You're Broke Because You Want to Be

Amazon Product Description. More than 40 percent of families today are feeling financial pressure: spending more than they earn, and worrying about retiring and being dependent on the government, family, or charity. Larry Winget knows. He grew up poor, then made and lost a fortune when a business in which he’d invested went bankrupt. But he worked his way back from rock bottom to become a multimillionaire.

In You’re Broke Because You Want to Be, Winget expands on the ideas that have made his popular television show Big Spender a hit and offers straightforward talk about coming to grips with your finances, such as:

· Feel bad. Have remorse. You need to feel deep emotion to take action. So start crying and take responsibility.

· Figure out who you owe and how much you owe. It’ll be a scary number to face, but you need to know where you are and what you have.

· “People are stupid, lazy, or they don’t give a damn.” You already know you need to do something; Larry will help you finally do something.

· Are you more interested in looking cool and being cute or providing a financially secure future for your family? How you spend your money will tell you that. With a boot-camp regimen that is steeped in personal accountability, Winget cuts through the double-talk contained in most finance books and presents a simple, guided program that is sure to motivate anyone out of their money problems.

Review. These days a lot of folks (and big banks!) can use some good financial advice. Stepping into that void is Larry Winget with You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. For the unfamiliar, Winget bills himself as the pit bull of personal finance because he utilizes the in your face approach to finance reform.

As Winget lectures:

Books don’t make you rich. Sooner or later, like it or not, it always comes down to work. Sadly, most people won’t put in the time or the effort to get what they want. I don’t make many guarantees in life or in my book. But I will make this one: If you stick with me . . . fill out the forms, and dare to do what I ask, then you will be better financially.

Well, ok that seems reasonable. Winget largely preaches the meat and potatoes of personal finance reform: cut expenses and create more income. These methods, while not easy, do work! However, almost none of Winget’s book contains new information. Rather it is akin to “old wine in new bottles.” Moreover, not everyone is in debt due to spendaholic ways. If you’re looking for novel approaches to reducing your debt or a sympathetic ear you won’t find it here.

Still Winget is an talented motivational writer. And if what you need is some tough love to jump start your paying down debt strategy Winget will supply the swift kick in the pants!




Publisher: Gotham; Reprint edition (December 30, 2008), 224 pages.
Review based on personal copy.

Start Over Finish Rich

Amazon Product Description. Let 2010 Set You on the Path to Wealth. Believe it or not, recessions make millionaires! Will you be one? In Start Over, Finish Rich, America's best-loved financial expert, David Bach, explains that 2010 will be the best opportunity for building wealth we have seen in decades. And, as the economy recovers, you must be set up to recover with it. Bach's easy, take-action plan will show you how.

Start Over, Finish Rich supplies the ten crucial moves you must make in 2010 to get back on track and recapture your dreams of a richer future. Learn how to:

* Get out of debt
* Fix your credit
* Rebuild your 401k plan
* Improve your 529 Plan
* Take smart risks
* Reorganize your financial life for the high tech age
* Update your real estate plan
* Change your thinking about money
* Recommit to wealth

As Bach says, "A recession is a terrible thing to waste—so don't waste this one! Use it instead to get rich." Read Start Over, Finish Rich and let David Bach put you and your family back on the path to financial freedom.

Review. No one likes to start over – especially in mid-life – but for many, given shrinking 401Ks, foreclosed upon real estate, and job losses, hitting the reboot button it is the only option. In his most personal book yet, David Bach’s Start Over, Finish Rich provides a step—by–step- plan for getting back on track financially. As Bach notes, “the journey of falling down and getting up again happens to ALL OF US. And the fruit of life, the true blessings, often comes when we get back up again.”

Start Over, Finish Rich is a financial planning book that wants to be more than just an informative read. The table of contents aptly conveys the roadmap to recovery: Recommit to Wealth; Find Your Money; Deal with Your Credit Card Debt; Fix and Protect Your Credit Score; Rebuild Your Emergency Savings; Re-energize Your Retirement Plan; Make it Automatic; Rebuild with Real Estate; Rebuild Your College Fund (and Restructure Your Student Loan); 25 Ways to Save $5,000; Find Your Power – Give to Others; and A Final Word: My Personal “Start Over” Story. In addition, each chapter ends with a “To Do in 2010” checklist to stir the reader to action.

Starting Over isn’t fun, but with Bach’s expert guidance, we can still finish rich!



Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 29, 2009), 224 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher and smile.ly.

1/2 Priced Living

Publisher's Summary. Think You Can't Afford To Stay Home? Think Again!

Many workplace moms desire to be at home, experiencing the most important moments of their children’s lives, and creating a warm and loving family atmosphere. Instead, they find themselves caught in a balancing act between work and home.

This easy-to-read guide gives practical steps, creative suggestions, and valuable resources to help you and your family

* Cut your food bill in half!
* Cut your vacation expense in half!
* Cut your clothing costs in half!
* Cut your debt in half – and out!
* Cut your housing expenses in half!
* AND double your giving!

If you’re one of the 89%* who would stay at home if you could make it work financially, Ellie Kay has the tips you need to succeed.

Review. As part of my month long focus on “Money, Weight and Trash” today I am reviewing ½ Price Living by Ellie Kay. This book is primarily written to help women who want to stay home with their children. That is, it is for those families who want to go from two incomes to one income for child rearing and quality of life purposes.

As Kay explains, “Half-price living means you can have half the stress because you’re not balancing work and home. Living on one income means you can have half the clutter in your home, because you can take time to simplify your life. Living on one income means you have the time to cook instead of grabbing fast food, and thereby have half the health risks in your life. It can also mean you have time to comparison shop, learn the fine art of saving money, and cut some bills in half.”

The first half of the book is devoted to “affording to stay home” while the latter half details specific cost saving strategies. Although I personally did not find much relevant or new information I am not a stay at home mom, in addition, I have been clipping coupons and shopping sales for years. I did find the “How to Own a Home Business that Doesn’t Own You” chapter interesting and it appeared helpful for would be entrepreneurs.

In sum, ½ Price Living is a very good how-to-guide for its target audience, but not so relevant for others.




This review was based on a privately purchased copy of the book.

The Richest Man in Town

Summary: Secretly, if not overtly, almost everyone in America desires to become rich: to make it big, to enjoy the fruits of the most successful life imaginable. But unfortunately, most of us don't have a clue how to reach these all too elusive goals. Quite simply, there's no definitive road map for getting there, no proven plan, and certainly very little access to those who have become "the richest man in town."

But now W. Randall Jones, the founder of Worth magazine, is about to change all that. He's traveled to one hundred different towns and cities across the country and interviewed the wealthiest resident in each. No, these are not those folks who inherited their wealth, or happen to be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Rather, these are the self-made types who, through hard work and ingenuity, found their own individual paths to financial success.

Remarkably, during his research, Jones found that these successful people were not so different from one another. They all shared many of the same traits and followed what the author calls the Twelve Commandments of Wealth: stay hungry (even when you're successful) . . . you really do learn more from failing than you may think . . . absolutely be your own boss, the sooner the better . . . understand that selling is the key to success . . . where you live doesn't matter . . . never retire, and other, more surprising revelations.

Practical, unique, and inspiring, this book lets you peek inside the living rooms of dozens of America's most successful people-and shows how you, too, can become THE RICHEST MAN IN TOWN.

Review: According to The Richest Man In Town by W. Randall Jones, Stephen Bisciotti is the richest man in my hometown. Do you know who is the richest man in your hometown? If you have ever wondered you can probably discover him in Jones’s new book. In addition to listing the local Donald Trumps The Richest Man In Town attempts to answer how they became so successful.

To that end Jones interviews many of the richest men, from both large and small towns, to discern the twelve commandments of wealth:
-- Seek Money for Money’s Sake and Ye Shall Not Find
-- Find Your Perfect Pitch
-- Be Your Own Boss
-- Get Addicted to Ambition
-- Wake Up Early—Be Early
-- Don’t Set Goals – Execute or Get Executed
-- Fail to Succeed
-- Location Doesn’t Matter
-- Moor Yourself to Morals
-- Say Yes To Sales
-- Borrow from the Best – and the Worst
-- Never Retire
Many above the commandments are counter-intuitive and it was interesting to read how taking the proverbial road not taken led to their success. I also enjoyed the vignettes of various wealthy men. For example, I learned that Dell Computer wasn’t Michael Dell’s first business. Rather he started at age twelve by selling stamps on consignment and made $2,000! Not many twelve year olds have that drive or success. The Richest Man In Town is filled with other equally awe-inspiring stories.

As in everything in life, there is a downside to being the richest man in town. For instance, Leroy Landhuis, the richest man in Colorado Springs, confesses, “I have not been successful in my personal life the way I would have liked to be. My marriage wasn’t successful and at times, I have been much too occupied with business.” Such candid admissions, however, are few in far between in The Richest Man In Town.

It is clear that Jones is enamored with his subjects. In fact, he admits, “as hard as I tried to be a totally dispassionate journalistic observer of these big buck creators, I found that a very, difficult, near impossible task.” A little journalistic distant, however, might have led to more insights and made a more balanced view. Still if you are curious as to what it is like to cruise down the yellow brick road of success then The Richest Man In Town provides a front row seat!