In Praise of the Tightwad Gazette

Years ago (has it really been nearly 30 years???) a newsletter titled 'The Tightwad Gazette' went viral (this was long before the internet but after it was featured on TV and in magazines it was pretty much instantly famous).  The lady who wrote it, Amy Dacyczyn aka The Frugal Zealot, was a genius at saving money.  She was able to raise a family of eight on her Navy husband's income (which, believe me, isn't that much!).

I loved the newsletter and I loved the books (The Complete Tightwad Gazette was the final compilation of information in her newsletters and her previous couple of books on the topic of being frugal).  So last night I was wondering what every happened to her and of course the internet answered my question.  Here are the latest things I could find on the Frugal Zealot who completely retired about six years after starting her famous newsletter:

• Here is an interview she did with the Simple Dollar in 2014.
• Here is a YouTube video of an interview with Amy in 2009.
• Apparently there is a Tightwad Gazette Fan Club on Facebook.
• And here are interviews with her grown children about how they were raised (at the time there were naysayers who felt that by living frugally she was somehow torturing her children...spoiler alert: they turned out just fine).  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5
• Here is a letter Amy wrote about food shopping.
• Here is a Washington Post article about her.