Frugal Luxuries: Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul

by Tracey McBride

Tracey McBride created the newsletter Frugal Times in 1993 and has since delighted thousands by elevating the skill of living frugally to an art form.  Now Tracey's commonsense techniques for making "every day a feast" and her wisdom on how to cultivate abundance are gathered in one volume.

Tracey shows us how to savor the intangible gifts we receive when we create a nurturing home, share luscious yet low-cost meals with family and friends, master our budgets, learn to combine style and thriftiness, and cultivate our dreams and imaginations without spending a cent.

Filled with ingenious, heartwarming, and practical advice, Frugal Luxuries helps us remember what is truly of value in our lives--our time, our loved ones, and our inner sense of prosperity.  Combining the spiritual nourishment of Simple Abundance with the practicality of The Tightwad Gazette, Frugal Luxuries is destined to become the classic on how to live every day with a sense of abundance, beauty, and luxury.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Lifestyle, Frugal

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

Reviews

[Aroura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't get really far, but still, what I read so far was a very superfluous way of saying be happier with what you have and find joy in the little things. Which is obviously great advice, but I'd rather not read over a hundred pages of different ways of saying it :)

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

the tone of this book was lovely, the practical information was either rather dated or a bit vague. I first found this book through it's partner book: Frugal Luxuries by the Seasons. The library where I work had a copy that caught my attention, and the thoughts on various means to bring luxury into one's frugal life based on the seasons of the year were so cozy. This book, while the precursor to the other, wasn't QUITE as neat a read. Solid tone, not as much practical, for me.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I think that this book helped me view my situation differently than I did before. I learned that it doesn't take money to have class and to live a fulfilling life with grace and dignity. Sweet ideas and simple but profound insights.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's take on enjoying the things you have, finding things at thrift stores/yard sales, and tweaking your home to find pleasure in it and your possessions.

When this book was published in 1997, I worked at Barnes and Noble. I really WANTED this book. It had a beautiful cover and the topic (being frugal while still enjoying life) spoke to me and every time I saw it, I lusted after it. But at the time, $14 was a lot of money so I waited a couple of months to buy it. The parts I read then I really liked. Now I've read the entire thing and I'm at a different part of my life. I'm more into minimalism and just plain not buying stuff than in finding linens at an estate sale to re-use for tablecloths. I respect the focus of the book, but it's no longer for me.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read this book, dated 1997, but it had a lot of good frugal tips I had not considered or read elsewhere. I took good notes. This book is an excellent reference, and truly teaches you to have peace with less and not more.

[Kecia · Rating 3 out of 5]

My life went into a tailspin when I bought I 75 year old house that needed a lot of TLC. Frugal Luxuries isn't very good...but it made my life so much nicer the first few months of chaos in my new house. I think I picked up at exactly the right moment in my life.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book serves as a thoughtful reminder to focus on the quality of one's life, and not the quantity of possessions. Contains many practical ideas for pursuing thrift with style, yet always adds a short essay to put the thrift into an almost spiritual context.

[Stephanie Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband bought me this book many years ago. I have reread it many times often when I want to spoil myself with a special treat. Tracey McBride gives elegance to frugality: the need to be careful with our resources. This is definitely one of my favorite "feel good" books.

[Ashleyadams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am on my third round reading Frugal Luxuries and find more to love about it with each read. I often reference it when considering decor for my home or looking for joy in my current surroundings. A true treasure.

[Teresa Keatts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book as I as all about frugality. It is a nice concept to find oneself living in frugal luxury ❣️

[Carolyn Cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple pleasures.

[Em]

I've had this book for at least one move, maybe more. Goodbye, book. Hello space. Thank you Internet and digital books, for freeing my bookshelves up.

I flipped through the book and thought, "Why did I hang on to this for so long?" Pre-Internet, books such as these were helpful and aspirational.

[Cheryl]

I tried really hard to find ideas that would apply either to me or my bachelor son. Nope. The few that are good, are ones we mastered long, long time ago, that seem obvious to us. There just isn't anything fresh here.

April 2023

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dated, no good insights.

[Alycia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve no idea why I am always drawn to these “frugal” homemaker books but this one was a little too dated to offer much inspiration.

[Jameson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A purely wholesome guide to frugal living with more common sense recommendations to bettering your life, your home, and your finances than you can possible keep track.

[Debbie Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical ideas.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Purchased this on a whim from Thriftbooks and finally got around to reading it. The overall tone of the book is lovely, but the advice is vague and outdated. Unfortunately, this means the book is about 200 pages longer than it needs to be. Not great for a 250 page book.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more along the lines of an Alexandra Stoddard book. There is a chapter about money, but she talks about acquiring things quite a bit, which to me isn't frugal. The main ideas are really about having what's important to you and doing it for less money. There are no real money savings ideas, recipes, etc that you'd find in a book like the Cheapskate Gazette.

[Alley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman after my own heart!

[Cws]

332.224

[Aleena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ideas. Liked the first half of the book the most.