Women With Money

Women With Money:The Judgement-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Les Stresses, Purposeful (and, Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve by Jean Chatzky          AudioBook:  8 hrs., 30 mins    Hardback Book: 288 pgs.

This was a very user friendly book.   It addresses women’s attitude about money – that topic that is not spoken of often enough and should be.   Women can get lost in the web of financial talk if they try to ignore finances, bills, savings expenditures, budgets or worse yet, let their husbands handle all of the money, banking statements, bills, etc. until one day they are left on their own without a clue how to handle any of the afore mentioned aspects of their financial situation but have no idea where they currently find themselves.   Ignoring financial pertinent information is well PERTINENT!   Ladies, we can’t go through life thinking someone else will always be around to take care of us.    Life has a bunch of gut punches to teach us differently.    Now is the time to make sure you have working knowledge of what you have in the bank, what you are responsible for, benefactor of and what is and is not in place for you and any children you may have in the event tragedy strikes and your spouse/partner is no longer in the picture.   Know your first and next step at all times.    Surprises are only fun when they benefit you in some way, not when tragedy strikes and it is now you against the world.    Jean Chatzky sites examples of and don’t we all know people who have been in similar situations where someone else was always in charge of the responsibilities particularly keeping an eye on all financial accounts, insurance policies, bill paying, mortgage paying then in the blink of an eye their lives are changed, now they must become the breadwinner and/or take on the responsibilities for upkeep on the home, handling all outgoing income and trying to sort out what must be taken care of and when.    Stay an equal partner in all things, ladies.   Being in shock from the loss of a spouse (death, divorce, whatever) is no time to have to take a crash course in what all you need to do yourself now.    Jean Chatzky walks women through coming to terms with it isn’t someone else’s responsibility – its yours!   You may have children to feed, clothe and keep a roof over all of your heads don’t go through life wearing blinders – this is your reality, too.   She talks about all the financial issues a woman needs to address:  should we have one joint bank account or a joint account for household bills and repairs then separate accounts for each spouses personal expenditures; our parents are getting older we need to think about what if they can no longer live independently – move them in with us or assisted living or a nursing home situation?   College funds for the kids, how much insurance is required to pay off the house and aid the other spouse in the event they are on their own to cope?    Do we have plans and plan Bs in place so that life continues on with relative smoothness or do we need to work on that?    Jean Chatzky discusses things in very understandable terms that helps women put their financial futures in a realistic perspective.   Jean takes women through her 3 part plan to achieve financial security by exploring your relationship with money, taking control of your money then using your money to create the life you want to live.    Assess what you have ie.  where you are – be proactive in budgeting know where you are and how much it takes to keep you comfortable – then decide how comfortable you want to be and do everything you can go strive for that good life.   Wishing for it to happen won’t cut it.   Making it happen is what we have to do.    Jean Chatzky shows how she suggests you get there.    She discusses how to assess if you are being paid your worth and if not,  how to negotiate getting more pay.   She talks about having the drive to become an entrepreneur and open your own business.   She discusses the work involved in establishing yourself, how to prepare for the lean times in the beginning when profits tend to need to be put back into the business but how to profit from solid work and being aware of your market, trends in the market, competition, etc.    She talks about how to invest your money for the future and how to make your money last and provide for you and yours now as well as continuing to grow for the future.   She talks about how to guide your children financially so they too grow up savvy about money and don’t blow every penny they get without weighing it against upcoming needs.   This also breeds confidence.     And Jean Chatzky also shows you how to do it and leave a legacy for your children and grand-children.    Well layed out book with friendly not forced advice.    I would definetly recommend this book to all young girls through elderly women.   It is never too early nor too late to learn the financial information you need for a better life.   Well done, Jean Chatzky.

 - Shirley J.

How To Cheat at Organizing

How To Cheat at Organizing: Quick, Clutter-Clobbering Ways to Simplify Your Life by Jeff Bredenberg            Paperback Book:  293 pages               

Fun, easy to understand and follow short-cuts that will declutter everything from your closets to your bank accounts.    Jeff Bredenberg doesn’t just give you outstanding tips on how to retrain your brain to keep clutter out of your house, he also teaches you how to rethink and regain control of your finances which will de-stress you so that your thoughts aren’t scattered so in effect he declutters your mind, too.    This guy even gives you helpful tips on how to get your kitchen in shape and your cooking not only more organized but he can tell you how to shop better and more efficiently and how to stock your shelves for greater stretching of your food dollars and supplies complete with ideas for more efficient use of the products you have at hand to turn out delicious quick meals with less work and less dishes to clean up after.  Oh yes, he also offers tips on how to make those paper dragons on your desk be more efficient and how to leave work feeling good about yourself instead of dreading coming in the next day to all those piles of to-dos.    He has such a fun and factual delivery and he has so many great tips to offer.     Both thumbs up for this one for all the practical short-cuts and times savers on accomplishing a lot in less time than normal.

 - Shirley J.

The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation

The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation by John Hope Bryant           Hardback Book:  160 pages              Genre:  Adult Non-Fiction            Financial Advice

John Hope Bryant tells the reader that true power comes from being financially wise, staying out of debt but unfortunately the poor in society always seem to have too much month left at the end of their money.    Mr. Bryant is the founder and CEO of Operation HOPE whose purpose is to work with anyone willing to learn how to manage their finances thereby making their lives better because why schools teach a lot of things they don’t teach people how to control their money and to do well in life.    The poor didn’t get the memo so Mr. Bryant is here to make sure they do.    Mr. Bryant explains that the poor are basically invisible in society.   Having grown up in those same circumstances himself he too didn’t get the memo but he self-taught himself how to rise above one’s current circumstances and to become successful and financially comfortable in the process.    Here he offers his plan sharing his rules to achieve financial freedom: inner capital - mindset, relationships, knowledge, and spirit and outer capital financial wealth and property.    Once a person learns how to achieve their inner capital they will never be poor again but, if a person won’t buckle down and achieve the knowledge he describes as inner capital then no amount of money will set you free.    Bryant walks the reader through his process explaining how to achieve financial knowledge - the basics, nothing too difficult to understand –he takes big hard information and makes it understandable for the layman.    He informs the reader the how tos of investing for your future, and talks about networking to find the relationships you need to pursue to aid you in gaining the knowledge that will allow you to get out of debt and be able to save money.      He describes poverty as having more to do with your head than your wallet.   Once a person gets the mindset they want do better financially and have more cash for their families instead of living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck –get that thought settled in your mind then begin putting action behind that thought to achieve your goals.    First you have to take care of your NEEDs food, shelter, clothing then work toward your goals to prosper.      And always plan for something bad to happen that way you are prepared in advance when it happens and he says believe it something bad will happen, sometimes lots of bad, prepare in advance and you are a step up the financial ladder.    He brought up an interesting concept – We are more powerful than we believe which is why we don’t advance as fast as we should.   He says we are the CEOS of our own lives.     His teachings really make sense and are doable.    He also offers the reader extra help by contacting him and/or Operation HOPE.    Good, quick read.    Like the coach in any athletic competition pumping you up for what you are about to face.   This man is good and has everyone’s best interest at heart.    Good book, yes, definetly recommend this one to teens on up.   You can’t learn these skills and the information and teachings he imparts here, too soon.    Start early and learn to save big.    This book would be a good present for young people and a good book for Middle and Highschool curriculums.

 - Shirley J.