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The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less (Paperback)
$14.20 - Save $1.58 (10%) - RRP $15.78 Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for The Thrift BookFeeling poor because of the credit crunch? Feeling guilty because of global warming? This title shows you: how to make wonderful dinners with very little money; how to dress on a budget and still look fabulous; how to make friends - and start sharing - with your neighbours; and, how to holiday imaginatively - with barely a carbon footprint.
Full description- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- Published: 02 July 2009
- Format: Paperback 272 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Consumer Advice | Self-sufficiency | Shopping Guides
- ISBN 13: 9780141038230 ISBN 10: 0141038233
- Sales rank: 32,649
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Reviews for The Thrift Book
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Pet hates of a middle class middle aged British female
Unfortunately this book is not so much about helping the reader save money but rather is an avenue for the author to peddle her own personal beliefs while passing her verdict on anyone who disagrees. Infused with a super-charged ego, it is sure to delight her fans, but frustrate everyone else.rnrnFor example, on the topic of clothes, rather than sharing good money saving ideas, she spends a good portion of the chapter berating corporations and consumers for encouraging poor labour standards in developing countries. Quoting her "What kind of conditions do we imagine they were working under? Who could wear these clothes and feel good about it? Answer: millions of punters. I find this insanely depressing. And they still look like crap." She then provided a long list of clothing labels that have explicit policies against the use of child labour.rnrnThat sets the tone for the entire book, a compilation of bitchigns and pet hates of a middle class, middle age British female rather than money saving ideas.rnrnOn the topic of weddings she wrote "There is something comical about real grown ups - thirty or forty - something women, especially ones with children - doing the whole 'virgin bride' thing in pristine white silk. It doesn't really wash and, again, you run the risk of looking delusional, or just plain bonkers - unless you are of course virgo intacta. I personally think absolutely no white meringues over the age of thirty, especially if you're getting married in church".rnrnI do not wish to get into an argument about work conditions in 3rd world countries or wedding dresses for women over 30. But surely, a reader who buys this book isn't looking for a list of ethical clothing labels. Nor is he/she interested in what India Knight thinks of 30 year olds in white wedding dresses. We all know people whom we avoid having a conversation with because they have a knack of turning any topic into a judgemental bitching session about their pet hates. We certainly do not need to pay for the priviledge of reading about it.rnrnAvoid. by Yih Feng Low
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Staff review
The Thrift Book
If the credit crunch has a positive side it is the way that it has thrown into relief just how incredibly wasteful we have become as a society. Just take the example of food: Britain throws away half of all the food produced on its farms! About 20m tons of food is thrown out each year. That is equivalent to half of the food import needs for the whole of Africa. And that is just food. We throw away -- or buy and never wear or never use -- millions of pounds worth of clothes and gadgets every year. Perhaps if we are worried about where the next pound in our pocket will be coming from we'll be less tempted to throw away the pound that we already have on something we don't need!
India Knight's excellent The Thrift Book focusses on "how to make wonderful dinners with very little money; how to dress on a budget and still look fabulous; how to make friends, and share stuff, with your neighbours; and how to holiday imaginatively" all with barely a carbon footprint in sight.
If you want to ride out this economic storm with as little stress and as much style as you can -- and if you want to use it as an excuse to make yourself that little bit Greener -- this is the ideal book. Buy it. Share it. by Mark Thwaite
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