The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less [Hardcover]

India Knight shows you how to say no to waste, save pots of money and look good while you are doing it (Sunday Times )

A joyous read, The Thrift Book might be the only surefire investment out there (Harper's Bazaar )

A blueprint for living well, however broke you are, with thrifty tips on looking fab, cooking, pampering and partying (Cosmopolitan )

A triumphant treat and a useful and sensible manual (Independent )

Brims with tips on how to live well on little cash (The London Paper )

Endearing and informative (Fay Weldon Observer )

Belt tightening at its most fun (Closer ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

India Knight shows you how to say no to waste, save pots of money and look good while you are doing it Sunday Times A joyous read, The Thrift Book might be the only surefire investment out there Harper's Bazaar A blueprint for living well, however broke you are, with thrifty tips on looking fab, cooking, pampering and partying Cosmopolitan A triumphant treat and a useful and sensible manual Independent Brims with tips on how to live well on little cash The London Paper Endearing and informative -- Fay Weldon Observer Belt tightening at its most fun Closer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Feeling poor because of recession? Feeling guilty because of global warming? Feeling like you'd quite like to tighten your belt, but aren't quite ready to embrace DIY macramé handbags?

No need to panic. Put down the economy mince and buy this book instead - it's a blueprint for living beautifully while saving money and easing your conscience.

India Knight (no slouch when it comes to extravagance) shows you how even a dedicated consumer and child of the more-is-more 1980s can mend her ways, embrace the New Thrift, and find her life - and bank balance - dramatically improved in the process. She will show you: How to make wonderful dinners with very little money; How to grow things; how to make jellies, chutneys and pickles and how to can vegetables and fruit; How to dress on a budget and still look fabulous - and what to do with your mum's old sewing machine; How to make the most of living in a community, from borrowing preserving pans (that's right, we're making jam) to starting a toy-swapping group; How to holiday in new and imaginative ways - with only the merest whisper of a carbon footprint; How to make your own fun, from crafts to making presents, from parties to affordable pampering; and finally...How to manage your money - because, frankly, it's about time we all got a grip.

Above all, India Knight will show you that saving money and tightening your belt doesn't have to feel like a penance - it can be both fun and glamorous (and a great deal more satisfying than buying the latest It-bag).

Try it - you have nothing to lose but your overdraft.

Thrift is a book for anyone who's ever been a disaster with money and who'd quite like that to stop. It's for anyone who feels the need to tighten their belt and hunker down until the storm is over, but doesn't want to stop having fun or living graciously. It isn't a book called How To Be Tight, so anyone interested in gathering up all their elastic bands to turn into a marvellous rubber ball for the children's Christmas present might do better elsewhere. Nor is it a book called How To Be A New Puritan - my tips for having cheapo fun don't involve wearing a hair shirt and lying with your face turned to the wall, contemplating the sinfulness of shopping. Thrift is a book about all sorts of small (and some big) ways of saving money without feeling like your life's gone down the dumper, with precise advice (websites and so on) and recommendations. If you liked The Shops, I think you'll like this one: we're talking saving rather than spending, but the ethos is the same - it's about finding joy in small things, except this time around the small things are likely to be home-made or extraordinarily cheap.

India Knight is the author of My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me, The Shops and Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet. She is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.