Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel

Quick review: Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is a collection of amusing, unique and somewhat morally reprehensible money-saving tips which range from “I could do that” to “Wow, Phil, I really don’t know about that one” to “OMG, Phil, NO…so so wrong”.  Overall, I found the book highly entertaining and enjoyed reading a few of the quick chapters each night.

Full review: After a few pages into the book, you’ll begin to feel like Phil Villarreal is that darkly hilarious, brilliant cousin with misdemeanor tendencies.  His money-saving tips aren’t conventional, but they are devilishly smart.  Some of his tips make you shake your head in horror and others will make you take mental note and file them in your “bringing down the man” section.

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is chock full of tips and is broken into the following sections:

• Personal
• Eating
• Relationships
• Household
• Finance
• Leisure and Entertainment
• At the Workplace
• Corporate Cataclysm
• Gross, Mean, and Just Plain Wrong—and Yet Oh So Profitable

Some of my favorite tips came from Phil’s past work experiences as a sports and movie critic.  He gives tips on getting into movies for free, seeing multiple movies at one theatre, sneaking into sporting events and bargaining with scalpers.  You get advice from a real pro here!

There were several things Phil suggested that I already do and enjoyed getting his strategy on them; things like:

• Rocking the coupons
• Taking free stuff off curbs in May/August at college campuses (truly a free furniture goldmine)
• Never purchasing condiments or napkins (who need a bottle of honey mustard when you’ve got Chick-fil-A)
• Stealing mom’s Tupperware
• Ordering the cheapest item at coffee houses to work and get free wifi (a small brewed coffee is easy on the wallet and the waistline)

Other pieces of advice were a little over my moral line, and I can’t imagine anyone ever doing them.  In fact, some of these tips seemed a little ridiculous.  My jaw was gaping open when I read the chapter “Pound Your Dog: Help your puppy heal without having to pay for nothin’.”  To be fair, Phil does give you disclaimers throughout the book about these sorts of tips.

Final thoughts: There were times in the book were I really wondered if anyone would do some of these things…then I remembered how insane human beings can be and realized people do this stuff all the time.  Those times were outweighed by times where I actually found myself developing a new strategy on how I handle certain situations.  It took me a few chapters to get used to the “stingy scoundrel mindset”, but once I did, I really enjoyed the ride.  It may teeter on a morality line, but I smiled throughout the book nonetheless.

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is amusing (and at times ridiculous) but is an overall solid read with a mix of funny and surprisingly practical tips.

When the Twilight movie came out, I applied the same rule I used for Harry Potter: watch the movie and make the official decision on how I feel about reading the books.  After seeing the second Harry Potter movie, I decided I would read the books when the series was complete and wound up reading (and loving) all of them the month book 7 was released.  In similar fashion, this past spring I rented the Twilight movie.  I thought it was okay, but I was still baffled as to what the big deal was…  No plans were in the works for me to read the series.

Read Twilight--You Know You Want To

In an unlikely turn of events, National Public Radio (NPR) changed my view of the saga.  NPR’s guilty pleasures series where writers reveal their secret favorite books featured this story: Real Men Read (And Love) ‘Twilight’ — Really.

In the story, Brad Meltzer, a heterosexual male, opens up about his love of the Twilight saga.  He describes the appeal to him and challenges women to share the saga with their men:

“I love this story of the gawky, awkward girl who falls in love with the brooding vampire. And I love that she can’t get sexual with said vampire because when her blood gets pumping, it’ll send him into a frenzy and he’ll kill her. (How’s that for a prophylactic?) 

I love hearing the dark secret histories of how the other vampires were turned into vampires. And I love when Edward gets all huffy with Jacob the werewolf — oh my God, I’m on the verge of writing fan-fic here — but again, in case you missed it, I love this story.”

After hearing the passion in Brad’s words, I decided to watch the movie again.  The second time around I was looking for the heat between Bella and Edward rather than focusing on the vampire story line, and to my great surprise, I enjoyed it…a lot even.  Thanks to Brad Meltzer, I took a 4-book trip into Bella and Edward’s star-crossed romance courtesy of Ms. Stephenie Meyer.  I was truly surprised at how entertaining and passionate the series was; Edward and Bella have an odd Romeo and Juliet thing going for them.  Believe me, it’s a guilty pleasure that truly delivers!!!

If I have swayed your anti-Twilight thoughts at all, please go and read the series.  The first chapter of the book is available for you to read on NPR’s site here.  Thanks NPR and Brad Meltzer for turning me around! 

 Random Fact: at the end of her books, Stephenie Meyer always thanks the band Muse for their inspiration.  If you know Muse’s music, you will definitely feel them in the books….