The Homemade Housewife: The last book you will ever need on homemaking and frugal living by Kate Singh

The Homemade Housewife: The last book you will ever need on homemaking and frugal living Reviews

• 
  Aurora

  An easy read if you're looking for some tips on frugal living.
  
  That being said - a lot of things did not add up with the author's story. I have found that in a lot of these "books that should be a blog post," the author talks about their history with debt / financial hardship and then conveniently glosses over how they got out of that situation. In this case, it seems to be just a hefty emergency fund that got them through the hard times, but how did they acquire that emergency fund in the first place? How did they get out of the debt? Dave Ramsay is mentioned, but his tips are sort of copy-pasted into the book. If you are reading this book because you can't pay your bills - you are going to focus on lowering your debt before amassing an emergency fund to get your head above water. While the author suggests that a couple should rent a studio apartment to get by, the author was renting a nice farmhouse during supposed times of hardship. I found it hard to take this seriously.
  
  Also, essential oils were mentioned in several of the recipes, which are not cheap. If you're making your own cleaning products to save money, adding essential oils likely negates the savings.
  
  One of the recipes is for homemade mascara, which I would be dubious about anyway, but it suggests adding drops of lavender essential oil. This stuff is going to go on your eyelashes -near your eyes...and there's nothing that says this will be helpful, either.
  
  Just as a nitpicking note - the "vegan chocolate cake" recipe uses honey, which is generally accepted to be non-vegan.
  
  Overall, if you want a fast read with a few tips you may not have read before, by all means, check it out. If you're like me and you've scoured the internet for frugal living advice in your time of need, well - you've probably read this before.
  
• 
  Tori

  Insufferably self-righteous, judgmental and boring.
• 
  Vicky Garland

  This was a great book that came with practical ideas that came with things we all probably have sitting right in our home! What I loved about this book is everything she suggested is affordable, and it even came with recipes she shared and were within my budget to. I read this book in one sitting1 I your looking t save this is a great week and comes with plenty of great ideas to implement in your home and mine! I loved it!
• 
  Carol Wenrich

  Was not impressed. This is a young mom who has a lot of living and learning to do. I found it very funny when she was giving home school advise when her oldest is just starting kindergarten. I have read MANY frugal living books over the years and this author is one of the worst.
• 
  Kay

  This book has some useful ideas, some ideas that I'll pass on as simply being too frugal for me, and charm. It's not the last book I'll ever need on homemaking and frugal living although it's all of the author's recommendations and experiences. The charm is the author sharing her experiences, where she does her research, and what works for her. The problem for me is she lives in California, understandably a high cost of living part of the country, and makes recommendations such as growing one's own food year around although she then acknowledges that's not possible in snow country. Well, most of the country is snow country in winter. There's also guidance about not having cable and getting the channels through antenna that just show old 'wholesome' shows and then later in the book, there's discussion about watching Netflix although it's not clear if that's DVDs or streaming for special viewing nights. I think good points are made about quality time over quantity (of things) time. The author obviously loves taking care of her family and seems to enjoy keeping things in order. There are others who see housework as a necessary and pretty endless task. Granted not everything works for everyone but this is targeted to people who relish homemaking and perhaps not to those who struggle with keeping to schedules. This book does explain that someone in the family needs to be a full time homemaker for the household. My rating is 3 stars because I did find this charming but suspect that it's not practical for many. I already do some of the things included in the book, some I want to do, and some I simply don't want to. I am glad she is sharing what works for her.
• 
  Debbie Slaughter

  What can I say...I'm a huge Kate Singh fan! I love her books and her YouTube channel and feel like she has a lot of practical wisdom. Her family lives on a small income, but very abundantly, and that's inspiring to me.
  
  This book has a bit of everything from practical advice on how to run your home, to homemade recipes for household products, to tips on how to homeschool. She talks about money, debt, cleaning, homemaking, how to have fun, and everything in between.
  
  If you've every read Kate's books, then you know it's like talking to a friend. Her writing style is very conversational and easy to follow.
  
  The subtitle of this book is that it's the "last book you will ever need on homemaking and frugal living," and that may be true. But if she writes another one, I'll be reading it, for sure!
  
  
• 
  Brekke

  2.5 stars
  Since I have a house now I was looking for some books that would give me tips on for gallery, organization, and just general housekeeping tips. I've been a tiny apartment dweller for so long that I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of having a four bedroom house to take care of. That said, this book just didn't hit it for me. Her recommendations don't really work if you don't live in California because the stores that she recommends don't exist outside of California. Also, rule areas are not accessible for walking which is one of her major tips for cutting costs. All in all, I can't say that I would necessarily recommend it. For the price isn't e-book, only two dollars, I got something out of it. But it wouldn't be one that I would highly recommend.
• 
  Espresso

  Stick to Homemaking- Avoid Neurological Disorders.
  
  She has some good tips. I stopped paying a ton of attention when she mentioned autism twice. Excuse me, but she is clearly clueless about that subject. I always get annoyed about it. After all, it's not like this book is ON that topic, so what was the need to throw that in there? NONE of her tips are going to change Autism or ANY other developmental delay. Period. Some of the recipes might help with sensory integration problems, but that wasn't the context.
• 
  El W.

  Great for Beginners
  
  If you know you have a problem spending money, or like you don't know where it goes, this is definitely the book for you. If you are already a really frugal person, You will do more than she suggests most likely. For example, she doesn't make her own laundry detergent, sew, or use coupons. But this book is a great resource if you find that you can't save money no matter what you try, or that you think you are sort frugal but could be better, this book is definitely good for you!
• 
  Debra

  Glad To Be a Homemaker!
  
  I thought that I would not learn much, as I have been on all sides of the fence: stay at home mom, career mom, and now retired mom at home. I was wrong! I learned many more new tricks to have a quality life and live frugally. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting some fresh ideas or a refresher on what to do to live under a budget, but have a quality life. Very inspiring!
• 
  Danelle Cale

  You don't have to be a housewife or a stay-at-home mom to benefit from this book. The author gives many great tips that would work in any household. There are many healthy recipes that are simple and easy to make. There are also recipes for household products. To summarize, there is useful information for everyone.
• 
  Marcella Purnama

  I got this ebook for free on Kindle during one of her promotions, and it's full of good advices. Some of the tips are quite repetitive though, but all in all, it covers most things in running a household. Quite easy to read, but it doesn't hit the jackpot for me.
• 
  Crystal Siebenaler

  This was awful. It read like a blog. I can't even put into words how sad it was to read. The author was all over the place and had such random thought out together. I finally had to give up about halfway through it.
• 
  Tiffany

  I didn't really get anything new from it. I've heard most everything that I'd read before. Honestly, I got 40% into it and I had to DNF it because I wasn't learning anything new and I was pretty bored reading it. Maybe I'll stick to online stuff for things like this. I don't know.
• 
  Ann Marie Lewellyn

  Excellent Read!!
  
  This is the most detailed and thorough book for everyone from the newbie housewife to the seasoned homemaker! From lists to recipes and tips and suggestions, this book has something for everyone who wants to save money and keep one family member at home!
• 
  Kimberly Thomas

  Love this book! Contains lots of really great ways of saving money without feeling like you're living with less. Very to the point, with reasonable ideas and concepts. A must read if you're trying to cut back and save money.
• 
  Tera P

  This is a good starter book on how you can save money around the home. I say "starter" simply because Kate Singh does not go into great detail on many of her techniques. I found the baby care and homeschooling sections to be most valuable (though they were relatively short).
• 
  K

  I got there for free on Kindle Unlimited and ended up buying it because I referenced it so much. Kate Singh is a relatable housewife and homemaker. Most of her works are good reads and interesting enough to go back to again and again.
• 
  Jeannine

  Good book. Has quite a few basics on how to live on one income. Good book to read if you need to re-organize due to job loss.
• 
  Kathryn Beal

  Fun and easy read. It has some good tips, but it wasn't as thorough as the title would have you believe.
• 
  Cheryl

  Meh.
• 
  Laurel Rutledge

  Great tips, but poorly edited which made it less enjoyable to read.
• 
  Aimee

  Only Kate Singh book you need to read.
• 
  Amy

  Really well done!
  
  Kate sure knows a lot about it!! I don’t know if it’s the last book I’ll ever need on being a good housewife but it is s REALLY good book!