Steve Repak uses his military training to excellent advantage in providing an approach to all of us as to how to alter our income status in his immensely readable book DOLLAS AND UNCOMMON SENSE: BASIC TRAINING FOR YOUR MONEY. He shares his own living from paycheck to paycheck, living off credit cards, always paying the minimum amount when the bill comes, and having no plan for the future. Sound uncomfortably familiar? Sure. And here, finally, is a manual that takes the magic out of changing our finances by sending our money views to basic training. 'You don't have to make a lot of money to have a lot of money' is an example of the little helpful quips he places in the margins of his book that gradually make excellent sense as the pages turn.
As a fine drill sergeant (though a warmly supportive one) Repak advises us to sit down, look at where our money goes, make plans to change and then follow those plans. His doable plans include not spending more money than we make, pay off credit cards and put them in the freezer, spend only what is necessary and keep track of those expenditure, save a little out of every paycheck, and once on flat ground consider investing. In each of his chapters he talks to us in an informed way about how to make changes, planning the paycheck, debt release - all under the categories of Basic training, Spending, Debt, and Saving and Investing. At the end of each of the eleven chapters he gives a 'Take Home' - a list of the salient points of the chapter that summarize memorable 'rule and regs' and makes the reader feel accomplishment. For instance, after the chapter about planning for the future his Take Home comments are ' Save 10 percent of your monthly income into Life Happens Account until it contains $1,500. The save 5 percent of your monthly income into your Life Happens Account and 5 percent into your "I Quit!" Continue doing this each month until your Life Happens Account contains 60 percent of your annual income. Once that goal is met, save 10 percent of your monthly income into your "I Quit!" Account.' Repak carefully assists us with the paper charts and graphs to make this all make clear and honest sense.
The aspect of Repak's book that makes it so pertinent right now is that the government has been living the way we each have been living - paycheck to paycheck - and look what that has done to the economy. Plan ahead with this course in Basic Training with Steve Repak and just see if it doesn't change your thinking about money. Grady Harp, January 12
