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Quick review for a quick read. I really enjoyed Anna Newell Jones's "The Spender's Guide to Debt-Free Living". It was a combination of her personal story paired alongside financial advice for the reader in the realm of personal finance/debt management. The way she writes the book is personable and encourages sticking to a habitual commitment, though it also focuses on involving others in holding a person to their commitment to be on a spending fast/getting their finances in order (which may or may not work for the reader who peruses this, but I thought it was a worthwhile inclusion considering what I've learned about habit-building and having personal accountability within group settings. Though my background has to do with behavioral change for fitness routines, so it's a horse of a different color, but there are similar principles for building healthy habits. :P )
I've picked up a lot of personal finance guides in the past year (2017) for the purposes of researching financial management and specific topics in the realm of personal finance. This book covered a lot of bases - from the different types of debt (loans, student debt, credit cards, etc.) to developing a wants/needs list, to developing commitments and staying motivated. It's a good book for its respective topic and I would definitely add it to my own personal finance library. Another library read, but this time from my county library.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
I've picked up a lot of personal finance guides in the past year (2017) for the purposes of researching financial management and specific topics in the realm of personal finance. This book covered a lot of bases - from the different types of debt (loans, student debt, credit cards, etc.) to developing a wants/needs list, to developing commitments and staying motivated. It's a good book for its respective topic and I would definitely add it to my own personal finance library. Another library read, but this time from my county library.
Overall score: 4/5 stars.
So I'm bad with money. Not in a I'm thousands of dollars in credit card debt kind of way, but in the living pay check to pay check, paying the bare minimum on my student loans and car, zero savings kind of way. I can be impulsive and buy things I don't need but convince myself I do, and then am left feeling awful because I spent money frivolously when I could've saved.
Most financial advice books feel stuffy and unpersonalized, like sure, they might work for some, but not for me. Anna Newell Jones? She gets me. She makes the idea of tackling overwhelming student loans and a car loan seem doable, all while balancing a need to spend fruitlessly. I refuse to be paying off my necessary loans into my forties or fifties. This book gives you a plan on how to attack the debt in an attainable way. Sure, a spending fast may seem extreme to some, but you tailor it to your life, and then you get excited for the freedom that is to come with debt-free living.
Basically, the title says it all. If you're a spender with debt (credit card, personal loans, car loans, student loans, mortgage, etc.) this book is for you.
Most financial advice books feel stuffy and unpersonalized, like sure, they might work for some, but not for me. Anna Newell Jones? She gets me. She makes the idea of tackling overwhelming student loans and a car loan seem doable, all while balancing a need to spend fruitlessly. I refuse to be paying off my necessary loans into my forties or fifties. This book gives you a plan on how to attack the debt in an attainable way. Sure, a spending fast may seem extreme to some, but you tailor it to your life, and then you get excited for the freedom that is to come with debt-free living.
Basically, the title says it all. If you're a spender with debt (credit card, personal loans, car loans, student loans, mortgage, etc.) this book is for you.
This book was just okay there wasn't anything in it really that shocked me or was new info really.
Really enjoyed this take. I'm not capable of completely committing to a spending fast at this time but the reverse budget and need hierarchy this book led me through were extremely insightful. It's hard to look that closely at your finances, and can be shaming to realize how much you spend on little purchases that become habits (cough, iced coffee). This book has really allowed me to reevaluate what is important and what is just spending for the sake of spending.
Downside, gets a little cult-y. The author has a web series and online club she's always peddling. I don't want to be in a Facebook group, I don't want to purchase a membership to your club, sorry.
Also there are times it's a little extreme. I'm not going to be going around work asking my coworkers to give me their lunch or digging through the trash. My grocery bill isn't that high...
All around, OK.
Downside, gets a little cult-y. The author has a web series and online club she's always peddling. I don't want to be in a Facebook group, I don't want to purchase a membership to your club, sorry.
Also there are times it's a little extreme. I'm not going to be going around work asking my coworkers to give me their lunch or digging through the trash. My grocery bill isn't that high...
All around, OK.
i listened to this right after “the year of less” and i feel like they go nicely together - but i didn’t really relate to the author but i def liked her tricks, tips and stories.
This is more of a 2.5 star book. I liked the first two chapters and was intrigued—I too make weird rationalizations to buy things so her self-descriptions of her own thinking and behavior were relatable—but things went downhill from there. Jones’ budgeting style stressed me out just reading about it: she chose to save nothing and zeroed out her bank account every paycheck. WHO DOES THIS? The idea is ludicrous to me as one of my own spending triggers is having no money to fall back on. (The more stable I feel, the less impulsive spending I engage in.) I guess it’s a good thing luck was on her side and no actual emergencies came up during her year of “fasting”... or perhaps her husband would have been stuck with that bill too? It would be interesting to read his perspective on how she actually did on her fast; she danced around the subject, but part of what got her through wasn’t contentment with less but rather leaning on him for treats and extras she wanted until it became An Issue which she glossed over and never delved into. I was disappointed to see fewer actual helpful bits and suggestions the farther into the book I read. Part of my own negative review of this book and method is I really dislike any media that tells you to avoid doing certain things—ie)paying for the convenience of having someone else do work for you—but then a chapter later suggests you do those exact things so other “suckers” will pay to benefit you. It rubs me the wrong way.
This isn’t a bad read (it does have an enjoyable, light conversational format and the illustrations are delightful), just do not expect to find much information beyond super basic concepts like understanding a want vs a need.
This isn’t a bad read (it does have an enjoyable, light conversational format and the illustrations are delightful), just do not expect to find much information beyond super basic concepts like understanding a want vs a need.
I don't think the no budget, no spending life is for me, unfortunately. I need way more restriction. However, I love Jones's voice and she offers some great tips (and relatable moments, for better or worse!). Also, this is the book that officially convinced me to do the scariest thing: a
k.a. pulling three months of bank and credit card statements and see the truth, up front and personal. So four stars from me!
k.a. pulling three months of bank and credit card statements and see the truth, up front and personal. So four stars from me!
Some more good ideas and I am trying to implement the Spending Fast right now. The problem is, anything that might be 'left-over' is still going to bills. Debt is insidious and I have come to really despise it.
In The Spender's Guide to Debt-Free Living, the author Anna Newell Jones walks us through her solution to reducing debt when a traditional budget didn't work for her. Instead Jones takes us on a one year spending fast. While the journey she takes does seem to the extreme, I found it inspiring and saw areas in my own life that reflect behaviors that she shares in her book. One of my biggest takeaways was to re-evaluate my own relationship with money, as Jones highlights how the quick thrill of a purchase is not a long term fix or how time consuming (over) spending can actually be. Here is one particular passage that really resonated with me:
p. 108 "Once I got into the heart of the Spending Fast, I started to see how my spending habits were keeping me from living in reality. I spent too much time idolizing objects other people had. I used to really like doing yoga after work. Instead of focusing on the practice of yoga - breathing, stretching my body, quieting my mind - I was fixated on all the stuff other people had. I was zeroing in on the beautiful yoga pants with the contrasting colorful seams and the super-flattering tops with strappy backs. I even noted yoga mats, yoga towels, and water bottles - I wanted everything. Later, I would stalk my prey on Amazon, wasting hours of my life deciding what I should buy. As if an appropriately absorbant yoga towel would make me a better, more interesting person. So instead of coming home feeling relaxed and happy about my workout, I entered the vicious cycle of admire, acquire, feel like crap. Now when I go to yoga, I'm focused, and I actually enjoy the benefits."