I thought this was a self help guide to becoming frugal but that was my mistake, it was really a history of American frugality. Interesting read. ( )

I've read a few others of this sub-genre, and I kinda just skimmed most of the book.. The most value I found was in the last chapter- Cheapskate Psychology. First she reviews the traditional negative psycho-babble about anal retentivity. Then she finds experts who admit that those who can control the impulse to accumulate are mentally healthier and happier than those who can't. ( She mentions the Walter Mischel marshmallow experiment.) And then she pins it down correctly, from page 260 on. A sense of accomplishment and a hatred of waste in all it's forms. People who can live thriftily generally are not fearful of living against the grain, exhibiting more independence. Frugal people are nonconformists. ( )

-a history of thrift and its opposite in the USA, from colonial times to today
-marketed as if it was about the author's family and friends, but much more
-history of a small but important subject; the best kind of history ( )

Weber's research on the topic of thrift is exhaustive. I found the book exhausting- I was drowning in dry details. Can one slog through a dry book? If so, that's what I did here. The introduction was funny, where she talked about her cheap upbringing. I would really like to read a memoir from her. ( )

Good history of frugality and spending money ( )