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Book Review: Smart Money Smart Kids

Smart Money Smart Kids

“Smart Money Smart Kids” by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze is a book about how to raise your kids to win with money.  I was excited when I heard this book was coming out and am happy to be able to review it.

The advice is age specific which gives parents helpful suggestions to use with their own children.  If you have read “The Total Money Makeover” you will not see a lot of new in this volume other than the suggested ages to talk about finances.  It is put together different, obviously, in order to keep your children from going into debt to begin with rather than trying to dig them out of debt.

My favorite part of this was hearing the Ramsey stories from Rachel’s perspective.  If you have listened to the radio show for any length of time you have heard Dave talk about family stories.  Hearing Rachel’s side was quite interesting to me as she was the child on the other side of the talks.

All in all it was a worthwhile read for me even though I have read his other books and gone through Financial Peace University.  I would definitely recommend it if you have a child and you want some suggestions on how and when to talk to them about certain aspects of money management.

For further information or to see other reviews visit the book’s page on Amazon.

*Note: I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.*

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1,972 Debt Free Miles

Debt Free Miles

Magic Kingdom from the bridge.

Some people wonder what the point of becoming debt free is.  They figure they have owed someone money their entire life so why not keep going?  I’ll tell you that one reason that is important to me is travel.

I greatly enjoy going places with my family.  By getting out of debt we have been able to experience so much in the last few years.  In fact, exactly one year ago today we started our 1,972 mile driving journey!

If there are things you want to do but don’t think you have the money for it then there are a couple things you can do to find the money:

*Do a written budget each month.
*Work on getting out of debt.
*Eliminate eating out until you are debt free.
*Visit sites like Money Saving Mom and Save The Coupons for a list of deals for your shopping trips.

All of this comes down to one thing – FOCUS!  Focus your attention on paying for that trip of a lifetime and take steps to make it happen.  Focus on eliminating your debt.  Focus on your written budget so you know where your money is going so you can get out of debt.

Ready to get started?  You can download this free Guide To Budgeting to help you.