The two books are The Tightwad Gazette I & II by Amy Dacyczyn. I was a little confused by something at first, so I am going to start with an explanation.

There are three Tightwad Gazettes – I, II and III. There is also a Complete Tightwad Gazette which is basically the three volumes all in one book. I only have I & II right now, but I have my eye out for III so I can get that one too. Or I’ll get the Complete version if I find a good used deal on it (actually, it is running less than $16 at Amazon.com right now).

Amy Dacyczyn’s Gazette books are actually a compilation of her Tightwad Gazette newsletters that she used to write. She has taken articles she has written and intertwined them with frugal suggestions from her newsletter readers. The result is what I will refer to as a frugal treasure. Some ideas are so extreme. I love them because they appeal to my inner MacGyver.

Here’s just a few extreme tidbits:

6 pack rings from cans: Collect a bunch of them, sew them up with fishing line and make a hammock.

The plastic piece that comes with bacon: Clean it well and then use it to make stencils.

Of course, the book has more than just the extreme ideas. There are also practical ones about how you can reuse a pair of jeans or how you can make small inexpensive changes to your house to make a big cosmetic difference. To get an idea of the books and to read a few tips, you can take a peek inside the Complete Tightwad Gazette at Amazon.com (go to Look Inside and Surprise Me to read a few pages). You can always visit your local library too for the book, although you may want a copy handy to read and re-read. There are so many tips in these books. I read through them once, incorporated some ideas as I progressed with my reading. Then I read through them again and incorporated some more ideas.

They are great reference books, and with things a little shaky with the economy, we are trying to cut costs even more. That means the books are out again for a third read-through to see what else we can implement. I’m sure it will not be the last read-through, either.

In conclusion, I would like to share a paragraph from Tightwad Gazette II that I think sums up the books well:

If you do not have difficulty making ends meet, you’ll find that some of the material in the book does not apply to you. But you will find fresh ideas for saving money. Even if you do have trouble making ends meet, some of my ideas may seem too radical to you. It was never my intention to write about ideas that were 100 percent acceptable to mainstream America. This book explores its boundaries, and my intent is to present options, not to suggest that every idea is appropriate for everyone.

It also sums up why I love her books so much. There is so much information that I think anyone could find tips they could incorporate into their life to save money. She did an awesome job compiling everything and she is a great writer. I wish I was her neighbor.

If I can manage to get my hands on some 6 pack rings, we are so going to make a hammock this summer

The book really focuses on two things that I will detail below.

The Employee

Larry looks deep into an employee’s mind and debunks common thoughts that employees have. How about the answer to this question – What are they paying you for? Even I would answer with, “They pay me to work hard.” Larry argues that you are paid for results. That makes perfect sense to me. If you produce results, you are kept around and paid. The hardest worker in the world probably wouldn’t be kept around long if they couldn’t get the job done.

My favorite part of this book is the tidbit Larry shares about becoming invaluable. He shares his story about Carolyn at the UPS Store. She handled Larry’s shipping for over five years and he always knew she would take care of his packages and they would get to their destination. Then one day Larry found out she was leaving. He wasn’t sure he could bring his packages to that location anymore. His feelings about the business as a whole were shaky now, because the one employee he associated the business with was leaving. Carolyn was invaluable. Larry argues that you should be the invaluable employee and open yourself up to new opportunities. You want your employer to say that they couldn’t run their business without you.

The Employer

As an employer, your goal is to have great employees that do their job and do it well. Profit is always important and great employees can increase your bottom line. Larry gives suggestions on how to make that happen, from creating the right work environment to communicating your expectations of your employees. He goes into detail on what he perceives as the eight ATE’s of leadership: create, communicate, educate, delegate, participate, hibernate, evaluate and amputate. Even though I’ve never been an employer, I found myself thinking of past employers and there were certain ones that brought out the best in me. I think Larry is pretty darn close with his list.

Then, in Larry style, he tells you “How to Absolutely Destroy the Competition.” You may think that it involves bashing the competition, but Larry doesn’t think so. Rather, you have to stop believing in it.

“Discover your uniqueness and learn to exploit it in the service of others, and you are guaranteed success, happiness, and prosperity.”

A great example of one such business that has exploited their uniqueness is Apple. Sure, they make a computer, but they do it differently than other companies. As a result, they are doing quite well.

Conclusion

There is so much more to this book and I just skimmed a few of the tidbits that I thought were particularly interesting. As an employee, I didn’t get bored by the employer parts. That’s because I was taking it all in because learning how employers can get great employees can help you become a better employee.

I’ve been trying to stay pretty neutral when it comes to personal finance/development gurus, but I have to admit…I like Larry. We share a lot of the same views and he also has accomplished a lot in his life. He tells me things like he sees it and I respect that.

If I had to choose between reading It’s Called Work for a Reason (aff. link) and You’re Broke Because You Want to Be (which I reviewed last month), I would choose It’s Called Work for a Reason. If you asked me before I started this debt reduction journey, I would have said You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. I think it’s just the phase in my life that I am in right now.

Since I won this book, I’m going to give it away to one of you!

To be considered, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.

The deadline to enter is 10:00pm EST on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. I will use random.org to select one random commenter. I will announce the name on here no later than Thursday, February 14, 2008 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to email me back to confirm their address (US addresses only, please). If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on Saturday, February 16, 2008, I will randomly select another commenter. Your chances of having your comment selected will depend on the number of comments received and only one comment per person please.

First things first, Larry is called “The Pitbull of Personal Development” for a reason. He is a pitbull because he doesn’t hold back. He tells things like he sees it and if he makes you cry he thinks that is a good thing. That initially turned me off a bit. While I don’t mind constructive criticism, if someone just starts bashing your actions for the sake of bashing them…well, I don’t care for that much. Larry is different, though.

In this book, he does break you down a bit. He wants you to feel down, so he can build you back up with the main goal being that you will be able to better your financial situation. Some people may not be receptive to this tactic, and I am usually one of them. But Larry’s words didn’t bother me because even though he dishes out some tough love, you can tell that he is passionate about what he does and he genuinely wants to help others with his book. To me, an author like that is one worth reading.

I also like to read authors who write from experience. Larry has been broke in his life more than once. He’s been broke, became rich, went bankrupt, and then became a millionaire. He’s been around the financial block so he’s coming from the angle of being there. He shares bits and pieces about his past and I enjoyed that. He covers many different angles as to why you are broke (not making enough money, spending too much money, attitude) and then at the end of the book offers success stories of those who were once broke and overcame it.

Overall, if you have been reading about personal finance for a while and have already started improving your situation, you may find some parts of this book “old news.” Larry has included basic worksheets to complete to get you thinking about your situation. There’s one about your income and expenses and there’s even a little section where you can write down all of your excuses why you are broke. While this book is about your finances, and Larry includes some good tools to get you started, I think what Larry has to say about why you are broke can be a real eye-opener.

On the other hand, if you are in financial trouble and don’t know where to turn, you might want to visit the library and give “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be” (aff. link) a read. It is also a book that I would recommend to a friend if they told me they were having financial troubles. I feel it is a great starting place to 1.) Get motivated to change your situation and 2.) Learn techniques to improve your situation.

Overall, this book would have been a great one for my first year of college. I was broke back then, and in hindsight, I didn’t have to be. I’ll never know for sure if reading this book would have made a difference but I have a feeling that it might have. Larry is definitely a motivator.

So far, there are a few other bloggers who have read and reviewed the book as well:

Cash Money Life (he’s giving away his copy!)
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

As for my copy? Stay tuned

Alicia defines “Goal Digger” as a woman who:

• desires wealth in all areas of life
• seeks the secrets of the millionaire mind
• has the smarts, optimism, integrity, and passion to do it herself

It seems simple when you look at it in writing. But I think we all realize that if it was that simple…we’d all be filthy rich.

First and foremost, Alicia’s book reads like you are listening to a girlfriend tell a story. She affectionately refers to the rich men she has dated with names such as Mr. Rich and Mr. Smooth.

I bet you are thinking, “OMG – She is a gold digger. She wanted to marry a rich man!” That’s what I thought too until I read the beginning of the book. Alicia reveals that in the beginning, she did want to marry a millionaire. Along the way, though, she decided that she wanted to be one herself. She has various little Millionaire Memos throughout the book and this one sums up her attitude, “Why marry a millionaire when you could just think like one. Better yet, you could be your own millionaire.”

In a nutshell, “Goal Digger” details the things she learned from these rich men – things that helped her to become financially successful. So the book ends up being part memoir and part self-help book. There are even exercises that you can go through to help get you thinking like a millionaire.

One section I really enjoyed was the power of words, also known as the abracadabra principle. As a blogger and an avid reader of blogs, I know how powerful words are. The goal is to try to remove those negative words in life (like “I can’t” or “never”) and replace them with positive and powerful words. Some positive thinking can go a long way.

Related to that section is one about saying, “What If.” According to Alicia, rich men don’t ask, “What if?” They ask, “Why not?” The big difference is that “What if?” implies a lot of fear. “Why not?” implies a lot of confidence. You will always have some fear, but the key is to shift your way of thinking to be more like a millionaire’s mind.

I always enjoy books that make me think and help me to realize a few things that I do that might be holding me back. This book did that. While reading it, I became very self-reflective and looked deeper into myself. A big problem that a few of you reading have pointed out is that I still have the mindset of a poor person. It’s not something that has been easy for me to change – it’s a work in progress.

If you are looking for a book that is entertaining, easy to read and will challenge you to think in new ways (and help you to think like a millionaire!), then you may want to read this book. I have learned quite a few things, but now it’s up to me to put them into action. Before I can do that, I need to mull over things for a while. This book definitely gave me a lot of food-for-thought.

For more about Alicia and her book, you can visit her site at GoalDigger.com. And, you can also sneak a peek at an interview I did over at her blog.

Now, here’s the part I always enjoy. I’m giving away the copy I received from Alicia!

To be considered, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post sharing the first thing that comes to mind when you read the word, “millionaire.”

The deadline to enter is 11:00pm EST on Monday, October 22, 2007. I will use random.org to select one random commenter. I will announce the name on here no later than Wednesday, October 24, 2007 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to email me back to confirm their address (US addresses only, please). If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on Monday, October 29, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter. Your chances of having your comment selected will depend on the number of comments received and only one comment per person please.

So…what’s the first thing that you think of when you read the word, “millionaire?”

While reading about one of your most valuable possessions, I found myself sometimes crying…sometimes chuckling…and all of the time realizing how important many of us value the things that money cannot buy. I definitely want to write a post highlighting some of the comments, but it will have to be at another time. Life likes to throw a lot of curveballs at me and right now is no exception.

Anyways, back to the announcement!

Congrats to commenter #66: MB! I’ve sent an email, and if I don’t hear from MB by the end of day on Friday I will draw another number for someone to receive my copy of “Debt is Slavery.”

I’d like to say thank you again to Michael Mihalik for contacting me, letting me read his book and letting me give away the copy on here. Your book is making a huge positive difference in my life. Thank you.

But I really didn’t have much time to devote to reading a book and I let Michael know that. He said I could take my time and told me that his book is fairly short and free of fluff. So I agreed to receive his book and review it.

I started reading it one day last week during my work breaks and I finished it up after work. Michael was right. It was short and free of fluff. But it did not lack with content!

This book was written by the viewpoint of someone who was in a lot of debt and managed to get himself out of it. He’s not an expert in finance and doesn’t claim to be. Rather, he is sharing what he has learned (sort of like what I’m doing with this blog). Most of what he learned about is how he thinks about money.

The main theme of the book is that debt is slavery. As long as you have debt, the author argues that you are “bound in servitude.”

Do you ever wake up in the morning and groan “I don’t want to go to work today?”

As you lie in bed toying with the idea of staying home, your thoughts turn to all the bills you have to pay: the mortgage, car payment, credit card bills, tuition, insurance premiums, electricity, phone, cable, groceries…”

I work a job now where I have sick time. But there was a time where I didn’t have sick time. Unless I was very, very ill, I drug myself to work because I needed that paycheck. I didn’t have the luxury of taking a day off or we’d dig the hole we were in deeper and deeper. I remember one gal I worked with who had a severe allergic reaction to something and was not completely recovered. She came to work, swollen face and all, because she couldn’t afford to lose the hours.

Michael goes on to discuss how possessions have hidden costs. We all know that it costs money to buy things. But do you think about the other costs?

Owning stuff not only costs money, it costs time and peace of mind. In addition to money, you spend time and energy storing stuff, cleaning it, maintaining it, fixing it, worrying about it, and moving it.

Let’s say you decide to have a 2,000 square foot home rather than an 800 square foot home. Going bigger won’t just mean a higher purchase price. Think about the increased wall space to paint, the flooring to clean and maintain, the furniture needed to fill it. It all ads up. After reading this book, the article about the 84 square foot house story made perfect sense. Just think of the low maintenance costs for that house!

Another section of the book discusses the GMM (Giant Marketing Machine) and how you are tempted all the time to spend, spend, spend! I had a chuckle when the author brought up how it used to be fashionable to wear leg warmers! Even I had a pair way back when. The GMM works to get you to buy things because we are “cool” and have status if we own them. When you are thinking of buying something that is “in” think about those leg warmers (mine were bright blue *shudder*).

There’s way more information packed into this book, like controlling your expenses and getting a handle on your finances. Like I mentioned earlier, this book is packed full of content in a relatively small amount of space. It’s also filled with personal tidbits from the author which I really enjoyed as well.

Overall, I think this book is great. Debt is Slavery prompted me to action. It’s a big reason why I decided to sell most of my possessions. As you can tell with this review, I could relate to what was said in the book with things from my own life. This book just made so much sense to me and I think it helped me realize the true priorities in my life.

One last thought from the book that made a lasting impression on me:

For now, it’s important to remember that when you spend money, you are spending a part of your life that you can never get back.

Next time when you pick up an item to purchase it, think about the number of hours of work you have to do to purchase that item. That’s time spent that you can never get back. Is that item now worth it?

Ok. You’ve made it this far which is great. I think you know what is coming up next…I give away the copy I was given to review. I’m excited about this giveaway because it’s a little special…the author has signed the book. It is a special touch

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post sharing what is one of the most important possessions that you have (I think it might be interesting to read everyone’s answers and see what they value the most).

The deadline to enter is 11:00pm EST on Tuesday, August 7, 2007. I will use random.org to select one random commenter. I will announce the name here no later than Wednesday, August 8, 2007 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge. If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on Friday, August 10, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter. Your chances of having your comment selected will depend on the number of comments received, only one entry per person, and I promise to ship the item out but cannot guarantee its safe arrival. Please note that I have a pet-friendly home.

I’ll start off…

One of my most important possessions is the cabinet I just emptied my eagle collection out of. It was hand made for me by my father and is the nicest piece of furniture that we own. The only time I will part with it is when it is time to give it to my son.

The following is an excerpt from the book The Last Chance Millionaire by Douglass R. Andrew / Published by Warner Business Books; June 2007;$24.99US/$31.99CAN; 978-0-446-58053-3 / Copyright C 2007 Douglas R. Andrew

The Pitcher of Water Versus the Empty Glass

When I give seminars, this is the moment that I introduce the most memorable visual aids I have ever used. Picture yourself holding an empty drinking glass in one hand and a pitcher containing water in the other. The glass represents your house. For simplicity’s sake, let’s say it is worth $100,000. It’s an asset. Let’s say you have $100,000 of cash in the bank (the pitcher) — that’s liquid wealth. The glass is empty because you have not put a penny into your house, but on paper, on a balance sheet, you would still list it as a $100,000 asset. Meanwhile the pitcher of water represents another asset — $100,000 in cash.

What’s the total amount of your assets? $200,000. What happens if you pour the water into the glass? You have reduced your assets by $100,000. You’ve combined $100,000 in cash to a glass already listed as an asset worth $100,000, and all you have to show for it is $100,000. You have cut your assets in half!

On the other hand, when you separate the liquid cash from the glass-sized house that is free and clear, you double your assets. That’s what happens when you separate equity from your house and put it in a liquid investment. But you’re not finished. Assume the empty glass-house appreciates at an average of 5 percent a year. After one year, what’s the value of the empty glass? $105,000. If you pay off the mortgage on the glass (pour the water — or money — back into the house) what is it worth? The same $105,000 — whether it is mortgaged or it is free and clear — because equity has no rate of return when it is trapped in a house.

Next, pour the water from the glass back into the big pitcher. You’ve just removed $100,000 from your house and put it into an investment earning — let’s say — 10 percent. At the end of the year, how much money will you have in that pitcher? Look at that! It’s grown to $110,000! In your other hand is your house, worth $105,000 at the end of the same year, thanks to appreciation.

Leave the water in the pitcher.

How much have you earned by separating your equity from your house in the course of just a single year? $15,000. How much would you have earned if you had left the water in the glass? Only $5,000 — one-third as much.

“But, but, but — the mortgage wasn’t free! I had to pay some interest.” That’s right, you did. Let’s say the mortgage was at 7.5 percent. That’s $7,500 subtracted from $15,000 for a net gain of $7,500, instead of just $5,000. You are still 50 percent ahead than if you had not removed the equity from your house. If the mortgage interest is deductible, then the net cost of the mortgage is really not $7,500, but $5,000 in a 33.3 percent marginal tax bracket. So the net profit is $10,000 ($15,000 minus a net, after-tax mortgage expense of $5,000) — or twice as much as you made if the house was paid off!

Here’s another quick analogy: Would you rather have one horse working for you or two? Can two horses work for you, even if you owe money on one of the horses?

The object of this demonstration is that no matter what else you do, when you separate your equity from your house, you increase your assets. Even though there is a charge for doing that — the simple interest you pay on a mortgage — it makes a whole lot of sense to take out a mortgage and use it to make your assets grow.

Do you recall the president of the bank I mentioned at the start of this chapter? What you’ve just done — taken out a mortgage and used the money to make more money — is what he did. You didn’t make billions, but you made a profit in the same exact manner. By separating equity from your house, you give it the ability to earn a rate of return. Employ this strategy each year, and the profits will compound.

Copyright C 2007 Douglas R. Andrew

Still with me? Good. Here’s the details on how you can have a chance to get the copy I received

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you’re interested by 11:00pm EST on Friday, July 20, 2007. I will use random.org to select one random commenter. I will announce the name here no later than Monday, July 23, 2007 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge. If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter. Your chances of having your comment selected will depend on the number of comments received, only one entry per person, and I promise to ship the items out but cannot guarantee their safe arrival. Please note that I do have a pet friendly home.

EDITED TO ADD:
I mentioned the bit about a pet friendly home because more than likely there will be pet dander on the book. I mention this in case you are allergic. Now, D was wondering if that meant that something would be included with the book. I do still have three kittens left and I’d love to find them a good home…but I won’t send them with the book

Ok…now to the winners…

Using Random.org, it selected numbers 25 (Lori) & 16 (Kaye C). I’ve emailed you both, and I hope to hear back from you shortly.

Thank you to everyone who participated

A little while later, I was given the go ahead to see if any of you had questions for them and they answered ALL of your questions!

Without further ado, here are the questions and answers:

From Amanda:

“Oh, me, me!! I hope it doesn’t get too long. We have recently (just last Friday!) paid off all of our debt except for the house so now what? We need to restart our college and retirement savings (we were saving a little before but halted that to have extra money to knock out the debt). I don’t have any idea how much we should be saving. Savings has always been an afterthought, just saving a portion of what was left after paying the bills. I’d really like to start paying ourselves first but I don’t have any idea what we should be saving to meet our goals. I’ve run several online calculators but keep coming up with VERY different numbers and I’m really feeling confused. We’ve been following Dave Ramsey’s advice to get out of debt and he says to save 15% of our income for retirement. Is that acceptable? But even with that I have no idea what we should be saving for college. Our children are 2 and 4 and we’re 28, if that helps.”

First, kudos to you for paying off all of your non-housing debt. That is a HUGE accomplishment. Go you!! It’s often been said that your kids can get a scholarship for college – but that no one is going to give you a scholarship for retirement. One of the best gifts you can give your children is the peace of mind of knowing that they will not have to fund Mom & Dad’s retirement. When it comes to saving, we recommend that you first build up at least a 3-month emergency fund (if you don’t have one already) and then kick into gear with your retirement savings. If you are just getting going in your late 20s, striving to save 10% or more of your gross (before-tax) income for retirement is an ideal goal. AFTER you’ve hit both your emergency fund and your retirement goals, then you can start setting aside money for your kids in a college savings plan such as a 529 plan.

From Da big D:

“How much is enough? I have paid off my debt, sans mortgage, max my 401k, my IRA, and save 10% to another account for a rainy day. But since I didn’t start till 5 years ago (39 now) I am way behind the curve. I have no clue what I need for retirement. So how much should I be saving??”

Here’s how the numbers work out. If you save 10% of your gross income and are in your 20s or 30s when you start doing this, assuming you invest wisely, the odds are high that you’ll end up with a standard of living that’s similar to what you have today. Since you started in your mid-30s, saving a bit more than the 10%, so closer to 15% of your gross income will help you toward your retirement goals. That said, don’t forget to invest that money wisely. When you are under age 50 and have 5 or more years of an investment time horizon, we like stocks and specifically index funds such as the S&P 500 index fund. We wouldn’t recommend you try to pick individual stocks unless you plan to do that for a living. If you want to work through some math, check out the retirement calculators as websites such as Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.

From sf mom:

“My question(s) are along the same lines. I’m 32, my husband is 41. I max my 401(k), Roth, put $175 a month into our 2-year-old daughter’s 529 plan, we have no credit card debt and I have $25K in an emergency fund (HSBC online savings earning 5.05%). What’s next? A non-tax-deferred online brokerage account seems like the next logical investment. My uncle highly recommends Buyandhold.com because of the very low fees. My goal is to work hard in my peak earning years, sock as much money away so that I can retire comfortably, help out my children (we have #2 due in August) with a bit of college if not all of it, and travel. We have a home here in SF and an investment property in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. So, what’s next? My husband wants to invest in another property, I say that I want to diversify and put some cash away in a brokerage account? Help!”

SF Mom, our vote goes to you (sorry SF Dad!). While real estate has had quite the run in the US over the past 7 years, the party looks to be winding down. On top of this, historically, stocks have done much better than real estate once you take in to consideration all the other things that go along with investment properties (property tax, insurance, maintenance, upkeep, finding tenants, etc.). We are big fans of low cost buy and hold investments for the portion of your savings that you will be keeping in a taxable account. While we are usually wary of “hot tips” from Uncles – your Uncle sounds quite wise to us indeed!

From KCLau:

“I’ll have a newborn baby this September. My question is simple: When should I start teaching him about money?”

Alas, teaching wee ones about personal finance is not our area of expertise. We recommend you read Joline Godfrey’s wonderful book, RAISING FINANCIALLY FIT KIDS (affiliate link) for some quality advice on this subject.

From spinsterlady:

“How do you pay off $13,500 in credit card debt when you’re already the most frugal person you know? I make $24k a year, and my husband makes about $28k after child support payments. This credit card debt has sneaked up on me over the years, and I relied on cards to pay for “life’s emergencies” such as unemployment, car repairs, a modest wedding, vet bills, etc. I have a house with some equity, but I don’t want to take out a home equity loan. After basic bills, our budget is stretched tight as a drum. Help!”

First, kudos to you for living frugally. If you’ve already streamlined all the typically areas for cutbacks (eliminating cable, bringing lunch to work, exercising outside in lieu of paying for a gym membership, etc), the only other “for sure” option is to make more money. It sounds like you are working very hard as it is, so this probably is not the answer that you wanted to hear – but we concur whole-heartedly that you don’t want to take out a HELOC to pay off that credit card debt. Our suggestion is for you to try to take on some temp work. Life won’t be fun for a while, that’s for sure, but if you can earn an extra $150 a month add to your credit card debt pay down in a few years you’ll have worked that debt off. And we’re sending you an extra big hug, because we know it’s not fun to be in this position.

From FlatGreg:

“Mortgage acceleration programs have been available in certain countries and are now starting to appear in the US. There’s only a couple programs available, but they all work similarly by combining your checking account with your mortgage. The amount you normally keep in your checking account reduces your principal, however it’s still available to use whenever you wish. The benefit is a significantly quicker payoff of your mortgage without making additional payments. Do you have any comment on these programs? They’re so new they’re hard to find information on. I’ve also heard you can accomplish the same thing yourself using a HELOC and your existing mortgage.”

When it comes to personal finance – simple is better. Our feeling is that if you want to pay off your mortgage faster, it’s best to send in an extra payment every 6 to 12 months yourself. Snazzy programs that offer to accelerate your mortgage pay down in a pain-free manner are not devised for your benefit. They are out there so that someone else can make a little extra profit for something you can well do on your own. We say go you for wanting to get rid of that mortgage but stick to the old-fashioned way!

From Tyler:

“I am 24 y/o and my wife is 26. Our annual income is around 65k net. The only debts we carry are our mortgage and my wife’s student loans. We decided to make minimum payments on the student loans (10k left) since the interest is at almost 2%, and accelerate the process right now of saving 5 months expenses into our emergency fund. The thing we would like to do is refinance our mortgage. We currently have an 80% of around 121k remaining on it, and a 20% HELOC of 30k remaining (all interest payments). We want to combine these two to a one 30 year loan to start reducing principle on the HELOC. Should we still combine our 2 loans even though we may move in about 3 years? Also, I go to school part time and we pay cash for it – reducing the ability to get a 15 year. We are also holding off on our retirement until Jan of next year (due to the funding of the full e-fund). When we finish this, we’ll be contributing 30% (to make up for a couple years lost). Does this make sense for a couple our age?”

Well, sort of – to be honest, it worries us that you have a $30,000 HELOC. Truth be told, that really is pretty much like using a credit card (albeit one where the interest is deductible). If taking equity out of your house via that HELOC has been the only way you’ve been able to make your budget work, it’s a sign that you may want to tighten that belt buckle. However, your desire to move from interest-only mortgages into a 30-year fixed situation where you are actually paying down principal is one we applaud with hands and feet. We’d also toss out that when you move – unless you sell the house yourself, you’ll face realtor costs that can be as much as 6% of the selling price, so don’t forget to factor that into the equation when you think about whether or not you’re ready for a new house. Our rough rule of thumb is that you are ready to buy a (new) house ONLY when you are sure you are going to live there for at least 5 years AND you can pay 20% down (a quaint notion, we know, but one that came about for good reason – housing prices don’t always go up!)

From Renee:

“I have a Roth IRA that I started when I was about 22 based on financial advice from my mom’s financial planner. I’m now 25, and I’ve barely contributed to it (around $800 total). I realize it’s early in my life and I have time to build it up, and I usually need the money in a savings account “emergency fund” instead of a long-term IRA. Question is, at my age, how much should I be contributing to the IRA per year? And when I get a little extra cash, should I immediately save some of it in the IRA for long-term, or put the whole amount in my savings account, then transfer only the pre-decided amount to the IRA every year?”

In an ideal world, you would have an emergency fund AND “max out” your Roth IRA every single year (in 2007 you can put $4,000 in your Roth). That may seem like a Herculean goal right now, but we’d encourage you to go for it. The budgeting chapter of ON MY OWN TWO FEET can walk you through some steps to figure out how to squeeze some more savings out of your income. Our advice is to save for a 3-month emergency fund first, and then funnel as much money as you possibly can after that into your Roth IRA. It sounds to us, however, that you may want to take a long hard look at what kinds of things you are calling “emergencies.” It’s possible that they are recurring and that your root problem is the need to cut your spending in some other areas so that you’ve planned for those expenses in advance.

From Rich:

“I have started my own business and it has been going for about 8 months. I am happy and lucky to report that I am already making a profit on the business and have made more than I have invested, and the business appears to be growing. I have quite a bit of credit card debt from before I started the business and am in the process of paying it off aggressively. My question is, my wife and I have three 401 (k) accounts from previous jobs and I need to know where I should put the money as a self-employed person. What would be your recommendation?”

Congratulations on your business success! We’d first urge you to pay off that credit card debt as fast as possible. If your income level is such that you qualify for a ROTH IRA, we’d suggest fully funding that next. If you still have money to sock away after that, we’d suggest you open a SEP-IRA (which is sort of like a 401(k) for self-employed people) at a discount brokerage firm such Vanguard, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab. You can contribute up to 25% of your income into a SEP-IRA up to an income limit of $44,000 for 2007. We’d also suggest that for ease of record keeping you consolidate those 401(k) accounts into a Rollover IRA at the same discount brokerage firm so you can more easily keep track of your investments.

Thank you to Manisha and Sharon for answering everyone’s questions. It was very, very nice of you!!!

And it doesn’t end there!

I have received two copies of On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance(aff. link) to give away!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you’re interested by 11:00pm EST on Sunday, June 17, 2007. I will use random.org to select two random commenters. I will announce the names here on Monday, June 18, 2007 as well as email the commenters. At that time the commenters will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge. If I do not hear back from the commenter(s) selected by midnight on Wednesday, June 20, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter(s). Your chances of having your comment selected will depend on the number of comments received, only one entry per person, and I promise to ship the items out but cannot guarantee their safe arrival. Please note that I do have a pet friendly home.

What are you waiting for? Leave a comment!

Today, I received word that it is officially a go!

So, here is your chance to ask questions to have the authors answer. Now, they probably will not be able to answer every question, but they will select some of them to answer.

To join in, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post with your question. Sunday night, I will email the questions to the authors and await their reply.

As a little hint, you may want to keep an eye out for when I post the answers

There are many books out there that give some great information about personal finance. Most of them are pretty thick and can be overwhelming for someone new to personal finance concepts. “On My Own Two Foot” is a smaller sized book with 183 pages. It doesn’t take long to read, but there is a lot of valuable information packed in there in an easy to understand fashion.

Some of you who have been reading personal finance books and blogs for a while may find some the information in this book old news. Me, I knew a lot of what was in the book until I got to the investing section. Wow. A great overview that I could understand. Now, I only need to get to that part by paying off my debt!

The book is geared towards women, with bits about boyfriends and buying shoes here and there. In my opinion, it would do a lot of good to get this in the hands of female high school graduates and if I had any female relatives graduating soon I’d be thinking about buying this book for them as a graduation gift. It’s short enough to where they might pick it up and read it and once they read the information in there, they will know more about personal finance than most Americans.

Here are the subjects covered:

- Saving
- Credit Cards
- Credit Scores
- Insurance
- Budgeting
- Investing
- Retirement

The last part of the book then goes on to give strategies for real life situations, like purchasing a home and your income taxes. I always enjoy it when a book applies the things discussed in ways that shows how it is useful.

I wish I had a copy of this book when I graduated high school. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have signed up for that credit card in college and my finances would have been a completely different story. At the very least, I would have known better what I was getting into.

Overall, this is a great book that isn’t intimidating and is a great introduction to some valuable personal finance topics. I’d say it’s something that will get you off on the right foot financially if you read it and take the advice in the book to heart.

Congrats to commenter #1, who was bluntmoney!

I’ve already emailed her this morning and have heard back.

Thanks to all that participated. I should be having another book giveaway sometime in the next few months

The deadline is Thursday, April 26 at 11:00 p.m. EST, so click on the link above for more info!

A marketing firm contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing “Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting: Attract the Work that You Want” (aff. link) by Laura George. I was going to decline since I’m not in the job market at the moment, but something told me to get the book and read it. I am so glad I did.

I’ve been hearing a lot about the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking. I’m a believer that positive thoughts bring positive results. Things always seemed to go better in my life when I wasn’t down and out. But the law of attraction was a newer concept for me and one that I was interested in learning more about.

It turns out that a good portion of the book explains the law of attraction and positive energy. The first half of the book this information is intertwined with seeking employment…er, rather…attracting employment and the principles described in detail can apply to your life in general. While reading the book, I found myself thinking about how to apply principles of the law of attraction to our debt reduction and life in general.

If time permitted, I probably would have read this book in one sitting. The information in the book was very interesting and very thought provoking. I found myself wanting to read more and more because the principles discussed were making sense to me.

I have read many books on how to get a job in the past. Most have been fairly cut and dry and repeat the same things. Not this book. It takes seeking employment to another level, a level that is likely to help all aspects of your life. With reading this book, I wondered how things would be today if I read this book while in college. Instead of the fairly negative thoughts towards employment that I had, perhaps after reading the book I could have turned it around and created positive energy.

As for the tone of the book, I found it very positive and the author had a way of connecting with me. Since she’s been on both sides of a human resources desk (as someone seeking a job and as someone interviewing others for a job), I felt confident about her authority on the subject. She is very personal, often citing her own experiences in the book and adding bits of humor in here and there. Quite a few times I broke out in laughter.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I feel that it enhanced my life after reading it and that is always a good thing. It also created more interest in the law of attraction and I am now interested in reading “Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting” by Lynn Grabhorn (which the book references). As always, I’ll write my thoughts about what I learn here.

Here’s the part I love…

If you are interested in reading this book, I’m giving away my copy!!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you’re interested. I will use random.org to select a random commenter. I will announce the name here on Friday, April 27, 2007 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge. If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on May 1, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter.

The deadline for leaving a comment is at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, April 26, 2007.

Please note that I do have a pet friendly home.

What are you waiting for?? Leave a comment

I’m still writing up the full review, and it will be posted probably in a few days. The publisher also sent an excerpt that I could post here and I thought it was good information that could help someone out there determine what to wear for a job interview. As you’ll see, the author is very personable and even a few times I cracked up while reading the book because of the personal stories included.

Anyways, I hope you find the excerpt below of value and I will soon be posting my review AND giving information on how you can win my copy! Enjoy

Excerpt
The following is an excerpt from the book “Excuse Me, Your Job is Waiting”
by Laura George
Published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.; March 2007;$16.95US; 978-1-57174-529-3
Copyright © 2007 Laura George

Dressing for the Job

One of the most important times to dress for the job is for the initial interview. HR folks want to make sure a candidate will fit in the environment, but they are legally prevented from asking a lot of personal questions. Therefore, they have to look for clues as to whether somebody will, or will not, fit in the work environment. Making yourself look like the perfect candidate gives you an edge over the competition. The rule of thumb is pretty simple: Dress for the job you are seeking. Dress like the rest of the folks in that particular occupation or organization.

So, what are the right clothes? It’s a little hard to tell sometimes with casual days and relaxed work environments, but most companies still expect the first impression to be one of quality. For upper-management positions, the dark power suit is essential for both men and women on the initial interview. If you’re not sure what this looks like, there are plenty of books written about dressing for these positions. Middle managers and recent college grads should also wear suits. Invest in a good suit. Good clothes are an investment because they pay a return on your outlay of capital by what they bring into your life. If you are just starting out and plunking over several hundred dollars for a suit is a bit steep, go to the best secondhand store you can find. I live in Ohio and have traveled to New York City to shop upscale consignment shops. The better shops are operated like private boutiques and carry the best in quality and labels. I save enough money on clothes to easily cover the cost of the airfare to the city.

If you are seeking a clerical position, you should dress conservatively, but not necessarily in a suit. Clean, tailored coordinates are fine. Factory workers have a lot of leeway, but again, dress responsibly and respectably. I’ve hired lots of factory personnel who have arrived for interviews in clean jeans and shirts lacking a social statement.

I’ve seen some pretty outlandish interviewing costumes over the years. Two come to mind. One was a young woman who was told to dress up for an interview at a bank. She did dress up — unfortunately, in her prom dress. This wasn’t exactly the look the conservative institution was seeking. Another guy showed up for a factory job in a clean shirt, blue jeans, and a fresh shave. All would have gone well if he hadn’t been wearing an AFL-CIO baseball cap at a non-union facility. Had he left his topper in his pickup, he probably would have picked up a job. Instead, I had a hard time calming down the general manager who wanted me to escort the guy from the building ASAP.

There are, of course, other little things that really blow interviews. Some people stink. Hygiene is important. It’s sad that I even have to mention it, but poor hygiene has caused a lot of people to be shown the exit door. It isn’t necessarily a lack of bathing — although there have been times when I wanted to send a candidate to the YMCA for a shower — it’s usually the overdose of cologne. Both women and men have caused so much odor in my office that I learned long ago to keep a can of air freshener on hand. If you don’t feel dressed without a little scent, that’s understandable, but the operative word is “little.” Less is more. Keep it subtle. Nobody wants to wonder if you’ve bathed or just dipped in a vat of cologne. Also, keep in mind that many people have allergies. They will not even consider hiring a person who makes them sneeze.

Dress so you don’t offend. Young women, especially, have a tendency to dress to annoy the hiring folks. Keep in mind that human resources is a field with lots and lots of women making the decisions. The vast majority of these women are middle-aged. They have moved into their positions by earning the right credentials and putting in a lot of hard work. They aren’t incredibly receptive to some young woman strutting into an interview dressed like a high-maintenance super model. If you are young and beautiful, you may think these middle-aged bags are just jealous or mean-spirited, but the bottom line is that they are the decision-makers.

If you are fortunate to look like a super model, then go for a super model position. If you are going for an entry-level management position, dress for an entry-level management position. Wearing a short skirt with five-inch heels and having your makeup applied with a heavy touch will turn heads, but it wont land you the entry-level management position unless you have the credentials and are interviewed by a person with no concerns about sexual harassment. The overdone makeup might look great to you, but it will look like too many potty trips to the woman on the hiring side of the desk. As for the sexual harassment component, no human resource manager in her right mind hires with the prospects of a lawsuit on the horizon. Therefore, if you are blessed with great looks, use them to your advantage. Dress for the position, in a conservative manner, and let your inner beauty come out, too. Win over the human resource manager with your skills, common sense, and energy.

Women aren’t the only ones who have to consider common sense when dressing for an interview. Casual Friday has added a strange twist for men. Their clothing choices used to be so simple, but those days are gone. After decades of dressing on autopilot, men now have to think about what to wear. One of the oddest questions I ever got on the company side of the desk was from a guy coming into our casual environment on a Friday for an interview. He was employed at a very conservative company and interviewing on his lunch break. He called to tell me he had to wear a suit or else his current employer would be onto his interviewing activity. I chuckled and told him I’d be looking for a suit on Friday.

A major issue with casual is it is hard to define. Casual varies from environment to environment. One thing is generally certain: Casual does not mean sloppy. T-shirts are not appropriate. Polos are a little too unstructured for a first interview. For men, casual can be a shirt, tie, and sports coat tucked on the back seat of the car just in case, but I’d never recommend casual for the first interview unless the person conducting the interview has specifically directed you to dress casual. If job is high-level, regardless of the day of the week, the best option is a suit.

Women have always had to choose between a variety of images for the first impression. Women also have had to work harder at relaying their intended message because their roles in the workplace have changed over the decades, and their wardrobes contain more options. There was a time, when women were just entering the boardrooms, that women’s clothing needed to make a power statement. Now clothing needs to make a dual, somewhat conflicting statement: power/position and approachability. And it’s best to do it without making an issue of sexuality.

The message a woman relays with her clothing is a product of the way she feels in certain clothes and the stereotypes associated with certain clothes.

Each article of clothing, in the eyes of the beholder, has a role attached. In fact, anything you wear will evoke some sort of stereotype from a person who sees you. You will also feel certain ways in certain garments. Feelings play such an important role in dressing that on “bad” days you may have a hard time dressing up for a meeting. Your feelings will persuade you to dress in some sort of sack dress and hide behind a big wall. On up days, you may want to dress so powerfully that you can’t help but get all of the powerful energy in a room pulled into you.

Now we’ll look at the most common interpretations, or stereotypes, attached to certain clothes. Notice that most items have more than one message and some have quite conflicting messages. We are constantly putting out all sorts of mixed messages and vibrations with our clothing. Some work in our best interest; some cause us havoc. The goal is to feel good, put out good energy, and bring in a good working experience. How these pieces are put together in an ensemble will determine what they say and how you feel. Make sure they are saying what you feel about the job and how you feel you are perfect for the job.

Symbol Key: +Power, ^Approachability, Y Sexy

+ navy blue suit
+^ white silk blouse
Y black leather jacket
+^ gold silk blouse
+^ black knit dress
+^ cashmere sweater
+Y very tight black knit dress
+Y tight cashmere sweater
Y+ short black knit dress
+Y cashmere sweater set
^ baggy black knit dress
^Y tights
^ company polo shirt
+ tailored suit
^ khakis
^ baggy jeans
Y short shorts
Y tight jeans
+^ calf-length black skirt
^ well-fitting jeans
^ long flowered skirt
^ loose cable-knit sweater
+^Y red silk blouse
^ baggy sweatshirt
+^ sleeveless blouse
^ white T-shirt
+^ fitted jacked
+^ tailor-cut T-shirt
+^ freeform jacket
Y^ lacy blouse
+^ diamond earrings
Y sheer blouse with lacy bra
^Y dangling earrings
Y low-cut sweater
+^ French manicure
^Y bangle bracelets
Y two-inch fingernails
^ charm bracelet
+Y five-inch stiletto pumps
+^ tennis bracelet
^ mules
^Y costume ring with large stone
^ penny loafers
^Y costume necklace with large stone
+^ pumps
+^ ring on one finger
^ clogs
^Y rings on all fingers
+^ beige fingernail polish
+^ pierced ears (one piercing)
^+Y red fingernail polish
Y pierced tongue
Y blue fingernail polish
Y tattoo on shoulder
+^ red silk scarf
Y tattoo on leg
^ long flowered silk scarf
^Y ankle bracelet
+^ A-line skirt
Y+ open-toed pump
+^ fitted skirt
Y+ slingback pump
Y tight miniskirt
+^ knit skirt, one inch above knee

Whether you’re female or male, you must make sure your clothes are sending the message you want to relay to potential employers. Every industry and occupation has its “uniform.” CEOs are expected to look like CEOs. Artists are expected to look like artists. We communicate through our appearance; be attuned to what your appearance says. Once you’ve defined your desired position, dress the part. Keep feeling yourself in the position. Know it’s yours.

If you are truly in doubt about what to wear when you’re called for the interview, ask the human resource person what’s expected of you in regards to your garments. Several years ago, a major company from out of state sent a representative to my area to interview me over lunch at a country club. The dear soul had the decency to call me the night before and tell me to dress casually. Most human resource people will give you a straight answer if you ask them a straight question.

Copyright © 2007 Laura George (Reprinted with Permission)

I am giving away my copy of The Maui Millionaires (affiliate link).

You can read my review here.

If you are interested in recieving my copy of The Maui Millionaires, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you’re interested. I will use random.org to select a random commenter. I will announce the name here on Saturday, January 6, 2007 as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge. If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on January 10, 2007, I will randomly select another commenter.

The deadline for leaving a comment is at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, January 5, 2007.

Just a note, I have pets in the home and my cat liked to lay on this book for some reason LOL. So if you have allergies, please take note.

So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment

Even before I was through the Introduction, I was started to compare the book to those infomercials you see on late night TV. I’m sure you’ve seen them…the ones where you can make money without really doing anything. Well, I can’t say those programs do not work because I’ve never personally tried any of them. But I tend to go by the golden rule that if something sounds to good to be true, it probably isn’t. After all, the writers of the book are holding Maui Millionaire retreats that cost one person $30,000 to attend!

But as I got into the book, I could see that this was a little different from those informercials. A common theme in the entire book is that wealthy people have a different way of thinking about wealth. That, in turn, makes it easy for them to build wealth and enjoy it. That makes sense to me. This book isn’t about getting rich quick – it’s about working on yourself to help you achieve wealth.

Because of that theme, the book is centered around helping you think about wealth differently. The book is filled with worksheets and exercises to help you along. Even though I can say with a great degree of certainty that I will not be attending one of their retreats any time soon, the book gives a taste of what they experience. Of course, if you were at the retreat there would be others there helping you go through the exercises. With the book you have to do them alone.

Those following my blog for a while know that I reviewed the Millionaire Next Door. I grappled with the fact that I could not say that I want to be a millionaire. I still can’t say that phrase because I just want to be comfortable with my life. Maui Millionaires actually has a section that deals with the stigmas of having money. In fact, they have a list of the 12 Most Damaging Negative Wealth Beliefs. I found them quite interesting and I’ll be discussing them tomorrow and how they relate to my life.

Will reading this book make you a millionaire quickly? I don’t think so. Will the book help you think more like a millionaire? Possibly. Are there things of value in the book? I think so.

Overall, I’m glad I read the book because it forced me to think about my beliefs about wealth. That is something that I am continually working on because I do think my beliefs are holding me back. I also think some of the stories they highlighted are inspiring. But, the biggest negative of this book is the contant reminder about their retreat and the advertising for their website. It was a llittle much for me and if I wasn’t trying to review this book for everyone here…I might not have finished it.

If you can get past the advertising, I do believe there is information here that can be helpful. Is it worth the $24.95 for the book? That depends on the individual. But, being the money-saver that I am, I probably would have bought the book used or went to my local library

So make sure you come back on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday for the review and details on the giveaway .

You can read my review here.

If you are interested, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post to say you’re interested. I will use random.org to select a random commenter. I will announce the name here on Thursday, November 9th as well as email the commenter. At that time the commenter will need to provide their address (US addresses only, please) so I can ship them their book free-of-charge (media mail shipping). If I do not hear back from the commenter selected by midnight on November 15th, I will randomly select another commenter.

The deadline for leaving a comment is at 11:00pm EST on Wednesday, November 8th.

So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment

With that said, here’s my thoughts…

The beginning of Health Care on Less Than You Think starts off with some sobering stories of individuals that have had their financial life rocked by medical costs. Even more surprising is the number of those people that HAD health insurance. Obtaining health insurance has been a priority of mine, but I have been dragging my feet with doing it. After reading what some of those people have paid for medical procedures – it really sunk in that one problem could easily rack up over $5,000 in medical bills. Needless to say, my application is in process as I announced yesterday.

Reading further, Mr. Brock details exactly how much extra an uninsured person has to pay for the same services that an insured person receives. I knew that happened, and feel that it is VERY unfair to charge those without health insurance a different price. I just didn’t know how much more. Can you believe that an uninsured person would have to pay a bill of $30,000 when an insured person (and their insurance company) would be paying $7,000?

Mr. Brock gives great advice on how to try to save money if you are uninsured, such as negotiating and auditing your medical care bills. He also explains those big words you find associated with health insurance policies. Finally, I really understand how coinsurance, deductible and out of pocket maximums work!

I’ve also finally learned about Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s). An entire chapter is decidated to helping the reader understand how they work and how they can be very advantageous or disadvantageous. After reading that chapter, I quickly looked up available HSA plans on ehealthinsurance.com. Unfortunately, none of them covered pregnancy and all of them required medical records. At this time, I feel confident saying that a HSA plan is not for us.

Overall, this book made me feel like a confident shopper when it came to finally choosing a plan for our family. I also feel more confident knowing some things that I can do to help save money when it comes to health care and prescription drugs. Knowing what I know now, I feel that Health Care on Less Than You Think (amazon referral link) will end up saving us money in the future.

Just a note, some things I did already know about – such as asking for an itemized hospital bill and checking for any mistakes. There will probaby be some things you may have heard about in this book as well. But, if you are fairly new to how health insurance works and want to learn more, this is an easy-to-read and understand book. I particulary enjoyed the real-life examples that Mr. Brock detailed throughout the book.

To conclude, this book was very helpful to me since our health care was a big decision I was facing. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read it.

To see the complete breakdown, you can see my NetWorthIQ profile here.

October was the first month without a car payment, and that helped with the overall picture for October. Unfortunately, I will not be able to snowball that payment into the rest of our debt. We will be using that $250/month to go towards obtaining health insurance for me and my family.

I am currently reading Health Care on Less Than You Think (amazon referral link) by Fred Brock and I will have a review shortly on the book. The beginning chapters are sobering, giving examples of individuals that have been devistated financially by medical problems. I know one medical problem can easily undo all of the progress we’ve made reducing debt, and reading those stories really hit home.

That will be my weekend – finishing reading that book and figuring out what health insurance company to go with. Stay tuned to hear more about the book or how I am going about finding decent health insurance.

As part of the contest, I wanted the recipient to give the book away to someone else who would like to read it. When Kassy is done reading it, she will hold the next contest so if you would like to read the book – stay tuned!

I can’t wait to hear more from Kassy

So, it was fitting that my next book to read is “The Millionaire Mind,” which is another book by Thomas Stanley. This book is quite a bit longer (406 pages), so it may take me quite a while to finish it with my schedule. But, as always, I will be sharing thoughts along the way.

I’m only into the book a few pages, and already I am seeing that this is a book that I will enjoy reading. This time around they talked with more millionaires and it looks like there will be more quotes. I will enjoy the opportunity to get a little more personal with others and how they live. Learning more – that’s what it’s all about.

And if you haven’t heard yet – I want to give my copy of “The Millioniare Next Door” to someone. To find out how to enter, the information is at the very bottom of this post.

I’ve discussed my thoughts along the way, from realizing that I was making huge stereotypes about millionaires to realizing that I have the makings of a millionaire mind after all.

Now, since reading the last word in the book and closing the cover I sit here and reflect on the book as a whole.

As someone who hasn’t but recently made near $40,000/year for a family of three, I was hoping to come across a book that gave some hints or tricks to accumulate wealth that would apply to my income bracket. After reading this book, I now realize that if I kept on that search, I would end up just spinning my wheels. There are no hints or tricks. Harsh reality, but it’s true.

Directly, this book doesn’t mean much to someone like myself since it doesn’t mention anyone making our family’s income. How can I ever possibly become a millionaire? There is only so much “living beneath my means” (which is discussed very often in the book) that our family can do, especially during all of the years when we were making less money.

For someone in my situation, you can either read this book and become depressed, or you can read this book and be filled with optimism. There are no hints or tricks. It all has to do with yourself. Learning about yourself and the way you live and how you treat money. Learning about yourself and how you view others. Learning about how you perceive wealth. See the common denominator here? It’s YOU!!

I am so glad that I read this book and read the messages between the lines. Not only did it help me realize that I should be proud of my frugal ways, but I should just be proud of who I am and proud that I am taking the time to discover myself more. I heard a story about a graduation speech where the speaker asked the young graduates “Who here lacks self-confidence?” Only one young man raised his hand. The speaker announced, “That young man will be the most self-confident out of all of you in five years. Why? Because he knew he had a problem and wasn’t afraid to face it.”

If you are a regular reader – chances are that you have some money woes just like me. If we were sitting in a room together, I’d hope that we all would be raising our hand if asked “Who here needs help managing their debt?” Admit any problems that you may have and then work on them. You are not admitting weakness by proclaiming your problems. You are creating the groundwork to turn those problem areas into your strengths.

I know this review has been quite general, while the book includes tables with hard numbers. To be honest, I really didn’t care for those points as much at this time in my life. I found it more valuable to reflect on myself and how I think versus looking at what percentage of millionaires purchase expensive cars. But with anything you read, you have the final say with what you learn from it. Read with an open heart and really think about what you are reading.

This book opened my eyes in more ways than I imagined. But I think it helped me on my personal journey and that varies from person to person. Someone else reading this book may obtain something else from it. It all has to do with your background and the stage in your life you are at right now. The only thing I can say about the manner of the book in general is that I would have liked more information behind the thought of millionaires. But – Thomas J. Stanley did follow this book with “The Millionaire Mind” (which is my next read).

If you’ve made it this far, I’m glad that you’ve stuck with me. This is the part I am really excited about. I want to give my copy of “The Millionaire Next Door” to someone who really wants to read it, yet may not have a lot of funds to do so. In return (and I can only take your word for it) I’d like you to give it away to someone else when you are done reading it. Each person is invited to sign the book their own way as I will do. I’ll pay for the media mail shipping so only US residents please.

To enter, all you need to do is write a very brief explanation of why you would like to read the book. I’m only looking for three or four sentences, so no novels here. Please submit your entries to bloggingawaydebt [at] yahoo [dot] com by June 30, 2006. I will announce a winner on Monday July 3, 2006 which is the day I am hosting the Carnival of Debt Reduction.

I’d also like to include some of the entries on my blog so if that is okay with you, please grant me permission to post it as well as your name or nickname (if you’d like) and blog address (if applicable). If you do not grant permission, I will assume that you do not want your entry posted. And please, just add one sentence saying that you will give the book away when you are done reading it. You can give it away any way you like, but I would just like your word that you will give it away and ask that that person gives it away, and so on. I may be old-fashioned, but I still value someone’s word and hope that it will remain true.

Recap:

1.) Three or four sentences on why you would like the book.

2.) A sentence stating that you would give away the book to another person.

3.) Your name or nickname and/or blog name if you’d like your entry posted on my blog. You can also choose to have it posted anonymously, but please state that it is okay for me to post your entry.

4.) Email it to bloggingawaydebt [at] yahoo [dot] com by June 30, 2006.

If you have questions, please leave a comment here or email me. Thanks!

Even though I have realized things that I need to work on with myself (like a possible tendency to overspend and I need to learn to dream bigger), I have realized that I share some traits with millionaires:

1.) I spend great care keeping track of my finances. Most millionaires interviewed for the book can tell you what they spent on certain expenses at a certain time. I can do that too, thanks to being real picky with Quicken and keeping track of everything (including cash). I am a big believer in keeping track of where your money goes.

2.) When it comes to vehicles, most of the millionaires in the book lean towards practical purchases versus “glitsy” ones. An example given is how can you go fishing with a Rolls Royce and throw a fish in the back seat? My thoughts exactly! Just give me a ‘ole pick-up truck that runs and I am happy

The more and more I read this book, the more I wish I had an opportunity to chit-chat with some of the millionaires they talked to. I think they are the type of people I wouldn’t mind going fishing with. Before I read this book – I didn’t have that viewpoint. The stereotype of a millionaire I had in my mind is being broken down.

Let me explain…

I have heard and read repeatedly that when you dream, you have to dream big. Dreaming big often means dreaming of being a millionaire. Well, in my mind, I could never dream that because I didn’t want that life. I don’t want the fancy cars or the homes so big that you do not even use every room. I just wanted (and still do) a simpler life and I always felt that large amounts of money brought trouble.

So what I have done is dream small, so to speak, and perhaps that has hindered my progress on a subconscious level.

The book gives a great example of a Texan that sticks out in my mind. At first glance, no one would think he was a millionaire. The material possessions in his life did not follow the “traditional” millionaire items. No fancy suits, no fancy watches, no fancy house, etc. If I could be a millionaire – that’s the type I would want to be right there. And I realized it is possible be a millionaire and live the life I want.

I have been trying to say to myself, “I will be a millionaire” and I still cannot say it. But I am working on it. I have a feeling once I can say it and truly mean it, then I will be open to more possibilities in my life.

It’s funny because this is supposed to be about my journey to become debt-free. But I now realize that becoming debt-free can only be achieved by undertaking another journey – the journey for personal growth.

The one I received today I have read much about and I am just itching to dive into it. It’s “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. I’ve already peeked at the first few pages, and I like what I see so far. I have a feeling that this could be one of the books that I read in a few sittings.

Of course, when I am finished I will sit down and share my thoughts about the book with everyone