What readers are saying about Billee Sharp's book!

Sharp, Billee. “Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It: The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life”, Cleis Viva Editions, 2010.

Editing Your Life

Amos Lassen

I love, love, love this book—it has so many useful hints and great advice that you just have to get a copy. (Not to mention the recipes—my mouth was watering as I read some of them). Here is a way to live a good life and enjoy yourself while doing so. Billee Sharp shares what she knows here and what she knows is based on her sensible look at global responsibility. She feels that we should understand that we must change the way we live and save the planet. She gives us a step-by-step handbook to change our spending habits and regain a quality of life that we deserve.
I love the hints for house cleaning with lemon and lavender. Your house gets clean and smells divine. She gives us ways to take care of minor health issues by using the kitchen cabinet. We learn how to start a garden with our community and hoe to raise organic vegetables as well as how to fix almost anything. Where has this book been? Why have I not heard of some of this before? Everything piece of advice is useful. This is one book that I expect will be filled with bookmarks, post-it notes, dog-eared pages and doodles. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Amos Lassen

Lara Starr is everyone's favorite cheapskate!

Frugal Series - 7 - Finding Inspiration

April 5, 10:00 PMOakland Frugal Living ExaminerNicola Alesandrini

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If there is one thing I have learned, when being frugal (or going on a diet!), I need inspiration and motivation. I was raised by parents who had to be frugal throughout my childhood, and who taught me how to use money as a tool and not to abuse it. I have always been reserved with money, but I became very aware of my passion for frugality when I read The Complete Tightwad Gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn, in college.

Since then, I have found inspiration in other books on frugality, websites, online forums, and blogs.

At the end of 2008, I read about The Compact, an agreement and effort by a small group of individuals here in the Bay Area who had decided to spend a year reducing their ecological impact, in part by avoiding new purchases. While for environmental reasons, I loved how this was simultaneously frugal, and the very idea of taking a simple action that filled my desires to be both ecologically and economically savvy gave me a small thrill. Very shortly after reading about The Compact, I read of a young family who, for financial reasons, had decided to try for a year of not buying anything (new or used). I was hooked, and so in 2009, my family tried to buy nothing new.

Now, I find inspiration in other blogs, magazines, books, and in my own knowledge that I either know how to do or learn just about anything, if the activity meets my desires for economy and earth friendliness.

New motivation pops up almost daily. I was recently introduced to The Frugal Foodie Cookbook by Lara Starr and Lynette Shirk. Lara Starr is a local who blogs as well as cooks. She cooks up some very simple and tasty recipes and offers some great tips to bring good flavor to food on a budget.

If you have a little gem that has inspired you in some way, please feel free to share in the comments