Brokenomics: 50 Ways to Live the Dream on a Dime

by Dina Gachman

Overview

In Brokenomics, author Dina Gachman shares the lessons she’s learned about how to live large in the cheap seats. Through stories both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny that anyone can relate to, Dina reveals all the tricks you need to live the good life without spending a ton of money.

Brokenomics covers the place where economics and everyday life collide. It includes: rules for changing your mindset ("There Will Always Be Someone Richer, Taller, Smarter, and Better Looking Than You”), wise words about making big decisions, like raising children—or not ("Why Have a Baby When You Can Just Get a Nice Potted Plant?”), clear-eyed relationship advice ("Do Not Date Anyone Who Loves Their Bong More Than They Love You”), solid guidance for renters ("The Freeloader's Guide to Housesitting”), and strategies for talking to your honey about money . . . without breaking up. 

This helpful and hilarious handbook has the answers for crafting your own version of the glamorous life without breaking the bank. Dina shares advice on every page while keeping things fresh, light, and fun. Written with the wisdom afforded by hindsight, Brokenomics will appeal to recent college grads, newly committed couples, and those facing career crises alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580055673
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	03/24/2015
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Dina Gachman’s comedic blog about the economy, Bureaucracy for Breakfast, has been featured on Marketplace, 20/20, and Chelsea Handler’s Borderline Amazing Comedy. She writes for Forbes, Salon, Hello Giggles, The Hairpin, xoJane, and Interview Magazine, and has published two comic books, about Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Gachman has a BA in English from UCLA and an MFA in film production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She lives and writes in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. The Basics
1. There Will Always Be Someone Richer, Taller, Smarter, and Better Looking than You
2. Laugh It Up
3. Be Your Own Life Coach
4. Stop Trying to Keep Up With the Joneses (or the Carters or the Kardashians)
5. The Joy of Haggling
6. Always Tip, or You’re Going to Hell
7. How to Step Away from the Lotto Tickets
8. Why Have a Baby When You Can Just Get a Nice Potted Plant?
9. Why You Should Never “Just” Use Your Credit Cards
10. Nobody Likes a Klepto
11. WebMD is Not an MD
12. Don’t Sell Your Organs—You Need Those!
13. It’s Not Just a Coffee Shop. It’s an Experience.
14. Living Large in the Cheap Seats
15. What’s So Funny About Taxes? Nothing. So Let’s Just Get This Over With.

II. Home
16. Who Needs a House When You Can Live in Your Honda?
17. The Perks of Being a Renter
18. Flea Market Chic
19. Party Planning Like It’s 1929
20. How to Be a Guilt-Free Gourmet While Prepping for the Apocalypse
21. The Freeloader’s Guide to House Sitting

III. Travel and Leisure
22. Planes, Trains & Acute Nervous Breakdowns
23. Couch Potato Today, Gone Tomorrow
24. Somebody Knows Somebody Who Lives in Paris
25. Wedding Season: Their Dream, Your Nightmare
26. How to Fix Your Car with Velcro and Other Tips No Mechanic Will Tell You
27. Sneaking into Swimming Pools: A Lesson in Human Rights

IV: Fashion and Beauty
28. Yard Sales are a Girl’s Best Friend
29. Shampoo, Rinse, Spend a Gazillion Dollars on Highlights
30. Why Buying Great Shoes is Smarter than Investing in the Stock Market
31. La Mer is La Mer
32. The Neiman Marcus Experiment
33. Can’t Afford a Tailor? A Stapler Works Just Fine
34. How to Buy $10 Pressed Juice and Not Feel Like an Asshole
35. Share With Your Friends. Especially the Ones with Better Clothes.
36. Zen and the Art of Bankruptcy
37. How to Turn Your “Beach Bungalow” into a “Fitness Oasis”

V. Education
38. A Modern Warrior’s Guide to Grad School
39. Screaming at the Sallie Mae Customer Service Person Will Not Make Your Loans Go Away
40. So You Want to Major in Philosophy? Don’t.
41. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, Direct Deposit

VI. Work
42. How to Babysit and Not Have a Breakdown
43. A Quick Guide to Internships
44. You May Be Desperate for Work, but that Doesn’t Mean You Should Join a Cult
45. Pop Quiz: How to Tell a Real Party from a Pyramid Scheme Party

VII. Love and Relationships
46. Always Value Love over Money
47. Toned Abs, Smooth Skin, and Immense Wealth are Fleeting
48. Do Not Date Anyone Who Loves Their Bong More than They Love You
49. To Sugar Daddy or Not to Sugar Daddy
50. Love Conquers All, Except Rent, Bills, and Car Payments

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Dina Gachman

“Dina weaves comic gold by exposing the revelatory moments and little humiliations of things everyone can relate to. By turns fun, funny and gut-punching, she keeps it light but isn't afraid to go in for the kill.” —Ransom Riggs, author, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City

“Dina Gachman has the amazing ability to make you actually want to listen to someone else’s money problems. You may not want to listen to a friend talk about her student loans, lack of job, or being on hold with the unemployment office, but somehow you’ll stick with Dina through all that and more.” —Eve Troeh, reporter, NPR Marketplace

“Dina Gachman’s wry wit, perspective, and cultural knowledge give her writing a highly readable, fun, and easy to digest style.” —Eamon McNiff, producer, ABC's 20/20

"Most people don’t like to talk about money, or their own failures. Thank goodness Dina Gachman does. Her very funny book is full of great practical advice for anyone struggling with money which, let’s be honest, is all of us.”—Dorothy Pomerantz, L.A. Bureau Chief, Forbes

"Brokenomics is a wise, witty, and wonderful guide to living cheaply and well. Even the well-heeled should heed Dina Gachman’s excellent advice that you don’t have to spend wildly to have a great life. In the hours it took me to read her hilarious book, I didn’t spend a dime and laughed my butt off.”—Joseph D’Agnese, author of The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed

"Dina’s writing is awesomely weird in the best way possible." —Jenny Lawson, author, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

"From unemployment to the business of TV, her stories are both smart and entertaining, which is not an easy balance to pull off.” —Dorothy Pomerantz, editor, Forbes

From the Publisher