Book Review & Giveaway: Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grabbing Secrets
by Phil Villarreal

The Scene

Two ladies sitting at bar, yapping girl stuff, drinking their Cosmopolitans.

A man comes up to the girl with the most cleavage and starts with the normal pick up line(s):

“Did I see you on the cover of Vogue?”

“Hey baby, you must be a light switch, cuz every time I see you, you turn me on!”

“I hope you know CPR, cuz you take my breath away!”

“I think I can die happy now, cause I’ve just seen a piece of heaven.”

All the while, he staring at her chest and not her face. The ladies roll their eyes, but giggle.

“Can I buy you a drink?” and so forth…

Then he asks, “Can I have you number so we can hook up sometime?” And he is getting all excited because the woman scribbles something on a napkin and hands it to him.

“Score!” he thinks to himself (or whatever Yippee phrase guys think).

Then later, he goes home to call her. Hoping for a late night hookup and dials “818-301-6845” only to find he’s been….

REJECTED!

The recording on the other line says, “the person who gave the dialer this number did not want them to have their real number…” (see video below, funny)

(If you have trouble seeing the video, you can check it our here: Rejection Hotline)

What does this have to do with finances????

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grabbing Secrets written by Phil Villarreal belongs in this kind of category.

I couldn’t handle this books contents. Tidbits like:

• Milking it for all its worth, “And with I finished my bowl of Marshmallow Mateys each morning, I’d funnel the milk back into the container. By doing this I could make a tiny portion of milk stretch far beyond its due date. ” Ewww!
• Double your pleasure, double your fries, “Just gobble down half your fries, then gather your chilly, cubic friend (ice cube) in the palm of your hand and toss him into the container. Presto! Soggy fries. Dump the soil remainder onto your tray…”. Really???
• Lose weight in your gut, gain it in your wallet, “Great secret…Take a can of tuna, add a few squirts of steak sauce and slap the results inbetween two slices of bread and you’ve got a culinary masterpiece that will satisfy your hunger and cause the flab to slip of your belly.” Anyway, it goes onto say how you’ll look gaunt and underfed when you go home to visit your parents and they’ll give you money. Grow up!
• Getting married soon? Opt for a cubic zirconia engagement ring and tell her it’s an heirloom passed down fro our grandma to prevent her from having it appraised. <–is this what you did to your wife, Phil?

I think when Phil wrote this book he was still stuck in his college years. This book is clearly not how to save like a ‘con artist’, but just how to plainly act like a hilarious dork.

Sorry, Phil. I couldn’t fathom the book. I think its written for a man.

So, that brings me to my next thing…

Giveaway!

I have two (2) Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grubbing Secrets books to give away.

Between now and Wednesday, March 17th (12am PST) leave a comment with your personal Dirty Little Money-Grabbing Secret.

Like “I take extra condiments at fast food restaurants” or “I steal steak knives when I go to Sizzler’s”

One entry per person. Winner will be picked by random drawing.

About the Author
A reporter for the Arizona Daily Star and contributing editor at the Consumerist.com, PHIL VILLARREAL draws from a life of obscene frugality that dates back to his days subsisting on A1 and tuna sandwiches as a freshman a the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a business management degree in 2000. He was inspired to write the book in 2007 when his schoolteacher wife, Jessica, quit her teaching job to be a stay-at-home mom. Over the course of three months, Villarreal wrote a chapter a night to complete the manuscript, only to suffer rejections from dozens of literary agents and publishing houses. Villarreal’s luck changed when the economy went bad and his money-saving became timely. He has a (becauseitoldyouso.com), and is a contributor to OK! magazine.

The Biz Idea

Thoughts and Ideas percolating in my head. It’s time to get them out on paper. Wanna her what pours out?

I joined the The Yakezie Challenge started by Financial Samurai. It’s been great, as it strengthens my knowledge for how to grow a blog or to acknowledge what it takes to monetize on a blog (community, networking & consistancy in writing is a must).

Don’t get me wrong, I write my personal finance journey because I love my blogging friends, I need to hold myself accountable for my finance journey, and if I can help anyone out from my trials & tribulations then that is great! But, it is also nice to have the minute extra income to help pay down my debt, buy an extra Christmas present, or help to catapult other ideas or giveaways.

But for me, this challenge has also made me realize I don’t want to quit my full-time job to write personal finance related content, as it is not my passion. I believe you have to have passion or a strong desire to continue building your empire or one might as well not pursue it.

Looking for Inspiration

Recently, there has been a couple of outstanding posts that have smacked me upside the head by speaking my tune with the whole, “What I want to do with my life”.

Ryan from Planting Dollars wrote a great inspirational piece about Warren Buffet’s mind called, I Always Knew I was Going to be Rich. Ryan says, “it all started in his mind and with his unwavering belief”. I think we should all possess this unwavering belief.

The second, written by Moon from Experiments in Passive Income, was a featured guest post at The InfoPreneur called, “Clamping the Noise In your Head: Learn From My Mistakes. She says, “As youngsters, we have more passion and less care for details and consequences.” As kids, we didn’t research a subject to death and then not complete our task. We just did it. Maybe that’s the key, just get up and hustle our worth.

I bring these two post up because 1) laugh all you may, but I have always believed that I am going to be rich and 2)it is time to just get up and do it!

I tell my husband all the time, I am suppose to make it big. I feel it. And it’s not due to winning the lotto, but by hard work built by my hands. Then, I realize that I am not getting any younger. Either I am going to do it NOW or I will crash with resentment.

So with all this above, here is…

What I did realize

My 2 1/2 – 3 years of blogging and Financial Samurai’s challenge made me realize I want to beable to quit my 9-5 job to monetize on producing my own product and getting it out there with the helpful use of social media. I know what it takes now to get the ‘word’ heard on the internet by many people.

Many of you, keep hearing me yap about Vegan, Vegetarian, Raw Food, etc… This my passion. I can write about this for eons.

It’s time I lay out my plan to you. Keep in mind it is still a work in progress and only the beginning of my empire (Muahahahahaha…).

The Rough Draft

I was always been fascinated with Mr. Roger’s show because of the factory tours. I love watching how things are made. It has always fascinated me, still to this day.

I want to create my own product with my own factory.

Forward on…

Intially, I was thinking about starting small, due to lack of capital, by starting a raw-vegan blog and writing eBooks to accrue funding. But, it is not my intentions to make the internet my main focus. I want to make my product a focus.

I decided, I am going to keep busy by coming up with my branding material, my merchandising designs and testing products. All the while building up a business plan, applying for a licenses and small business loans, etc…

And my blogging will take you on my journey. Of course, mixed in with our getting out of debt journey and Menu Plan Monday.

Now, if I can just stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Whatchya think?

Menu Plan Monday: Weight Loss Happy

How is this Vegan thing going? Great! I’ve been having oatmeal or cereal with almond milk for breakfast. Healthy snacks of carrots & hummus, grapes, popcorn or soy yogurt. Lunches and dinners consists of baked potatoes with lemon pepper & broccoli, salads & soup, Indian food & brown rice, black bean tacos… It’s all good.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been on automatic pilot, at work, with putting milk in my oatmeal and then saying, “Doh!” But, I am not going to beat myself up over it. Eating Vegan is change that takes time. However, I have replaced the milk at home with Almond Milk and the family loves it! Works great in all my cooking, too. Small changes to make a healthy difference.

Want to know what else?

Well, if you don’t I am going to tell you anyways. I’ve lost 4.5 pounds this week! And yes, my meals filled me, I didn’t go hungry, and I feel great! So, I am not giving up this Vegan Kickstart anytime soon.

Financially, my vegan meals don’t costs us anymore than normal. I buy more produce and canned beans. Doesn’t cost me so much, so far.

This week’s meal plan

• Sunday: Ultimate Veggie Burger, mashed cauliflower, and a green salad. Dessert: Raw Cacao Walnut Fudge
• Monday: BBQ Veggie Skewers, leftover mashed cauliflower, and tomato-basil soup
• Tuesday: Easy Vegetarian Tacos w/ Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw with Vegan Sour Cream
• Wednesday: Eggplant Parmesan, mashed potatoes, and mixed greens salad w/ Balsamic Vinegarette
• Thursday: Teriyaki glazed salmon (non vegan night), brown rice, and broccoli
• Friday: Eat out
• Saturday: St. Patty’s Day/Surprise B-day Party

I know many of the recipes call for eggs, cheese or milk. But I use Earth balance for butter, omit the eggs (with no problems), use Almond Milk… there are ways around it.

To find more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com

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February’s Net Worth

So, has everyone made their New Year’s Plans???

I can’t believe that February is already crossed off the calendar. POW! Gone. Just like that.

This month’s financial outlook was good for our family. We are finally settling into a routine on paying bills now that we changed our household financial system and have gotten used to the new due dates from the personal loans we used for consolidating our credit card debts.

I have also automated most of my bills; the student loans and personal loans. I am still thinking of automating the rest of my bills, but want to see how these 3 bills on automatic work for me. I’d be happy not to need to worry about what bills to pay each week.

Family Debt Total

Change in Family Debt: +$1,034 – YEAH!! The figure is a reflection of the Mr. and Mrs. combination of debt.

Assets

Cash in Banks: Is an average amount. No change in that for this month.

Investments: N/A – I have no investments

Retirement: +$947 – YEAH! Consider I kept seeing stocks go down, this is a nice change for this month. My work puts 7% of my income into my 403(b). Then, I have $100 biweekly deducted pretax each paycheck.

Auto: -$590 - For some reason the Hyundai doesn’t hold it’s value. I don’t know why. My car has 85,000 miles on it and I have had no problems with it, as I keep in maintained. I like my car for fitting into tight parking spots and its gas mileage.

Liabilities

Credit Cards: $0 And it’s going to stay that way!

Car Loan: +$326 – Would be more, but the interest takes a huge bite out of it. Do you see the balance of my car loan? Do you see the Kelly Blue Book Value? Do you see my big financial blooper?

Student Loans: +290 – Small as the total may move down, I LOVE to watch it go bye-bye!

Personal Loans: +259 – All those credit card balances rolled up into 2 personal loans. This is also a combination of Mr. and Mrs. debts. But since I took out the loan in my name I put it under my Net Worth sheet.

February’s Net Worth

-$21,829 with a positive change of $1,867. Woo Hoo!

 

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