By Ahmar Mustikhan
Gazette Staff Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2008

With a knack for getting the most out of a dollar, Jeff Yeager likes to call himself the "Titan of Tightwads," "Maestro of Misers" or "Commander in Cheap."

"I am cheap, and I am a loser," Yeager, 49, of Accokeek said last week, pointing to his soiled shirt and bluejeans. "Look at me. Do I look like an author?"

Yeager had just wrapped up a bike tour in Arizona, where he promoted his first book, "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches: a Practical (and Fun) Guide to Enjoying Life More by Spending Less."

The book idea began to emerge three years ago when Yeager entered a Penny Pincher of the Year writing contest about frugal spending, sponsored by syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary, who writes about personal finances for The Washington Post.

He didn't win the $50 prize, but Singletary passed his losing entry to the producers of NBC's "Today" show. Two weeks later, he was invited to appear on the show with host Matt Lauer, who gave him the title "Ultimate Cheapskate."

"We spend more money than we need to spend just to be happy," Yeager said. "Eighty percent of the books in the market are about how to make more money. My book is about how to live a good life on little money."

For 25 years, Yeager worked in a number of jobs raising and managing money: chief executive for the American Canoe Association, director for American Youth Hostels and director of fundraising for the Partnership for Public Service. He said he often spent time meeting with rich donors.

"It's part of the epiphany I had in my own life," Yeager said. "They are no happier than the little guy like me."

So after 25 years in Washington, he quit his job in 2004 and began writing as a freelancer.

"I am not telling the guy who makes $23,000 that he ought to be happy about it," Yeager said.

But, he said, he offers simple ways to help stretch a dollar.

For example, he suggests holding an occasional fiscal fast in which a family refrains from spending a single dollar for a week. He also recommends shopping smarter, volunteering, paying off home mortgages as quickly as possible, trading a car for a bicycle, living within a budget at 30 years old and staying there, and hanging up the cellphone for good.

For cellphone contact information on his Web site, he writes: "Never has, never will."

Yeager's wife, Denise, an adjunct professor of health and physical education at Prince George's Community College, said the two of them have been frugal since their days as students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

"Materialistic things have never meant a lot to us," she said.

Yeager's cheapskate skills also have come in handy in the Moyaone community where he lives. Until last year, he volunteered as treasurer for the Alice Ferguson Foundation, an Accokeek-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the Potomac River watershed.

Neighbor Grace Griffith, who has known Yeager since she moved to the neighborhood in 1995, recalls: "He was very humorous in the way he presented his treasurer's report."