Jenny Blake's Interview

Jenny Blake of Life After College bestows her interview powers on me. I like how she sells it:

In this interview, Phil talks about:

* Wanting to be fired
* Why he will never be able to pull a fast one on his wife
* His love of criticism (complete with protesters at his first book signing)
* How he made his publishing dream happen after seven years of failure
* How to use aspects of yourself that you are ashamed of to your advantage

Review: Planet 51

In case you missed the movies Planet 1 through Planet 50, let me get you up to speed: Planet 51 is a sequel/remake of every animated movie involving aliens to come out before. It’s full of snarky pop culture references, slapstick gags for the kiddies and hammy performances from likely overpaid voice actors.

That said, it’s a rockin’ good time, particularly with the knowledge that you’re missing out on the sparkle motion vampire extravaganza in the next auditorium over, packed with squealing tween girls of all ages.

Just like Monsters vs. Aliens the movie is a silly social satire and vintage B-movie takeoff involving an alien invasion of a 1950s town. And just like The Battle for Terra and the forthcoming Avatar, the premise is about clueless humans invading a peaceful planet.

Dwayne don’t-call-me-the-Rock-no-more Johnson voices Captain Baker, the bumbling astronaut who terrorizes the planet of Shrek/Ork-like inhabitants by thinking he’s conquered it. Awkward teen Lem (Justin Long), who’s harboring a hopeless crush on the girl next door, Neera (Jessica Biel), and his pals work to protect Baker from the planet’s government, which aims to capture him and dissect his brain. Not that they’d find anything inside if they opened up his head.

Planet 51 doesn’t belong anywhere near the best animated picture race, but you can do a lot worse when looking for a family flick to pass the time. Its lack of silly vampire tropes is also a plus, and yet another bonus is you’ll probably have the theater to yourself, since everyone else will be flocking to the blockbuster du jour.

Starring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long and Gary Oldman. Written by Joe Stillman. Directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez . Rated PG. 91 minutes.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Nina Sankovitch of Read All Day listed Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel as a perfect stocking stuffer.

Well Heeled With a Mission

She reviews the book, calling it "fun."

Huntington News review

The Huntington News calls Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel "the ultimate bathroom book."

Breaking Even

Nicole Oullette of the site says the book is one of the few non-boring personal finance books.

Arizona Daily Star reviews my book

Here.

Mighty Bargain Hunter Bashes Me

Check out the carnage here.

Bank Fiesta and Ginger Won't Snap Review

Bankfiesta reviews the book here and Ginger Corsair does so here.

Northern Cheapskate review

Northern Cheapskate gives me another solid review.

Review roundup: The Good and Bad

A Gai Shan Life bashes me, Bible Money Matters raves, as does Life Without Pants.

Carrie On The Cheap Reviews Me

She calls the book "just what society needs." Not bad.

Consumerist lets me pimp the book

Consumerist let me write this post about my book. This was huge for me.

New York Post, baby!

My book is mentioned in the New York Post's Required Reading column.

Review roundup

Frugal Dreamer pre-emptively blames me for the potential decay of her relationship, No Debt Plan sings the praises and Krystal at Work joins in.

And Top Cat has the first negative review.

Pat McMahon Show

Broken up into four parts, here's my appearance Friday, Oct. 2 on Phoenix's Pat McMahon Show:

Zimbio and Living Almost Large

Zimbio mentions the book and Living Almost Large gives a mostly positive review.

Lazy Man and Money and Weakonomist Reviews

Lazy man review is here and Weakonomist is here.

And bonus: a library in Illinois is stocking my book.

Wisebread review

Wisebread reviewed my book.

What Phil does is shatter the facade of decorum and say out loud (on writing) what most of us just don't have the guts to pull off. He doesn't hold anything back, revealing his most outrageous and creative tips on saving some dough. Not all his tips walk the fine line of ethics by the way. He shares important ones like cutting your hospital bill just by calling their billing department and asking for a discount for paying in full. True story: he knocked $1000 off a $4000 bill with that simple phone call. No super negotiation powers needed.

Alpha Consumer Guest Post

Here's my Alpha Consumer guest post. Yes, Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel has now been co-opted by the U.S. News & World Report, baby!