You might be wondering why we are featuring a book called The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle on a website about addressing environmental problems and creating a magnificent future. But if you have ever cracked open this thick, big-hearted book, then surely you know that it is about much more than frugality—it’s about living intentionally and creatively.

The Tightwad Gazette was a newsletter published by Amy Dacyczyn, a mother of 6 married to a military man, from 1990 to 1996. Most of the newsletter’s articles are included in The Complete Tightwad Gazette, which weighs in at a hefty 958 pages.

I received this book as a gift from my stepmother in 2003, and over the last 5 years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened it and within moments found myself thinking, laughing, and planning.

Yes, I am interested in being frugal and using my resources wisely, and this book provides thousands of tips on how to do both. But it goes way beyond frugality ideas. When I read it, I hear a friendly voice explaining how to think things through and encouraging me to decisively take a stand and live by it. When I find myself drifting through life, bouncing between activities with no intention or direction, a quiet afternoon spent in Amy D.‘s world is often enough to get me back on track.

The articles and reader letters range from extremely detailed—how to make a toilet paper holder out of a wire hanger, for instance—to quite philosophical, as Amy delves into why we behave the way we do, and how we can transform ourselves for increased frugality and happiness.

Consider this passage from “Creative Deprivation,” one of my favorite pieces in the book:

The idea behind creative deprivation is that every event should have space around it, so that the event can stand out and be appreciated. A simple example is a frame around a picture, which provides space to make it stand out from the wallpaper.

Until this century, the space occurred naturally. Entertainment and material goods were hard to come by, so they were appreciated when they came along. A child cherished his few toys, and music was a special event, because it could only be heard when musicians were assembled.

The challenge of modern life is that we have to actively create the space. With mass production, toys are cheap enough to swamp even poorer families. With TV, videotapes, and video games, flashy entertainment can come into every home 24 hours a day.

That’s why the best parents understand that their kids can have too much of a good thing.

The clear, thoughtful voice doesn’t point fingers, but it does clearly point to objectively assessing one’s life and changing it through the power of intention.

Amy D. calls herself The Frugal Zealot, and her love for the frugal and abundant life practically jumps off the page as she describes the pirate ship birthday party she put on for one son, the cardboard box robot costume she made for another, and her struggle and ultimate success in finding secondhand clothes to satisfy her adolescent fashionista daughter. She clearly finds the life she has chosen to be fascinating, challenging, and fun.

And her enthusiasm is contagious. Just last weekend, dog tired and lazily sprawled on my bed, I pulled the book out, opened it to a random page, and started reading about frugal interior decorating. One of her suggestions was to rearrange what you already have rather than going out to buy new stuff. I read that paragraph and immediately got up and spent 3 hours rearranging my bedroom, which now looks great.

It occurs to me that as we endeavor to invent a new, honorable, and beautiful way of living on our planet, we can’t do much better than to follow The Frugal Zealot’s gleeful, thoughtful lead. Creating an amazing future is not only our responsibility; done in the spirit of innovation and freedom, it can also be our greatest source of joy.