7 Money Rules for Life®: How to Take Control of Your Financial Future [Kindle Edition]

Mary Hunt (Author)

Book Description

Americans young and old are flunking their finances. A shocking 77 percent live paycheck to paycheck with no savings. And 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, while 49 percent could cover less than one month's expenses if they lost their income. In the face of this bleak financial picture, bestselling author and finance expert Mary Hunt offers 7 Money Rules for Life®. This no-nonsense and encouraging book gives readers the keys to get their money under control and get prepared financially for the rest of their lives. In her warm and engaging style, Hunt takes everything that she's learned over the past twenty years and boils it all down. Presented in a conversational style and readable in a weekend, this book offers applications for each of the seven rules as well as practical advice for how to recover from past financial mistakes. These simple, unchanging, basic rules work in every financial situation, for every income level, and for every stage of life.
Money mastery isn't really that hard. 7 Money Rules for Life® can help readers change their futures from uncertain to rock-solid with principles they can apply right away.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Simple Rules. Big Payoff.

In her warm and encouraging style, financial expert Mary Hunt shows you how to master the essentials to get your money under control and prepare financially for the rest of your life. She shows you how to apply each of the 7 Rules, starting today, as well as how to recover from past financial mistakes. With Mary on your side, you'll learn how to

Spend less than you earn
Save for the future
Give some away
Anticipate your irregular expenses
Tell your money where to go
Manage your credit
Borrow only what you know you can repay

Money mastery isn't hard when you know the rules. Let 7 Money Rules for Life change your future from uncertain to rock-solid--no matter what your income level.

From the Back Cover

Change your financial future--today

"Packed with practical, easy-to-digest advice, 7 Money Rules for Life is a no-nonsense approach to money and life that really works! Mary provides a road map to recovery driven by a realistic, deliverable promise for a better life. If you want more out of life, take on the 7 Rules and see what happens. You won't be disappointed."--Rob Bernabé, author, Mind Your Own Mortgage; speaker; former president of E*Trade Mortgage Corporation

"Mary Hunt has been there and back, and it shows. Hunt's empathetic, real-world approach makes [her] advice somehow seem more palatable--and achievable."--Money magazine

"Nobody is more aware of the complex relationship between finances and relationships than Mary Hunt."--CBS Early Show

"Mary speaks from the depths of her own experience, a gotta-have-it habit that led her into six-figure debt. It took her thirteen years to pull her family out, and the money-saving strategies she learned along the way became the basis for a career as one of America's top personal finance experts."--Woman's Day magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 763 KB
• Print Length: 208 pages
• Publisher: Revell (January 2, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005PQUXOM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,815 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #85 in Books > Business & Investing > Personal Finance > Credit Ratings & Repair

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 55 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not new information. January 7, 2012

By Laurel Fork Farm

Format:Hardcover

This is a good book but there are many others out there with the same information. This book gives 7 simple rules for handling money. The rules are as follows: Spend less than you earn, save for the future, give some away, anticipate your irregular expenses, tell your money where to go, manage your credit, and borrow only what you know you can repay. The first of these rules is the foundation and can be the hardest to get under control.

I think that this book has a lot of good points but the information is not new. You can find this information in a number of other books. Reading the book may get you on the right track but it is not ground breaking.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 7 Money Rules for Life January 2, 2012

By Lollipops

Format:Hardcover

Mary Hunt is the founder of Debt-Proof Living and an expert when it comes to money management. But Ms. Hunt wasn't born with money smarts. Like most of the rest of us, she learned her lessons the hard way. She hadn't been taught about budging and when she went off to college and got her first account, she went on spending sprees. She didn't learn her lesson until many years later when she was the bread-winner in the home and faced the hard facts that their spending out weighed their income.

Looking at her bills and the amount of income they had to work with, Ms. Hunt penned down some thoughts that later became the basis for her 7 MONEY RULES FOR LIFE.
These thoughts are:

' Spend less than you earn
' Save for the future
' Give some away
' Anticipate your irregular expenses
' Tell your money where to go
' Manage your credit
' Borrow only what you can pay

I was raised by a mother who budgeted and she made sure I learned these basic rules as I was growing up. But even knowing and doing is a challenge. Like most of America, I live from paycheck to paycheck. And anticipating your irregular expenses--can you really anticipate a two thousand dollar car repair bill or an eight hundred dollar water leak in the same season? Still, there are basic facts in here that every household can take and work with. Even those that are hit hard with the unanticipated irregular expenses.

If you aren't familiar with budging then this book is a lesson in itself. Ms. Hunt teaches you everything you need to know, including offering suggestions on on-line services that will help track your spending. This book is an invaluable tool for anyone. Recommended.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 7 Money Rules for Life - Awesome! January 14, 2012

By Paula Ebert

Format:Hardcover

I don't know about you, but for years I have struggled with the concept of managing money. I've never been very good at it, and have found that the mismanagement of money is one of the main issues within marriage.

Mary Hunt's book, 7 Money Rules for Life, is spoken from true experience. Mary found herself in a multitude of debt early in life, which then flowed right into her family after she got married. She outlines what she learned along the road of paying down "toxic" debt and teaches us the WHY behind the what.

The 7 rules seem fairly simple:

Spend less than you earn.
Save for the future.
Give some away.
Anticipate your irregular expenses.
Tell your money where to go.
Manage your credit.
Borrow only what you know you can repay.

Simple, but not easy. Mary goes into depth about each area and explains why it's important for us to take charge of our finances. It is told from a Christian woman's viewpoint, which really got me excited about reading it. Her story and her passion convicted me to begin the process of correcting my own financial mistakes (and habits) and to really start taking initiative in my family's financial life.

I recommend this book for anyone wanting to improve the financial situation in his or her family's life. It's the first book about money that I've been able to focus on... an easy read and straight to the heart of the issue. She even offers a free 6-month membership to her website, Debt Proof Living, for those who buy the book.

Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

More About the Author

Mary Hunt is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 23 books, as well as a sought-after motivational speaker who helps men and women battle debt. She is founder and publisher of Debt-Proof Living, a highly regarded and popular consumer organization consisting of an interactive website, monthly newsletter and personal finance tools. Hunt's books have sold more than one million copies, and her syndicated daily newspaper column is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Everyday Cheapskate readers nationwide. She speaks widely on consumer finance topics and has appeared on shows such as The Today Show, Oprah, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Fox and Friends and Focus on the Family. She and her husband live in Southern California.