Customer Reviews

The MsSpent Money Guide: Get More of What You Want with What You Earn

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Deborah Knuckey's "Ms Spent Money Guide" offers a very practical model for spending (and living) consciously, to take full advantage of your financial resources. I think her paradigm is extraordinarily helpful. We all think we know how we are spending our money, but few of us ever step back (beyond a Quicken report) to analyze truly whether the way we are spending our money is enriching our lives the way we would like. Ms. Knuckey's "consious spending" model is easy to understand and to apply day-to-day. The book is also very fun to read--she has a terrific sense of humor, and her logic is quite simple to follow. (Ms. Knuckey was delightful in her appearance on Oprah this week--she's very down-to-earth, and her book shows it). I highly recommend this book for anyone like me who isn't an abusive shopper/spender, but nevertheless hasn't paid enough attention to what I've bought over the years (thus resulting in some items in the garage, the basement and the closet that I never possibly would have bought if I had been spending "consciously"). Reading this book quickly and keeping Ms. Spent's model in the back of my mind has already started to help me avoid spending mistakes.

Deborah Knuckey offers a fresh look at personal money management. Deborah challenges her readers to focus on what is really important in life and to align your energy (and your money) on what will make you and your family happy. I would encourage everyone in the "work world" to take a step back from their daily routine and read this book - you'll never view a paycheck the same way again!

...I don't make enough money to invest in more than my 401k, but she made me realize I can be happy with what I have and still enjoy life! I especially liked her chapter about 'when your means are not enough' because in the world I live in... they aren't! Thank you MsSpent!

This is by far the best personal finance book I have ever read. It is clear, creative, and offers exercises to help you get "real" about your spending habits. One of the most helpful exercises is about defining the life you want, which I think will really help me with some long term planning. It is also very gentle! Knuckey is scheduled to appear on Oprah on June 4, 2001.

Deborah Knuckey has written a helpful and enjoyable book intended to help readers get in touch with the reasons they spend money and how they can become more "aware" of their spending habits. She's a helpful advisor who doesn't offer opinions or tells you what you must do. Instead, the book lets you decide what money decisions you want to make. This book is quite helpful--I wish I could take the author shopping with me next time I hit the mall!

Everyone should read this book to get a better handle on their finances. It is very easy read with realistic techniques to managing your money.

This is a good basic guide . . . for young people. The advice is sound and practical, but uninspired. If you're under thirty-five or forty, you'll actually learn something.

The book could have been better if the author delivered on her promise to make it "fun" (it isn't), and if she truly delivered a way to (to paraphrase) free up money for things that enhance your life (she doesn't).

If you've lived long enough to have done All The Right Things (college, a solid job, family, etc.) but have also suffered what I simply call Life (illness, deaths, divorce, accidents, robbery), you know that first twenty-five dollars you put away isn't going to stay in your IRA unless you live under a rock and only crawl out to go to work. Alone. It's unrealistic.

The suggestions the author actually does make are worn out and unreasonable. This is a woman who gives workshops for a living. You'd think one of her priorities would be her appearance. Yet she suggests we all buy only black accessories, for instance, so everything matches. That's absurd. She says the people at Vogue magazine shop at The Gap. They don't (I worked for Vogue). The author, herself, stopped getting manicures due to the cost, although she claims she can't grow out and take care of her own nails. There are ridiculous examples concerning all aspects of life, like coupon-clipping, brown-bagging it to work every day, and other little "tips" that none of us do for a variety of reasons.

In short, when my husband asked me what I thought of the book, I told him the author had basic good advice but I didn't want to meet her. The information may be valid, but it lies flat on the page.

FOR THOSE OVER FORTY: Get a copy of "Start Late, Finish Rich." The author lists specific investments and gives good, solid, later-in-life advice for those of us who are simply running out of time.

I have the hardback edition of this book and love it - it still sits on my desk and I refer to it a fair bit. I like the way the author realizes that the eky to managing spending is more psychological than logical - and she gives easy to follow solid advice about how to get out of your own way and get into good habits.

My advice: if you want to get more for your money - Buy it!

Many book are interesting to read, and then you forget all about them. Not "The MsSpent Money Guide," which I refer to over and over again. It is a book that has changed my life. Most of us feel helpless before ubiquitous money problems. Deborah Knuckey's book teaches you that you can be in charge of your financial welfare, that you are the architect of your future, and that you can be as well off moneywise as you want to be. She says, "Why spend so much of your life working if you don't use your earning in a way that makes you ahppy? Even if you love your job, most work is siimply not that much fun that we'd do it purely for the joy of it. So take the payment for your work and put it to your own best use." Knuckey believes that each of us has different life values, and it is foolish to go along with everyone else's. What mattters, she writes, is that your spending fit your own needs and not that of the Joneses. Some people like fine clothes, others could care less what they wear. Some of us enjoy eating in fine restaurants, others prefer cooking at home.Whatever it is that you enjoy, that is what you should be spending your money on. What matters is not how much money you have, but that it is invested in what will make you happy. Deborah Knuckey will teach you haow to do it. Don't miss reading this book, if you want to enjoy life to the fullest.

I recently saw Deborah Knuckey on Oprah, and her appearance was fantastic! In fact, that is why I bought her book. Everything she said was quite true,and the best part about her book is that it is not a budget book or a "scrimp and save" type plan. She encourages people to align their money with their values. If buying lunch everyday is what makes you happy, then do it. But, if the $5.00 per day you spend is taking away from something you would rather enjoy - like a vacation at the end of the year - then try to find out where you can put your money to make yourself personally satisfied. I also enjoyed the fact that Knuckey never tells you precisely what to do with your money. She simply encourages you to realize and understand exactly where it all goes. I know I spend money, and then at the end of the week, I wonder exactly what I did with it. Knuckey encourages you to be proactive and fully understand that you spend your own money and should track it accordingly. Her advice about retirement plans also helped me. I am in my twenties, and I have never given much thought to my life at the age of 65, but now I realize that I can retire a millionare by investing one hundred dollars or less somewhere else, instead of buying things I don't necessarily want or need. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to become a conscious spender and try to make their money work for them, while remaining happy and enjoying life at the same time. Thanks for the advice Ms. Spent!