Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Do you want to get better at using your money? Or do you want to get out of debt? Certified Financial Coach Jessi Fearon's new book, Getting Good with Money, offers a lot of practical advice that is easy to understand and enjoyable to read. As Getting Good with Money begins, Fearon explains why she decided to get out of debt, make a budget and get better with her family's finances. Throughout the book, she merges the practical advice she offers with the personal stories she shares of how both her and her husband learned and grew through their financial steps and misteps. I appreciate how honest and down-to-earth she is in this book. I also liked that she is encouraging and inspiring and by the end of the book, it is easy to believe that you can also make positive changes in your financial life, no matter what your age.  Getting Good with Money would be especially helpful for a young person just starting out but I am a mid-life woman and I still learned several things through...

A Couple With Common Cents is a small book that is part short story and part study guide. Ryan Eidson begins the book by telling the story of Jack and Tabitha and their financial struggles. Tabitha is frustrated with their family's finances and Jack is not really concerned. Over the course of the story things change and the couple learns to make some changes. Then the second half of the book takes the reader through questions and things to think about as the reader works on their own financial situation. I like the cover of this book. For a book that is published by a small subsidy publisher, I think it looks quite professional. My husband and I are graduates of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University so we have studied finances together already and have been working to make changes to improve our situation. Ramsey runs a well-polished machine and you can't beat those materials. I could see where using this book could be helpful in a group study setting for discuss...

It is no secret that money management can be a challenge for many couples. In Never Enough? , Ron Blue and his daughter, Karen Guess, share how even though money and life are "inextricably linked" creating some challenges, you can apply the wisdom in this book to keep your finances at your best with God. To start with, Blue/Guess offer 5 wise principles anyone can use to mange their finances in the best way. Then, using a pie diagram, they share how to basically divide your money into four categories: Live, the money I live on; Give, the money I give away; Owe, the money I pay for Debt and Taxes; and Grow, the money I save. The Never Enough? authors then break down these categories and further explain them to learn how to apply them to real life. Also, at the end of each chapter, there is a short re-cap so the reader can easily remember the most important principles. Never Enough? is down to earth in style and is written in such a way that it is easy to understand. The...

The Seven Money Types by Tommy Brown is a different kind of money book from the usual. If you have been feeling guilty about how you want to handle money and  that you don't seem to fit certain money management formulas in with your personality very well. . .then this could well be a book that is right up your alley. I like to read books about money management and learn how I can help our family better manage resources for God. The Seven Money Types offers a different look at how we handle money based on our God-given skills/strengths/weaknesses. Tommy Brown looks at seven money types based on seven Biblical people--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Each of these Biblical people feature certain positive and "shadow" characteristics that show their money handling personality. At the beginning of this book, the reader takes a test to see which type they best relate to--and there may be two types that they are closely related to. I found this...

Are you deep in credit card debt? Do you hide purchases from your spouse? Do you have more bills than income? If so, then you are probably a spender who needs some help to get back on track financially. Lauren Greutman shares her story of living life as a reckless spender and how she changed her habits and improved her family's life in The Recovering Spender . Greutman offers a lot of helpful advice on spending, financial inequality, learning to work together financially in marriage and how to budget, among other topics in this book. The first half of the book shares her personal story along with some great information on spending relating to class/status, family history and money personalities. The second half of this book offers a complete set of twelve steps for recovering spenders.Greutman shares how spenders can be addicted to spending like alcoholics are addicted to alcohol. I am not a big spender. I have never been in thousands of dollars of credit card debt. Actuall...

Many moms want to be a money making mom. Crystal Paine tells how moms, and really anyone reading her book, could earn more money. Money Making Mom offers solid advice on how to come up with a long term plan to earn extra money, ways to go about making extra money, and how to manage any business ventures wisely. She also offers plenty of down-to-earth stories from herself and other women who started businesses and money making ventures in a way that is both encouraging and inspiring to someone looking within. . .and around. . .for ideas to better both their budget and their life. I am a middle-aged woman so some of these ideas are ones I have tried in the past. Even so, I found plenty of new ideas to give me food for thought as I consider ways to make extra money after our move as I homeschool our son. This is a practical book for any woman of any age to use who is looking for new ideas and encouragement at any stage of life for entrepreneurial ventures or ideas for working for ...

The Millionaire Map by Jim Stovall is a book written by a millionaire for those who aspire to be millionaires. I'm not sure I have consciously thought I'd like to be a millionaire, until I saw this book available to review. Then I thought, why not? I was also interested in seeing the book because I enjoyed The Ultimate Gift book and movie so much that I was interested in learning more about the author. This book offers readers an opportunity to learn how to make a sort of map to guide their lives towards becoming a millionaire. He offers his personal story and even encourages readers to contact him by phone or e-mail if they want to learn more from him. I was inspired by his story because he shares how he started from nothing and built his personal fortune up. He offers some advice from his personal experience and from the experience of other millionaires. One key piece of advice he offers readers is to look at the background of those you're learning from or working wit...