shopping savings than money advice. There is a savings ballpark calculation by each tip, although some seem inflated for an average user.

One tip, in particular, I had an issue with—advice to paying everything with credit cards (i.e., insurance, taxes, etc.). You can get more cashback or points, but it can lead to a high credit card balance, high interest, and penalties for some people. Additionally, you have to use a third-party service that charges fees to pay taxes via credit card. If the fee is less than cashback you receive, you may 'save' $50 or so, but you are exposing yourself to the danger of high CC balance and the hassle of setting this up.

All tips are short, to the point, and it is a straightforward and fun book. The book is nicely formatted, with great use of white space, font, and color. I like books that are a delight to read.

Total 5/5
Readability - 4
Scope - 2.5
Depth - 2
Format - 4
Clarity -3.5

Read this book if:
You want quick and easy savings tips.
You don't want to read an in-depth book on money savings.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw this at the library weeks ago, and based on Pogue familiarity (loved some of this old geeky kid-friendly science programs) picked it up. Weeks of renewals later, sped-read it and I'm just very lucky, dare I say fortunate to not have to worry at the coupon-level. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from even a polite screw-you level of money, much less the more dramatic !@$!@-you, but time spent thinking about money is often a big debit on my soul.

Coupon clipping and apps, I think I save more by just avoiding even stepping into the Gap much less falling into the credit card gap. Maybe a cash-back credit card would be wise at this point, and I found myself even thinking about pumping more money now into 529's for the sake not necessarily of my kids (who we *might* have covered) but the kids of kids. Still that tacks on a need to watch the mix of funds and again spend time, which at this point in my life feels more valuable (and vulnerable) than money.

The title is so appealing of course, the American Way seems to have migrated from Truth and Justice to an overriding notion of Beating the System.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Pogue’s Basics: Money, we are introduced to many money saving techniques and methods that you may or may not have heard of. It even discusses the psychology of certain sales and comparisons. For instance, it explains that people are bad with numbers. This may not be news to me or to many that read the things I read, but that isn’t the point. The point is that it tries to give someone defense against such techniques by explaining them.

Right off the bat in the introduction Pogue talks about what he will not be covering, and that is the obvious advice and the illegal advice. For example, Pogue mentions libraries as one of the so-obvious-it-does-not-need-to-be-mentioned things.

The book is certainly well-done, but many of the hints and tips were familiar to me. It’s not that it’s bad per se, but I suppose it is slightly disappointing. You buy such a book expecting world-shattering tips, and many of them were like that, but I was familiar with way too many.

I did enjoy the book anyway though. David Pogue has a breezy, conversational style that is sometimes quite witty.

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather than throwing money to the wolves, this little gem will tell you where and when the best time and place it is to exchange money and buy a bike, washing machine or perhaps a car. That's right folks each item has a season, and if you just wait a month or 3 you can get a better deal than most on almost anything.
Plus if you take that European trip you've always wanted , you might be better off exchanging you money NOWHERE, and just using your handy dandy credit card that you've pre fixed for just this occasion at your bank along with a handy dandy tweak on your cell phone so you don't end up with a $600 bill wither you land back in the good old US of A.
Don't say I didn't warn you...read this book, save a lot of £,€, and $.

[Alysia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book claims it will save you money, and that buying it is practically an investment. FALSE.

Author David Pogue says he aims to help you reduce expenses without experiencing any pain points, then proceeds to spout simplistic tips that mostly involve spending money to save some, rather than just eliminating stupid expenses, or are overall unrealistic. If you have a vacation home you maintain, is saving $40 on your annual cable bill there really your priority?

Overall, you can get better, more useful, and more timely financial advice online for free -- that's a price Pogue should approve.

[N. Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, a finance book that offers useful tips for people who are living at or below the poverty line! And they aren't common sense tips like "cook instead of going to restaurants" and "don't buy lottery tickets", or useless tips like "sell your extra yacht" (as if I had one) or "subscribe to four copies of the paper and spend hours clipping coupons each week" (no way I have time for that).

Granted, many of the suggestions may not apply to your situation, but I think everyone will find at least one or two ways to save money. And the book is very well organized, which means you can easily skip sections that are not useful to you.

My only complaint is that the author still assumes that the average reader is making a living wage and/or in a dual income household, as evidenced by his "total money saved" estimates (offered at the end of every tip).

[Kirkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, yes, the ‘loaded’ word.

Still, having little financial education of my own growing up, this was definitely filled with useful tips. But what is information when it is not backed with action? Action lends words significance. Action is what changes things! In short, I hope to put these tips into action without becoming into extreme couponing or something along those lines.

There’s my ramble. Seriously, if you don’t know a lot about saving what you earn, or spending less, these are less-than-obvious tips that are applicable to your life.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I got this book thinking maybe it could teach me tricks on how to save money - longterm. There certainly are those tips in this book. However, this book runs the gambit on just about anything you can spend money on and a few ideas on making money. I definitely learned a few things, there’s one piece of advice on retirement I really liked. For the most part I knew of just about everything that was listed but this book makes it clear how to put the pieces together. It wasn’t the book or advice I was searching for but it was a pleasant read all the same.

[Brooke Espenschied · Rating 4 out of 5]

- You can suspend internet services if you are going to be gone for month(s) - vacation hold
- RetailMeNot.com - coupon codes
- RedLaser and ShopSavvy - allows you to scan bar codes and it will tell you the price of that item elsewhere
- "Amazon warehouse" type into google for deals on returns
- Amazon.com/outlet - brand new items
-CamelCamelCamel.com - will tell you when the price drops on an Amazon product
- Wedding dresses are cheapest in November/December
- Can order a square card reader for free. "SquareUp.com"- it takes 2.75% from each swipe
- Resell a hotel room you can't use - RoomerTravel.com or Cancelon.com - they will then post it on sites like Kayak. They take a 10-15% fee.
- Buy draw ribbon bags for Christmas
- Gazelle.com - recycling electronics with a payout

[Zig Licis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of great little tips and tricks ranging from where to buy gas, to things you wouldn't even think about how to get free solar panels—theres something for everyone in this book. Even the ways to save money that you may already know about offer something with their clever explanations or variations. Pogue does a great job writing for a broad, varied audience. The wide range of essential tips and tricks this book provides basically pays for itself and more.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately for it, I grew up pretty frugal so I had a bias against this book because the tips seemed overall straightforward even though it started early on that it wouldn't be.
Some of the information is outdated now, but a lot of the concepts can still be applied to everyday life, even in 2023.
Highly recommend if you find it in a library to check out. Otherwise, it's not really worth the price in my opinion.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

These tips weren't so new or so useful to me, but here are a couple quick ones that everyone should do:

Turn down your heat at night and again during the day while at work.
A fan uses less energy than A/C.
If you're driving over 40 miles/ hour, use A/C. Less? Crack a window.
LED lights.

Much of what's offered here is specific to the USA.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a ridiculous book. In spite of his protestations to the contrary up front, he just collected some ideas from a variety of internet sites regarding various schemes for making and saving money. None were unique. Very few were practical (and those I was already doing). Most involved too much time and effort to actually reap any benefit.

[Andrew Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful little primer on money-saving tips and tricks. Some of this stuff I knew already (my parents are die-hard tightwads), but a lot of it was news to me...and it's updated for the 21st century, with lots of money-saving websites and electronic wizardry. A good read, well worth anyone's time who wants to be smarter about pinching pennies.

[Alejandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. There's a lot of information that you should think about next time you are shopping. I knew for years not to pay anything full price and this book just confirmed it for me. If you need help or ideas on how to saving, this is the book to read. Most chapters are has the update information, some you will need to double check.

[Carter Hemphill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've enjoyed the other books in this series. While this book has a lot of useful financial and money tips, a lot of the advice is outdated. Some of the website links do not work and the recent tax law eliminated many of the deductions listed. If you are able to get over these shortfalls, the book provides some useful tips, although it certainly could use an update.

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a "save-money-on-everyday-items" book. Quick read. Skim through it and pick out whatever money savings apply to you. Don't have to even read the whole thing. And ignore the "annual savings" at the end of every category because those are all estimates anyway and your situation may be different anyway.

[Worth-Pinkham Memorial Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and informative book! I liked it because you can flip around and read what really works for you. There are lots of tips for getting the cheapest price for Disney Parks to different tax breaks you can take advantage of. It also tells the amount of money that you can potentially save from each Idea. -Pam