Jane Austen's Guide to Thrift by Kathleen Anderson & Susan Jones - Book review

Jane Austen's Guide to Thrift

An Independent Woman's Advice on Living within One's Means

By: Kathleen Anderson, Susan Jones

Published: April 2, 2013
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN-10: 042526016X
ISBN-13: 978-0425260166
Publisher: Berkley Publishing











"We love Jane Austen! Austen's spirited characters and her solid, practical values are as alive with us today as they were in her own time. The more we read her work and enter her world, the more we learn about ourselves", write professors of English and members of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones, in their delightful and practical financial advice filled book Jane Austen's Guide to Thrift: An Independent Woman's Advice on Living within One's Means. The authors describe how the many memorable women characters, in the classic novels of Jane Austen, provide timeless insights into saving money, living within your means, and the true understanding that money doesn't equal happiness.

Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones recognize that Jane Austen wrote her famous novels, filled with wonderful female characters, two hundred years ago. Despite that time separation, however, the ideas presented in the books and through Jane Austen's own life experience, demonstrate that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the six well known novels, Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous), Persuasion (1818, posthumous), Jane Austen displayed a keen eye to how women managed their money, saved for the future, and generally kept up appearances despite often reduced circumstances. The authors point out that the same very human needs and desires are found in our own time. They point out that following the same sound financial advice as an Austen heroine will help a woman of today to have it all.



Kathleen Anderson (left in photo left) and Susan Jones (right in photo left) understand that there are many ways to earn and manage money, and many ways to spend it. In the brilliant writing of Jane Austen, an entire society with its demands and desires, is brought to live. As with any other time, money is a necessary ingredient to living, and for many of the female characters, finding either the money or the end products present a real challenge. Despite the often shortage of ready cash, the women in the Austen novels display resourcefulness, an eye for a bargain, and unique solutions to the cash shortage problem.

From the novels of Jane Austen, Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones share the following financial insights, as brought to life by the heroines in the books:

* Self respect and other benefits of living within our means
* Lucy Steele on investments
* Household economy the Charlotte Lucas way
* Comparison shopping for clothes with Anne Elliot and friends
* Lydia Bennet, fashionista, and the art of transforming fashion finds
* Elinor Tilney's clever economics
* A heroine's health and beauty on a budget
* Elinor Dashwood and the art of elegant homemaking and entertaining
* Austen-tatious antique sales, auctions, estate sales, and flea markets
* Catherine Moreland's lessons on being a gracious guest and savvy traveler
* Enjoying life's free (or nearly free) pleasures like Jane
* Celebrating holidays, weddings, and feasts with the joy of Mrs. Smith
* Miss Bates and the giving spirit
* Austen's rules for refusing, accepting, and giving gifts
* Reprioritizing our lives and always having it all

For me, the power of the book is how Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones combine the literary genius of Jane Austen's marvelous women characters, with very practical and real world based financial advice. Partly personal financial primer, and partly guide to the memorable heroines in Jane Austen's novels, this book works for readers on more than one level. For women seeking hands on financial management skills, whether they are in midlife or starting out in their careers, there is useful and entertaining information for all personal aspirations.

Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones also offer a fresh perspective into the novels, as they present the practical worldly side of their characters' lives, as an accompaniment to the vivid characterizations of these remarkable women of literature. In the end, the authors agree with Jane Austen. It is possible to live the good life and find happiness, and that the fulfillment of one's life is not dependent solely on having large amounts of money. It's how that money is used and saved that really matters for the woman who wants to have it all.

I highly recommend the highly entertaining and many management idea packed book Jane Austen's Guide to Thrift: An Independent Woman's Advice on Living within One's Means by Kathleen Anderson and Susan Jones, to any women, regardless of age, marital status, or career level, who are seeking clear eyed advice on living the good life without incurring financial ruin. This book presents timeless wisdom on money and life, as presented through the actions of Jane Austen's wonderful female characters, that will transform any woman into their own version of an Austen heroine.