Hard Core Poor, a book review

I just finished reading Hard Core Poor by Kelly Sangree. I read a lot of books on this topic. I find an enjoyable challenge is seeing how little I can spend and still have everything we need, so new books on this topic intrigue me.

This one isn't bad, but I still haven't found any that can compete with The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

I commend Sangree for taking the time to write it.  I've often thought of compiling my years of notes and personal experience into a book on the subject, but always feel like the topic is endless.

Hard Core Poor is a short read.

Her conversational tone allows anyone to glean from her ideas. She covers most of the basic essentials of life and offers a broad range of options in each category from the free method to some of the most expensive. And, if you are new to the idea of being frugal, this could be the book that gets your brain thinking in that vein.

Her ideas aren't bad, but most of them are little more than surface discussion, and don't really get into the nitty gritty of living a frugal life. I think what I love about the Tightwad Gazette is the mass number of specific tricks to try, from washing and reusing plastic storage bags to creative crafts made out of old milk jugs. To see some of my ideas worth sharing, check out my blog posts on the topic of Frugal Living.

Some of my favorites are making your own dishwasher detergent, variations of a pot pie, and the $400 grocery challenge.

Normally, I don't buy these books, but borrow them from the library instead, because they so often contain the same or similar material as books that came before them.

Sangree admits that experienced frugal mommas will find most of her book covers material we already know, but she does discuss a few novel things like where to cash a paycheck when the bank won't let you, and housing options when you can't afford rent. Hard Core Poor also has several website and blog references, making it simple to springboard into other resources fairly quickly.

I picked it up free on Kindle during a promotion, and offering her book free really speaks to her heart for those who are really "hard core poor", so for that reason, I don't mind recommending it.