Pretend your spouse just lost his job. Instantly, your household income has been reduced by half.
As a first step toward coping with this financial emergency you resolve on Day No. 1 to shed hundreds of dollars a month in household expenses.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have some help?
A handy little book, “Be Thrifty, How To Live Better With Less,” (Workman Publishing, $14.99) arrives just in time. Imagine 100-plus experts on home economics, do-it-yourself tasks and personal finance all ringing your doorbell at the same instant. Pia Catton, a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and co-author of the book, has assembled such a rescue team.
I talked to Ms. Catton this week by telephone, and she said the book is resonating across America. For the first time in a generation, she said, people are embracing thrift – instead of spending – as a path to happiness.