A few weeks ago I agreed to do a review of the audio book Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine. I have received a free copy of the said book to review. Before I write my opinion about the book let me write a little about the author Crystal.
Crystal is the woman behind the extremely popular blog : Money Saving Mom. I have been following her blog for about 4 years now and during those years I have benefitted from her blog in countless ways. Besides sharing great deals on groceries and othe household items, Crystal also shares organization tips, offers encouragement on how to be a better steward of your money and tips on parenting. The best thing about her is that she doesn't preach from her soap box, she is just as willing to accept her failures as she is willing to share her successes. Doing so on a public forum takes a lot of courage and confidence and I'm sure its not easy for anyone, but she still does it just to let her readers know that she is just as human and prone to errors as anyone else. Even though we have never met, over the years I have come to regard her as a friend, someone whom I trust and
look up to. So you see, its difficult for me to remain objective about this book - its written by a dear friend after all. Below, I have tried to write my opinion of the book.
Chapter 1: Goal Setting
The book starts with practical, no-nonsense guide on goal setting. Crystal explains why its is so important and how to do it. She breaks it down into an easy step by step process and gives you practical tips so you don't get overwhelmed by the daunting task of goal setting. She also talks about why getting rid of debt should be your priority and how to build momentum while trying to get to your goals. She also relates her own experience of setting the goal of buying a house with 100% cash payment.
Chapter 2. Streamlining and Decluttering
This is a surprising chapter in a finance book but Crystal discusses why it is important to streamline and declutter your life before trying to get a better handle on your finances. I had my doubts but I could certainly see the strength in her arguments. Crystal takes a holistic approach towards finance, that is, its not just the money in your bank account but your whole life should feel more enriched if you follow her suggestions. That is a big commitment for one book but this chapter is the proof that Crystal doesn't want to settle for anything less. However, the startegies she suggests are simple to follow but kind of radical -
She talks about the power of saying No, how it frees you up. She also talks about time budget in the same way one would think about money budget. Finally she discusses decluttering and how to go about it so its not overwhelming. She gives some practical tips on how to get rid of unused items, what to do with things you are not sure about.
Chapter 3. Budgeting
Back on the financial track, this chapter offers practical advice on creating budget and sticking to it. Crystal talks in detail about barebones budget which is easy to make budget for people who feel bogged down by the thought of tracking their every penny. The book also offers a lot of great tips to reducing expenses in every budget category.
Chapter 4. Following the budget - Getting rid of Credit Cards
In this chapter Crystal talks a great deal about credit cards. She explains why she and her family has never had them, Why she recommends cutting up the cards, how to get by without credit card, why is it important. What about the credit history. I understand that this is a radical advice for most people but Crystal does make a great case for using cash instead of credit cards. Its a great chapter to get a counter-opinion on something that is considered a norm in our society.
Chapter 5. Couponing
Starting with this chapter, Crystal offers very specific and creative tips on how to live on less. It starts with a topic very near to her heart - Couponing. She responds to most of the major excuses people make for not using coupons - and she should know - she has been using coupons to buy her groceries and toiletries for years now. She has been posting pictures and complete breakdown of her grocery shopping every Sunday on her blog.
She offers tips on how to acquire coupons for free or very little investment and how to organize once you have them.
Chapter 6. Using coupons
This chapter continues on the previous theme of couponing. She talks about how to make most of couponing by shopping at multiple stores. She offers advice on how to make shopping efficient and worthwhile use of your resources and time.
Chapter 7. Saving without coupons
This chapter talks about 25 creative ways to stretch your budget without using coupons. She talks about things like using Dollar Stores, Cooking from scratch, using clearance and markdowns to your advantage. I found some of her tips very informative and creative.
Chapter 8. Strategic Splurging
This chapter will be a big relief to people who equate frugality with misery.
Here Crystal talks about how you could ( and should) still enjoy yourself while being conscious of your spending. She makes a case for occasional strategic splurges. She also gives a whole lot of tips on how to save money while doing something you love. She talks about a wide array of options and ideas on how to save on things like travel, movies, Clothes, Gym Memberships etc. The best thing about this chapter is that it comes across as very informative and full of interesting ideas not as preachy.
Chapter 9. Embrace Today
This final chapter talks about something Crystal often refers to on her blog - choose contentment. She recounts her own experience of living in the basement with only a couple hundred dollars to live on. She describes how she chose satisfaction over misery then and how it affected her life in a positive way. This is a very inspiring chapter of her book and it encourages reader to look at their own lives in a different light and strive to make most of a difficult situation.
Money Saving Mom's Budget is peppered with true stories from the readers of Money Saving Mom Blog and Crystal's friends. She recounts their experiences as she talks about a relevant chapter, listening to these real life experiences is very encouraging and engaging. It also drives home the fact that all the ideas in the book have been tried and true and not some hypothesis by a person who doesn't know hardships.
In addition to these stories Crystal also relates her own experiences like buying a house with 100% cash payment, how she started couponing (and the thrill of scoring her first great deals a CVS), in addition to making the book more interesting, these anecdotes make the book a lot more credible. In my opinion these stories resonate with readers even more than her great tips and suggestions.
Crystal gives a lot of useful tips at various places throughout the book, these tips offer specific ideas and suggestions relevant to the topic and I found them very useful. Although being an Audio book there's no way to bookmark them.
I found the book very interesting and engaging even though I have been a Money Saving Mom reader for a while and have used most of her suggestions like budgeting, using coupons and strategic splurging. However, Money Saving Mom Blog readers will find a lot of overlap between the book and the blog and I think it is always expected of bloggers who write a book on a topic similar to their blog. That said, this book is jampacked with ideas, encouragement and useful tips and suggestions for any person who wants to turn around their financial life. Money Saving Mom's Budget offers hope, inspiration and solutions to household financial issues without being overbearing and preachy. I think it is going to be a very successful book not just in terms of copies sold...but also in terms of lives changed.
Crystal is celebrating the launch of her audiobook by giving away an ipad2. Enter Today and Save the Date-4/5!
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