Cheapskate in Lotusland: The Philosophy and Practice of Living Well on a Small Budget

Cheapskate in Lotusland is an entertaining and exuberant testament to the philosophy and practice of frugality and an invitation to live better by living within one’s means.

Set in Vancouver, one of North America’s most expensive cities, this wry and insightful book offers writer Steve Burgess’s account of living well without ever earning much. With over three decades in Vancouver, Steve Burgess has watched his rent more than triple while his income has stubbornly hovered in the same bracket. By some financial measures, he qualifies as poor. Yet with a home near Stanley Park, a well-stocked kitchen, money saved, and plenty of stamps in his passport, he is, by most measures that matter, doing just fine.

Blending personal memoir, economic philosophy, and sharp social observation, this book explores frugality as a way of life rather than a sacrifice. From mastering grocery store bargains to questioning the relentless push of consumerism, the author offers lessons in living comfortably on less—without deprivation or despair. Along the way, he engages with experts, literature, and other everyday people to reveal how financial security isn’t always about numbers—it’s about priorities, perspective and knowing the value of a good pair of shoes.

“Can a book be funny, deeply personal AND useful? Steve Burgess pulls off this unlikely trifecta, and he does so with aplomb. Brimming with insights and canny advice, Cheapskate in Lotusland is a trove of rich anecdotes. This is some mighty fine writing.”

“Parsimony, like the past, is a foreign land where things are done differently. Never have those cheeseparing precincts known a better or more cheerful guide than the proudly and unrepentantly tight-fisted Steve Burgess. In part a how-to manual and in part a confessional memoir, Cheapskate in Lotusland is a wide-ranging, well-researched, and unfailingly entertaining rationale for living cheaply as the best revenge. You might think that miserliness, like poetry, is ruined by analysis, but Burgess—a very good writer—will show you otherwise. Cheapskate in Lotusland is an excellent book, highly recommended, and available for free from your public library.”