4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Have Financial Recovering Book, April 25, 2009
This review is from: Learning to Live Financially Free: Hard-Earned Wisdom for Saving Your Marriage & Your Money (Paperback)
Marybeth Whalen and Curt Whalen have produced a book that I believe every family, Christian and non, must read. They take from their experience with overspending and mountain loads of debt and show us how to stay out of the hole they landed it, and how to get out of the hole that you are currently in.
I have been looking for a true-to-life budget planning book; one with practical ideas that could be implemented in both the budgeting side, but also the money-saving side. Marybeth and Curt provide very simple and effective ways to get your finances under control and keep them there.
The main crux of this book is you can't live on credit. We live in a world of financial crisis because people have succumbed to the temptation of purchasing things on credit instead of saving for those items. We live in a world of "we must have it now" and having it now has led to trillion dollar bailouts of banks because people have stretched themselves too thin so even the slightest fluctuation in interest rates can mean bankruptcy for families. A major thing like the loss of a job can mean homelessness.
People everywhere need to use this situation as a wake up call to stop spending money they don't have. To start taking a closer look at their financial priorities and living within their means. After all what good is having the biggest house, the fastest car, the latest electronic gadget if it means you're living pay check to pay check just to keep a roof over your head.
They also emphasize the importance of placing God first ahead of everything else--especially with our money--and once we do that everything else falls into place. That's not to say we become rich, although some might. But when our focus is on God, the rest of the world and all the things in it don't seem quite so important any more.
I thank Marybeth and Curt every morning for this book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Money and Relationship DO mix!, April 7, 2009
This review is from: Learning to Live Financially Free: Hard-Earned Wisdom for Saving Your Marriage & Your Money (Paperback)
"I've read numerous books on managing money. This book was different. We knew how to "do" the money systems laid out in other books, but failed because the heart of our problem wasn't the "knowing" but the "relating"! After reading this book I realized that both of us came into our marriage with spending/saving "style" differences and we had not really discussed how that was affecting our money decisions. I know that if we succeed in a task, but fail in relationship while completing the task we are not fully honoring the Lord. This book deals with money relationships and I think that we will finally succeed in both! The authors are real and don't hold back. We can relate to them as they both share their differing perspectives of the same money situation. Through their humility as a foundation, my husband and I can discuss more freely where we are coming from; surprisingly there are more ways than one to view a situation! After the very first chapter, my husband came to me and told me that this book was helping him understand my position in our marriage better. Wow! I am recommending this book to all my friends and have several couples I know I am going to buy it for." Tamery Stafford, married 15 years, mom of 4
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True financial change begins in your heart, not your head., April 20, 2009
This review is from: Learning to Live Financially Free: Hard-Earned Wisdom for Saving Your Marriage & Your Money (Paperback)
This is a wonderful book for not only those who seek to follow God's word in their finances but for those who may not know God and need to meet the best financal counselor there is. The Whalens' book approaches financial issues that all too many of us face with great guides to budgeting and conquering debt. It is very concise and easy to read. There are great questions for group discussions and wonderful stories to give the rader a glimpse into the lives of the authors as they faced the same issues many of us face today. What struck me the most is the realization that my past attempts to control spending and getting out of debt have been of my own accord. I have looked for ways to "make it all add up" and have not been able to. This book went to the "heart" of the problem and helped me to see that the real changes had to be within my heart. It made me go to the real financial counselor, God. That is the key. In my weekness He is made strong and budgeting and finances are truly a weekness for me. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone as they seek to live their lives on not only a budget but on God's financial plan!
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