Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

The Skinny On: Credit Cards

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Get The Skinny on Credit CardsThe Skinny On: Credit Cards

By Jim Randel

I’m sure a few of you have heard of this series of books by Jim Randel.  He was kind enough to send a few of them my way for review purposes.  <– That’s my way of disclaiming that I was given these books specifically for review.  My review remains honest, but the FCC says you gotta know that.  The first book that I decided to review was the Credit Cards one.  Seemed like a good topic to cover here and if the book was valuable to you, then it would be even better.

The Skinny On books are a somewhat novel idea.  They are put into a narrative and the narrative is given to you by stick figures in a layout that is reminiscent of a comic book.  The language used is simple and easy to read and understand.  Any jargon is explained, either with a definition or a short dialogue.  And, they’re short books.  This one is one of the larger ones and it’s only about 160 pages.  A quick read to be sure.

The content is incredible.  In less than 200 pages, Randel was able to give the basics (and even a few not so basics) on getting and using credit cards as well as the effect they have on your credit score.  He takes several pages to discuss paying off cards for those who are already in trouble.  The books remind me a little of Cliffs Notes.  All the highlights and none of the filler.  Well, except for a terrible joke about a guy with bananas in his ears.  😉

The one downside to these books is their size and format.  It’s not even really a downside, but I think that some might discount the books because of their size and format.  Which would be a mistake, but it could happen.  Overall, the book is well thought out and put together.  The information is up to date and well given.  This would be an excellent book for a teen or a less personal finance savvy person.  I did get a few things out of it, however, so give it a quick read before you gift it.

You can buy the book directly from theskinnyon.com or at Amazon.

Enjoy Your Money! How to Make it, Save it, Invest it and Give it

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Enjoy Your Money!: How to Make it, Save it, Invest it, and Give it

By J. Steve Miller

Occasionally, authors approach me to read and review their books.  I usually do so, happily.  I enjoy reading, and anytime I can get a book to read for free, it makes my wife happier.  It’s hard for her to argue about my getting more books when they are free.  So, that’s my disclaimer.  J. Steve Miller sent me a copy of this book to read.  He also sent me a copy to give away, which I will be doing in the coming weeks.  Both are autographed too!

So, on to the book.  I’ve never read a finance book that was written in the same way as this book was.  Most of them are so matter of fact that they are beyond dry.  I have to take toothpicks an prop my eyelids open to finish reading them. (I exaggerate, but you get the idea)  But, this book was actually fun to read.  I think the pivotal reason why is that it’s written in a conversational tone.  Very nearly like most of the fiction books you would read.  Instead of just spitting out the facts and information for us to chew through, Miller gives it to us with a story.

Now, I can’t say that it’s an award winning story by any means.  There’s only so much you can do with the topic, after all.  The basics of the story follow a group of high school students (the counterculture club) as they are taken under the mentoring wing of a teacher from their high school.  Over several weeks worth of breakfasts at “Hash Browns” diner, she teaches them some key tenets of personal finance like ways to save your money, smart investing principles, and also ways to enjoy your money once you have it working for you.  There’s several places where the dialogue makes it seem as if the students are the ones feeding the information to us, which breaks the story facade, but if you ignore those, the story is quite good.

Despite the few flaws in the story, I think Miller makes an excellent attempt at making personal finance easy to learn.  The book was great for me, but I think it would be even better as a tool for teaching high school aged children about finances.  I can’t say for sure if that’s what Miller intended, but I would guess it is.  I think it would make an excellent addition to the curriculum of a school.  It would hit a roadblock with some of the religious undertones, so you may have to just buy a copy and gift it to a high schooler you know.

You can pick a copy of it up at Amazon for $15.99.  (Or you can wait for the giveaway and try your chances there.)  For more information, (description, sample chapters, author interviews and reviews) see the press page here: http://jstevemiller.com/blog/?page_id=578

Beating Broke Guide to Your Credit Score

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Almost a year ago, I released the Beating Broke Guide to your Credit Score.  Since then, a lot has happened and it seems to me that your credit score could become more important than ever as we recover from this economic disaster.  Previously, I had it set up such that you had to sign up for the newsletter to receive a copy.  I’m changing that now.  The graphic in the right sidebar now links directly to the guide in it’s pdf form.

It’s one hundred percent FREE, so please grab a copy and take a look.  I think you might learn something.

You can download it at https://www.beatingbroke.com/BBGCS/BBGCS.pdf

The guide is now available for the Kindle as well!  Please note that the kindle version is not free as the pdf version is.  The pdf version will remain free for downloading.