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Review: The 21 Day Financial Fast

January 17, 2014 By

The 21 Day Financial FastAbout the book: “The 21 Day Financial Fast” by Michelle Singletary is “a field-tested financial challenge. For twenty-one days, participants will put away their credit cards and buy only the barest essentials.”

The whole idea is that you do not purchase anything other than necessities for 21 days. Nothing. This allows you to save money and see where you are wasting money. The idea being at the end of the fast you will have learned how to make lasting changes to your financial situation for the better.

My favorite part was the idea of having both an “Emergency Fund” and a “Life Happens Fund.”  The emergency fund is used for 3-6 months or more of household expenses in the case of a loss of income. The life happens fund is for when the car breaks down or the stove goes out and needs replaced and the author recommends $700-$1000 in that account. It allows you to be thoroughly prepared for both situations.

I did not agree with the way the author presented the material in some cases.  There are sections where the text comes off judgmental (such as the chapter on entitlement) or other places where the author seems to be trying to make the reader feel bad in order to make a change.  I would like to believe that the author’s intent was not to come off this way but it certainly changed my mood and opinion of the book in those sections.

Finally, if you have read “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey or other similar books you will get very little, if anything, new in this book other than the 21 day concept.  I think this concept is worth taking a look at the book and can be a helpful tool to those who have trouble controlling their spending habits or need help shedding some light on their habits.

All in all it is a great concept with potential that came up short.

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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Review: The Total Money Makeover Classic Edition

September 21, 2013 By

TTMM Classic EditionThe Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey is a classic text on how to eliminate debt step by step and why you would want to do such a weird thing.

The book is broken up into the seven baby steps which are:

* $1,000 Starter Emergency Fund
* Paying Off Debt with the Debt Snowball
* 3 to 6 months of Expenses in Savings
* 15% of Household Income to Retirement Accounts
* College Funding
* Pay Your Mortgage Off Early
* Build Wealth and Give

Dave not only give you instructions that work but also explains why he recommends doing things in the order given. There are several examples of families that have gone through the steps woven into the book so you can see that real people have made a real difference in their life.

I can’t say enough good about this book. It is a game changer for many people and I have seen the principles here turn on light bulbs for people through Financial Peace University. It is a common sense approach for managing your money written in a quick and easy to read style. It has budget worksheets in the book that you can use to help you along the way.

With all of that being said I will tell you that even following the plan the journey isn’t always easy. There will be difficulties here and there and when that happens you just have to keep pushing forward. I promise you it is worth the effort! I ordered my first edition of this book in 2010 somewhat by accident. When it arrived I read it anyway and it began a change that has lasted ever since in my family. It taught us how to be much more financially responsible and for that I thank Mr. Ramsey.

Lastly, this book is not for everyone. You really do need to be ready to take charge of your finances before this book will be of help to you. Also, in full disclosure, while I agree with 98% of what is taught there is that 2% that I think people need to make their own judgements on. That being said, his plan does work and I would recommend for anyone to try it and make adjustments where they feel it is needed in their own life.

For more information, other reviews or to purchase check out the book on Amazon.

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

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Savings Snowball

February 9, 2012 By

snowballIf you have researched paying off debt in any form more than likely you have come across the “Debt Snowball” method of paying off debt.  Many people have talked about it but most notably of those is Dave Ramsey.

Ramsey suggests in order to pay of debts quicker and get a psychological advantage in your process you start with your smallest debt and work up to the highest balance debt until you are debt free.  I was thinking a few weeks ago, why not try this with my savings accounts?  And so I have and thusfar has worked like a charm.

I have several savings accounts which gets money automatically transferred into them on a set interval.  These accounts are my budgeted items – you could call them my electronic envelopes.  They are named for what they are to be used for such as car maintenance, clothing, birthdays, Christmas, etc.  I know how much I want in each of these to consider them “fully funded”.

I make a list of these accounts and how much each one needs in it in order to be maxed out at from the smallest one to the largest one.  Now, the money that is budgeted for is put into these accounts with the most going into the smallest one each pay day.  Once that one is fully funded I move to the next one on the list and put the budgeted amount into that account plus what was budgeted for the first account.  We continue this until all of the accounts are fully funded and then everything that was budgeted for them starts going into my emergency fund.

I find this to be a natural progression if you use the “Baby Steps” as part of your personal finance plan.  It easy to keep up with, you already understand the snowball, and it gives you another set of financial goals whose whole purpose is to keep you from getting back into the debt trap again.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Grimm.

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Money Saving, Personal Finance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,