I recently read a new book called Spend Smarter, Save Bigger (reviewed here) and asked the author if she could do a short interview. She kindly agreed and since the interview is a bit too long, I’ll break it down into two parts. The second part of the interview will be posted tomorrow along with a book giveaway, so stay tuned.

I learnt from an interview on your website that you’ve spent five years writing your book. What was your motivation in writing this book?

Margot Bai: I’ve read a lot of personal finance books and found many of them to be dry and boring. I wanted to write something that would be fun and easy to read, with lots of stories, to inspire people to save money in the most effective ways. I wrote Spend Smarter not only to teach people the best ways to save, but to inspire them to want to save because of the tremendous benefits that follow.

The irony is that the path to financial freedom requires financial discipline. The only way that we will make the sacrifices necessary to succeed is to step back and see the big picture. When you recognize what is possible financially, if you play your cards right, that is when the rules of the game will start to interest you.

Saving advice is usually targeted at the younger crowd who are just starting out in life. Did you have a specific audience in mind for the book?

Margot Bai: My goal was to write a book that would appeal to a broad swath of the population. The topics in my book are the big expenses we all face. Younger people tend to have more of their major expenditures still ahead of them so they will get the most benefit. But anyone struggling with debt or concerned about boosting their savings for retirement will also find my book helpful.

Some popular books on personal finance advise us to cut out the daily lattes and muffins to get ahead financially. You took the opposite tack and recommend that Canadians find big savings on their biggest purchases. Why?

Margot Bai: While we all enjoy occasional treats, few of us spend significant amounts of money this way. But most people eventually buy a home, get a mortgage, and buy vehicles, insurance and investments. Obviously saving on these big expenses is more effective than skipping the occasional take-out dinner.

Part of the reason why the idea of big savings hasn’t been adequately covered before is that the big savings often come out of the pockets of the financial service providers who normally shell out advice. Financial advisors would rather get you pinching pennies to have more money to invest because they earn commissions from the fees on your investments.

Big savings also come from creating an affordable lifestyle, particularly in terms of our homes and cars. This can be a hard sell with consumers who have embraced a bigger-is-better mentality. Many people believe that living life to the fullest today is most important. Reality is starting to set in for many baby boomers, who are only now realizing that there just isn’t enough money to retire at age 65, let alone 55.