(Kind of) Living on £1 a Day. (How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day - Kath Kelly)

Member Name: Cinny91

Product:	How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day - Kath Kelly
Date:	22/09/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for people in the City.

Disadvantages: Not for the money savvy, or already frugal.

I was bought this book by my parents for Christmas last year, after hearing snippets of her on the TV and reading about her in the news papers I was pretty excited to read the book and found out how she did it. £1 a day? For a year? I mean, that's pretty got to be inspirational!

The book starts with Kath Kelly complaining to her friends how she has no money, and desperate to get her brother a unique wedding present she declares she'll live on £1 a day for a year to do it.

Of course, it's not really £1 a day. It's £1 a day 'spends' after paying all her bills. Not all that inspirational afterall, as a frequent visitor to the money saving forum you come across people in completely dire situations who barely have two 1p coins to rub together, yet still manage. And without writing a book about it.

Still, I read on! The book is set out in monthly chapters, and only covers 192 pages so it's a pretty light read, which I thought would be perfect for over the Christmas Break, to dip into between Christmas Specials and Quality Sweet induced sugar comas, reading a 'month' or so at a time.

I have to say, finishing the book my only thought was 'Thank God that's over!' at the start of the book Kath Kelly seems like a lovely lady, but by the end you're feeling guilty for spending money and Kath comes across pretty smug and preachy.

I didn't take much, if anything, away from this book after reading it. The only ideas that applied to me, I already knew about. And I don't really fancy hitchhiking my way to France (as romantic as it sounds..) or camping in Cornwall and tying my rucksack up in a tree during the day.
The only money saving that came out of this book for me was passing it on to family who wanted to read it (who passed it back, sadly, having the same opinion as me) then swapping it on ReadItSwapIt.

I'd recommend this book to people just getting into money saving with very little knowledge of freebies/cutting corners.

Sorry Kath, but you haven't really done it for me!

First Published in Paperback August 2008 by Redcliffe Press Ltd
192 Pages.
At the time of writing 'How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day' by Kath Kelly is available on Amazon.co.uk for £5.49

Summary: Great book for those who want to cut back, but not loose their lifestyle.