Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Money Rules by Jean Chatzky

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Money Rules by Jean ChatzkyMoney Rules : The Simple Path to Lifelong Security

By: Jean Chatzky

Chatzky is a pretty big name in the realm of personal finance media, so when I was asked if I wanted to review her latest book, I jumped at the chance.  In Money Rules, Chatzky aims to break down personal finance into it’s most simple denominators and give it out in a set of rules.  Overall, there’s 94 rules.  Each is a paragraph or two long.  And, each is pretty solid.  I had a hard time finding any of the rules that I could argue against.  There are a few that are borderline, but I think that they get a pass in the sense that they can be considered a standard personal finance rule.

There are some readily acceptable rules too.  Increasing savings with each raise, not treating your primary home as an investment, not shopping hungry, and 90 others.  From the longer ones, to the shorter ones, the book is a quick read, at 114 pages, so you don’t really have any good reason to not read it.  I think that it’s one of those books that you can read quickly, and refer back to occasionally for guidance and reaffirmation of some basic personal finance principles.  Because of it’s size, you’re not going to get bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of each point, but merely get the point and be able to find ways to apply it in your own life.

Currently, the book is a bit over $10 at Amazon in paperback, and a bit over $9 for the Kindle.

P.S. I’ve got a couple of copies to give away, so come back tomorrow to see the details on that!

The Wealth Cure

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The Wealth Cure

By: Hill Harper

When you first see the image of who Hill Harper is (He’s an actor on CSI:N.Y.), you assume that this is just another book by a celebrity to boost his status and pad his wallet.  What you get when you read this book, however, is another thing entirely.  Not only is this not a book that Harper had someone write for him and then published using his name, it’s a thought provoking book that happens to be about wealth.  If you’ve read many books on money and wealth, you know that a majority of them are dry, boring books to read.  Harper manages to take what is a very important message about the role that wealth plays in our lives and melds it into a very engrossing story about life, success, and the real worth of wealth in our lives.

He starts the story with a short few paragraphs setting up the story for the rest of the book.  Recently diagnosed with cancer, he decided to take a train from Los Angeles to Chicago.  The rest of the story is about the revelations he came to while riding the train.  It’s a wonderful book that really cuts to the core of what wealth really is, and how, so often, we pervert it into something entirely different.

This is a book about life, and how the way we treat our wealth, build our wealth, and live our lives really can make a difference, not only in our life, but in the life of others.  I would highly recommend reading it, especially if you find yourself struggling with the role that money plays in your life.

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for free as a review copy.

Street Smarts

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Street Smarts: Beyond the Diploma
By: Jim Randel

Often, when we’ve “grown up” and graduated college, we all move on to our new lives as adults with the expectation that our schooling has given us everything we’ll need to be prepared for the wide world ahead of us.  And, just as often, we are disappointed.  While school has the advantage of preparing us for the work part of the world; we can all read, write, and do most arithmetic; we are usually very unprepared for the subtle nuances that take place that will give us a step up on the ladder of success.

Jim Randel, if you’re unfamiliar with him, is the author of the Skinny On series.  I’ve reviewed a few of those here before, which, I would guess, is why his company sent me a copy of this book.  (That’s my disclosure, folks.  I was sent a free copy of the book.)  What he’s done with both the Skinny On series and this new book, Street Smarts, is to take some very complex issues, and simplify them enough that you can get the basics without having to knock your head against the wall trying to understand them.  Street Smarts holds 125 lessons on how to better succeed in the real world.  Each lesson is short, to the point, and valuable.  There’s very little chaff to sort through, and it’s an easy and fast read with some rereading value.

One thing you won’t find inside it’s pages is explicit detail.  There is not, for instance, 20 pages on the mathematics behind the rule of 72.  There also is not 100 pages or more on the workings of a mortgage loan.  Each is it’s own lesson, and is two pages.  You’re not going to learn everything there is to know about any of the topics by reading this book.  What you will get is the highlights that will allow you to safely navigate the topic without causing yourself too much trouble.

The book is also paired with a website where they’ve been putting up regular fresh content.  It’s already got quite the archives of good tips and information.  You can visit it at TheStreetSmartBook.com.

This book would make a great gift for a newly graduated senior, of high school or college.