When I saw this book at the library, I was intrigued and had to take it out. After all, my family lives on one income. Of course, that income is mine, with a stay at home dad, so we’re not usually represented in these kinds of books. This one was no exception.
The book this week is “Half Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income” by Ellie Kay. It’s a short, easy read geared toward younger moms who want to stay at home and get to learn the basics on how to cut expenses to get there.
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I picked this up mostly to see if I could get any new tips or tricks on how to save money when you live on one income. Unfortunately, this book was so basic that I didn’t really walk away with anything I didn’t already know coming in. I did enjoy the various stories of the women who stayed at home, but there’s not a stay at home dad in the bunch.
One warning before you pick this up. The book has distinct Christian religious overtones throughout- which might be fine with you, or might not be your  thing. It’s just something to be aware of going in, because it’s not obvious from the back cover.
Essentially the advice given boils down to this:
- Calculate your net worth
- Cut your food bill in half through store cards, sales, coupons, and price matching
- Buy clothes second hand
- Save for retirement
- Save on everyday purchases by buying at the right time of year
- Think and plan carefully for the mortgage if you are or plan to live on one income
- Start a home business (lots of ideas are given, little practical advice)
- Get creative with your vacations for big savings
If I was giving this book a star rating over on Goodreads, I’d probably give it a 2 out of 5. All in all it’s not a bad book. If you’re just starting out in your adult life, you’ve never been good with money, and you’re a young mom that wants to stay at home you might get some useful information out of it. But as a person who’s been a mom for over 13 years, and interested in money since way before that time, I didn’t find anything I didn’t already know.
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It’s interesting how books stereotype the gender roles. To be fair, the book is published by moody, who is a pretty big organization that is all about Christianity. I guess we hadn’t seen as big a trend back in 2007 either though. I wonder if being written today, if it would be different!
Interesting, I didn’t know Moody was a Christian publisher. I read a lot but usually don’t look at who published the book. Good to know!