By Mariya Yudekevich 

Author Jeff Yeager came to the Brooklyn College campus yesterday to give lessons in frugality. The talk was free.

Yeager was dubbed “The Ultimate Cheapskate” by TV personality Matt Lauer, which prompted the title for his book, “The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches”. 

The book, which came out in January is already in its fifth printing. It includes worksheets, checklists, quizzes and even a glossary, gives many tips to people above the poverty level to help them live more thriftily.

The book also includes many humorous anecdotes as well as some adult language, but it is not just jokes. There are also many facts and resources, including web sites and books.

 Among other things, Yeager advises people to practice “fiscal fasting” one week a year. Everyone in the family must join. During this week, all spending is prohibited. The family can’t use cash, credit or checks. They also can’t horde goods in advance. Finally, everyone should keep a journal to help reflect on how life was different.

Yeager says that money is relative. His other tip is to set an amount that you would like to spend a year and stick to it. The amount should be something that you can live off comfortably, but not excessively.

“This way, a person can save all the excess, because their pay may increase, but the amount that they spend annually stays the same,” he said to an audience of mostly baby boomers in the Student Union Building. ‘Doing this helps the person when times are hard, such as during the loss of a job, and it gives peace of mind to know that they can life off that amount.”

Other tips include not spending more then $1 per pound on food, and a list of “101 Free or Very Frugal Things to Do.”

Yeager says that more money does not make a person happier once they are above the poverty line. It is an end, instead of a means to an end. The Baby Boomer generation is richer then their grandparents, but with an increase in things such as depression and divorce, they are also less happy.

The book sells  for $2 less than the normal publishing price and is printed on cheaper paper, in which The Cheapskate takes considerable pride.

“I told the publisher to make it as cheap as possible” he said. “Many people read this at libraries and the back of Barnes & Nobles because they are cheapskates as well.”

Yeager is not an economist, but he has worked in the non profit industry for almost 25 years. During that time he had to live frugally and has been a cheapskate ever since.

Yeager is writing another book, which is expected to be out in the spring of 2010. It profiles other cheapskates.

Still, some in the audience might be too cheap to buy his book.