Frank Nellis

Tight Living for Tough Times: a Frugal Retiree's Guide to Thrift Frank Nellis

Publisher Marketing: Since many older Americans exist on little more than Social Security, tips are needed on living well on a tight budget. This book chronicles what the author learned during a year of living on a $1,000-a-month budget. In these financially tough times, the insights offered are of value to younger households as well as seniors. This book is an easy, thought-provoking read. Not only does it contain timely information on frugal living, it is written in a conversational, humorous style, with short chapters that cater to today's hectic lifestyle. To better prepare for his approaching retirement on a shoestring budget, Frank Nellis read two bestsellers on the subjects of frugality and retirement. The first was The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Her book contained useful material, but with her endorsing dumpster diving for canned foods and like suggestions, Nellis felt the standard of living she described was below the level many retirees aspire to. The second bestseller Nellis perused was Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future by Fred Brock. That book suggested working in a high-income metropolitan area and buying an expensive home in the suburbs. A prospective retiree could later sell the nice home, use the equity and any appreciation to downsize to a modest home in a low-cost-of-living area, and use the price difference between the two homes to fund retirement. For Nellis, this did not seem a viable option for less well-off individuals who lack big homes and who retire on meager incomes. The author felt the literature on frugal retirement contained a large niche between these two authors' works. He was convinced many retirees live well on limited incomes. He described this "middle ground" of simple living by chronicling the experiences of his first year of retirement. That chronicle, which morphed into this book, proves a useful vehicle to convey the nuts-and-bolts of thrifty living.