Book Review: Surviving Financial Meltdown

I requested this book hoping it would give me some ideas about how to increase the value of my decimated 401(k). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately since chances are if it had the "answer" it would be huckster trying to sell me something that would do more for his 401(k) than mine) it did not. It was a very basic book on financial planning. They give four principals of financial planning: Think long-term with goals and investing, spend less than you earn, maintain liquidity or emergency savings and minimize the use of debt. While they talk about them and give scripture quotes that support the ideas behind them, they really don't get into much nitty-gritty. Their basic thesis is what my parents taught us years ago--you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow, but if you save your money you'll be in a lot better position to deal with it than if you don't.

To me the book was very simplistic and basically asked me to do what my husbank and I did years ago. As a result, we are set to be debt-free (mortgage and all) by the end of the year on an income that while adequate, by no means puts us in the high-income bracket. I was at the mall today and bought a skirt, a pair of pants and a shirt for me, and two sweatshirts and a collection of toys for my little one and spent less than half the money that a purse I saw cost. I have some of my co-workers with that brand of purse. Those same co-workers talk of car payments, credit card debt and never having any money. To me it is so simple--and the book admits that understanding the principals is simple--it is following them that is hard. One piece of good advice they gave was that both partners in a marriage need to agree on investments. If the one who wants to make the investment can't explain it to the other in such a manner that she (because usually it is the husband who wants to make the investment)agrees that it is a good idea, then they are better off not making that investment. Single people, the authors state, should have someone with whom they discuss finances in the same way.

At the end of the book is a collection of money-saving ideas that I'd classify as tried and trues.

If you are someone who just can't ever get ahead, despite making good money, and you are motivated to make the necessary changes, this may be the book for you. I guess it's like weight loss--when it comes right down to it, those of us who are overweight don't really need another book on how to lose weight, we need to do what all the sensible ones tell us to do.

First Wildcard will tour this book February 20. Check back then to read the first chapter.

Reading Plans

Amy's question this week is:

There are a lot of great new books being published in 2009! But which ones are you the most excited about? Please pick some Christian fiction books you are excited to read this year and tell us all about them! But just to give this a little twist...be sure to visit everyone else's posts and find some books you might be interested in reading as well that are different from your picks! It will come in handy for a fun bonus question next week!

Well, looking at what First Wildcard is offering this year, the ones I've chosen so far (or plan to choose when they are offered) are: Spring of the Candy Apples, Lost in Las Vegas, The List, Gingham Mountain, This Side of Heaven, Scrapping Plans, If Tomorrow Never Comes, and A Passion Denied. Until I started reading everyone else's postings, I had no idea what was in the pipeline to be published. I'm guessing next week's question will be about what books have been added to the TBR stack since reading everyone's posts so I'll wait to discuss that--but I've found a lot!

Milk Money: My Review

This is another short romance by Cecelia Dowdy. It features a woman who took over her father's dairy farm following his death. The featured man is a CPA hired by her stepmother to audit the farm and help them get their record-keeping in order. She is a Christain, he is not. She recently broke off a long-term relationship; his wife died not long ago. He is an alcoholic; she discovers her father was not perfect. In the end, they live happily ever after. During the book she meets the couple from John's Quest. My guess is there will be a future book about her shopaholic best friend, simply because there was no reason to make this friend a shopaholic unless she was laying the groundwork for something else. All in all, this book was a pretty typical example of what it is trying to be. First Wildcard is touring it March 4. Check back then to read the first chapter, and I'll try to link you to other reviews.

Need a Lesson or Homework Help?

Hoagies' Gifted: Internet Investigations is a site I found when looking for Microsoft office tutorials. If you homeschool or are looking for something extra for your children, check it out.