If we had to separate people into 2 different clans: The Thrifts and the Spendthrifts, I would probably be closer to the latter. Unfortunately, the thing I like most about money is spending it. However, being a husband and father of two beautiful children has helped me be more responsible financially. While I never really wasted my money, I have always enjoyed earning more to spend more in order to indulge myself from time to time.

Now that we live on a single income, I have to double my efforts to become more frugal and concentrate on priorities. I guess this is what attracted me to read more about “being cheap”, which led me to “In Cheap We Trust” by Lauren Weber.

About Lauren Weber:

The author “grew up in Connecticut with a father who rationed toilet paper, set the thermostat at 50 degrees during the winter, and rarely used his car’s turn signals (to prevent them from burning out).”

Strong from her frugal background, Lauren always had a passion for writing. She has been writing for Reuters, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and American Banker just to name a few. Since 2007, she has concentrated on writing “In Cheap We Trust”, a combination of personal anecdotes intertwined with social and historical data wrapped up with a political taste for frugal living.

About the book:

Lauren captivated me during the first few pages about her cheap thrills introduction. And why the word “cheap” has become so negative over time. It’s as if the amount of money spent annually has become the measure of your social class in our modern (capitalist) society.

This book uses history to bring us back to the very definition of thrift and how frugality has been an important part of our value system for a very long time. Through a well documented (sometimes too exhaustive though) research, she depicts the history of frugality since the very first person set foot on American soil.

The last decade (apparently) has brought us wealth and comfort. Yet, recent economic events show us that we, as a spendthrift nation, simply incurred a huge credit bill over these same 10 years and it is now time to pay the interest and reimburse the capital. If we had not forgotten the efforts from our ancestors in building the foundation of a strong and frugal society, we might not have hit such a brick wall in today’s recession.

I particularly liked the Paradox of Thrift revisited by Weber. The paradox of thrift was created based on the principle of the economy declining due to the fact that everybody is saving instead of spending. Technically, if consumers stop buying and save their money, it should create an economic contraction resulting in more job losses (I guess this is why Bush was telling us to take our stimulus check to go to Disneyland!).

While the premise is accurate (spending less will result in a longer and deeper recession), spending more will simply postpone the problem for a few years. It’s akin to not going to the doctor because you have the flu, instead wait until you get pneumonia. I feel that a balance between savings and spending would be most appropriate.

I also found it quite interesting to actually understand the roots of frugality and Weber’s personal stories included in her book got me thinking about how far from being thrifty I actually was. It was nice way to get into the mood to save money!

Now the Giveaway!

I actually have 10 copies to distribute amongst Gather Little By Little and The Financial Blogger readers. Each blog will giveaway 5 copies of “In Cheap We Trust”.

Participation rules:

- Comment below with a frugal tip or spending philosophy (1 entry per comment).

- Follow me on twitter (1 entry)

- Register to my free mailing list (on top right of the site)

You can actually participate on both sites by commenting.

The giveaway winners will be announced on Friday, November 6^th.

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The skinny on credit cards

If you haven’t heard of the “skinny on series” (which I hadn’t), is a unique series of books that is inspired by the Manga literary phenomenon which combines the use of simple pictures and a story to convey a message.  Trust me, they are like no other book you’ve ever read and I mean that in a good way.

When you first open The skinny on credit cards, you’ll very quickly note that each page in the book contains what looks to be PowerPoint slides with stick figure diagrams.  Stick figures?  Yes, stick figures. My inclination was to shake my head and think no self respect adult would read a book like this, but I decided to give it a fair shake.  I’m glad I did

To be honest, I loved the book.  I read the entire book in literally a few hours and never feel asleep once!  The book tells the story of Bill and Beth and their interaction with the author and founder of RAND Publishing, Jim Rand.  It would seem Billy and Beth have gotten themselves into a bit of mess.  They’ve used credit cards to buy things they couldn’t afford and unfortunately have a huge chunk of debt they are now faced with paying off.   To make matters worse, they are struggling to make the minimum payments too!  Fortunately, Billy and Beth get some help from Jim Rand (the author) who is nice enough to not only educate them about credit cards, but also helps them get started on the path to getting that debt paid off.  Jim also helps Billy and Beth’s son who is off at college and unfortunately is heading down a similar path.

The story is funny, informative and all too familiar for many of us.  The best part of the book is that you never get bored, never feel overwhelmed with finance information,  and it’s entertaining.  Frankly I love Jim’s “corny” sense of humor.  Whether you know all there is to know about credit cards or not, you’ll enjoy reading this book.

If  you’re curious to see what I mean, check out the free PDF excerpt.

Topics covered in the Skinny on credit cards

The The Skinny on Credit Cards covers many topics and includes:

• How interest and minimum payments on credit cards really work
• What credit card companies think of you and in particular how much they love people who don’t pay off their balance each month
• What drives people to use credit cards and how they end up with huge amounts of debt
• How credit card companies “prey” on college students
• Why sacrifices are needed in order to pay off all of that debt that’s been accrued

Things you can expect to learn include:

• Escaping from credit card debt
• Improving your credit score
• Lowering your interest rate (APR)
• Identifying credit company tricks
• Selecting the right credit card
• Protecting yourself against fraud
• Teaching your kids about debt
• How to avoid paying fees

Would I recommend it?

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning more about credit cards, how credit cards work, and how you can get them paid off.  I’d particularly recommend the book for teens and college students.  I feel very strongly that spending 2 hours reading this book could literally save them from potential financial disaster.  Both my 14 and 12 year old sons read the book, liked it and learned about credit cards.

Final thoughts and purchase options

Again, I loved the book and it’s format.  The Skinny on credit cards is incredibly refreshing, unique, and is able to take a very serious and complex financial concept and make it not only fun to learn about, but easy to learn as well.  In a world filled with long, dry and overly complex finance books it’s nice to see somebody writing books that will appeal to the masses.

The book is available for purchase in a standard book format, as an eBook in PDF format (only $9.95)and in Kindle format for the Amazon Kindle.

The Skinny on Credit Cards Giveaway!

RAND Publishing was kind enough to provide me with an extra copy to giveaway.  As always, entry in the cost is simple: just add a comment! Add a quick comment sharing why you would like to win the book or about your experience with credit cards and you’ll be entered.  I’ll announce the winner a week from today on Wednesday, 6/27 5/27 (thanks Paul for catching this).  Make sure you leave a valid email. Also, keep an eye out, as I’ll be posting reviews of RAND’s other two books: The Skinny on Willpower and The Skinny on The Housing Crisis very soon.  Both were great reads as well.

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I visited our local Christian bookstore last weekend primarily to to pickup a copy of Larry Burkett’s Debt Free Living, as I had sold my previous copy accidentally in our most recent yard sale. As usual though, I can’t help but spend time looking at other books and checking out what is new. In doing so, I found Wealth & Wisdom by Greg Womack.

Wealth & Wisdom is a new book published in August of 2007, so the information is up to date and current. Wealth & Wisdom tells you how to manage your finances and make wise financial decisions by following biblical scripture found in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and specifically the wisdom and financial advice from King Solomon.

What’s Inside Wealth & Wisdom

Overall the book is easy to read. It’s small size makes it easy to carry around and it isn’t overly thick making for a short but informative read. Here’s the chapter by chapter breakdown:

Chapter 1: The Soloman Factor: What’s Your Treasure?

The focus here is on where you place your priorities. The chapter discusses the power of money and how it can consume your life if you aren’t careful. It addresses learning to mange your money instead of your money managing you and deals with putting money in it’s proper place in your life. The teachings of Solomon are used to drive this home, and in particular Solomon’s request for Wisdom above all things.
Chapter 2: Put Your Money Where Your Faith Is

Putting your money where your faith is, is all about honoring God with your money. This is done through giving and tithing. Mr. Womack addresses topics of giving when you having nothing, whether you should tithe from gross or net income, why we need to tithe and how it honors God. Scripture is used to back up his perspectives.

Tithing really hit home for me, as to be very honest we don’t tithe like we should. That is going to change.

Chapter 3: The Simple Life

This was my favorite chapter, and deals with the topic of overspending and living beyond your means. Mr. Womack encourages us to live more simple lives by reducing our spending, tithing, saving, eliminating out debt, planning for retirement, paying our fair share of taxes, and getting insurance. He offers numerous examples on how to reduce our spending along with tips for organizing our finances, creating a budgeting, and managing our time.

Chapter 4: Drowning in Debt

Mr. Womack opens the chapter by providing statistics on the number of people “drowning in debt” then addresses the issue of whether it is wrong to borrow and examines what the bible has to say. Three wise rules for buying on credit are provided along with a step by step plan for reducing your debt.

This is a good chapter, and while it doesn’t provide any new ways to reduce your debt, it does provide another good perspective on the topic and re-enforces my position that debt is bad.

Chapter 5: Ready, Set, Strategize

This chapter is targeted at making your money work for you. He categorizes money as Green Money and Red Money. Green money is for saving, Red for investing. He argues that both are needed and serve different purposes. Provided is a checklist for the “Wise Money Manager” that contains some very sound advice.

Chapter 6: Your Financial Map: Charting Your Course

In order to know where you are going, as with driving, you must have a money map. A money map is a long term financial plan that will provide you with direction for your money. The chapter takes you through a set of questions and helps you determine you income needs for your longer term finances. The focus of this chapter is planning for retirement and determining what you long term money needs will be.

Chapter 7: Diversify

Yes, you guessed it, this chapter addresses diversifying your investments to insure you are getting the most out of your money with the least amount of risk. This a is a good chapter, and since the book was recently published the information is up to date. He even address investing in precious metals and the associated pros and cons.

Chapter 8: Home, Sweet Home

Mr. Womack states “Buying a home is one of the greatest financial investments we make”. He then spends the remainder of the chapter backing up his claim, and providing advice and insight on making smart choices with your home. This includes buying, borrowing, tax advantages, home equity, being a landlord, and even running a home business.

Chapter 9: Whistle While You Work

This was another favorite chapter of mine. Let’s face it, most people won’t win the lottery or inherit millions of dollars, so we’ll have to work for a living. This chapter discusses things you can do to increase your income, prepare for new opportunities (i.e. changes in the workplace), and how to really enjoy working. The chapter ends with some suggestions how how we can teach our children about money and how we can help them get the most income for themselves.

Chapter 10: Leaving It Behind

One of the least favorite of topics is death, but it is also one of the most important for your family members. Leaving it Behind addresses things you can and should do for your family to insure they are taken care of and to insure that things go as smoothly as possible once you “go home”.

The chapter addresses trusts, wills, probate, your legacy, and taxes. This was a very informative chapter for me personally. I honestly didn’t realize death could be so complicated, go figure!

Chapter 11: Seeking Counsel

Mr. Womack is a certified financial planner, and this chapter focuses on how to seek good financial counsel. He discusses how they are paid, what qualities to look for, the various certifications and and types of counselors. He even provides a number of questions you should ask your perspective counselor to make sure they are the right person for you. Of course another alternative is to just do your own financial planning.

Chapter 12: Final Thoughts

This is very short closing chapter, and leaves us with 7 rules for building wisdom and wealth that summarize the proceeding chapters.

Yeah or Neah

While not on my list of top financial books, Wealth & Wisdom is a really good read. Not only does it provide good, sound financial advice, the advice is fully backed up using scripture. I plan to keep in around as a good source of reference. I don’t really have anything bad to say about the book at all and honestly enjoyed reading it.

Wealth & Wisdom is definitely a Yeah for me, and I would highly recommend that it be on your bookshelf along side your other favorite financial books.

The author, Greg Womack is the president of Womack Investment Advisers, Inc.

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