Customer Reviews

Pay It Down!: From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Find an extra ten dollars a day, apply it to your credit card debt, DON'T CHARGE ANY MORE on those cards and in 3 years you'll have paid off a huge chunk of debt....maybe even all of it.
That is the basic info in this book and it simply isn't reason enough to buy it. Like dieters who lost 10 or 20 pounds and then gain it back, those who are in debt are likely to fall back into debt again - unless they change their way of thinking bigtime.
That is why credit card companies love those customers who are paying 10, 12, even 17 percent interest. They might pay it down but odds are they'll also rack up the debt again. Plenty of credit card companies even INCREASE the credit limit for these folks. Why not? From their point of view, it may be quite profitable.
Finally, there is another problem that ISN'T addressed by this book - and that is the belief that there is an extra $10.00 a day to be found in the average budget. Truth is, some people are paying for the necessities of life with credit cards - food, home, medical bills. For them, not only is there no extra money to be found, there is not a single area in the bduget that can be cut. An extra job, better health insurance or some other type of solution might help them but until that comes along they aren't likely to shuck the credit card habit. And they certainly shouldn't spend their hard earned money on this book.
For the average person, buying this book won't hurt a thing...but it won't solve your problems, either, unless you are willing to take a good hard look at your spending patterns and make some PERMANENT changes - stop charging, get an extra job, don't buy a thing that isn't necessary. For those willing to examine every purchase in the light of a new, more spartan outlook, change is possible. But will this book be the only guide you need? Don't think so. Meeting with a good financial counselor on a regular basis (think of this person as " a personal trainer " for your financial life)could bring about more longterm results.

I agree with some of the criticism that this book is aimed at professionals with a relatively high income, no money management skills, and a high amount of credit debt.

However, I do think that it has some great basic information about paying bills, transferring credit card balances, understanding and improving your credit score, and creating a monthly budget. These are tips anyone can use.

I consider myself to be pretty fiscally responsible, but I picked up some good organizational tips and some interesting facts about transferring debts. The book is a quick read and written in a conversational tone.

Oh, and I did get the book from the library. I suggest borrowing it or buying it at a reduced cost, reading the chapters that pertain to your situation, and taking a few notes. No need to own this one.

I have to agree with the very first poster. There wasn't anything here particularly insightful to me. If I had an extra $10 a day I wouldn't be in debt. I've already done the suggestions on cutting back years ago so this wasn't helpful. I found Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover much more helful and doable.

There is very little information included in this book that is not included on the cover. I was very glad I borrowed it from my library rather than buying it. For some good reading on the same subject, check out something by Mary Hunt, or another true expert who will give some real, in-depth advice and actually set your mind to working.

Pay It Down is fluff reading.

There's useful stuff here but only ion the most rudimentary way. I might give this book to a newly wed couple if they haven't the faintest idea about how to manage money but anyone else would already be beyond the elementary concepts of the book.

I think Chatzky is simplistic in her approach, too. Her idea is to save at least 10.00 daily by reducing discretionary spending - coffee, eating out, etc. - and using that money to reduce debt but I doubt that the average family can scrape up an extra 300.00 per month by washing their own car. There's just not enough here to make the book a worthwhile buy.

Jean Chatzky reports on finance for the Today show and Money magazine. This interesting little book shows the average Joe just how much difference can be made in one's finances with very small changes.

Often those of us on the go fall into bad habits like stopping to buy that $1.50 cup of coffee on the road to work..rather than spending mere pennies by taking it with us from home.

Or how about spending $6 a day eating out at fast food when you can take your lunch and save $20 - $25 a week. We get into bad habits of spending where we don't need to and it's breaking those old habits with new ones that "Pay it Down" is all about.

If you spend a few minutes after reading this book and just examine your routines you'll see that you can save a lot.

I have already taken the advice in this book and contacted not only my cell phone co. but also my local phone co. and found alternative plans that will save me some $40 per month on those two bills.

I've found that these companies are more than happy to help (at the alternative of you changing companies) and there are a lot of plans out there that you don't know about unless you actually call.

If you look around...there's tons of little things you can change that WILL add up to significant savings over a month.

Nice book!

Yep! If you are overpaid and fritter away your cash on extravaganzas at Starbucks and on two exotic vacations a year, leaving yourself floundering in a pool of fiscal red ink, then this is the tome for you! But, you may be too dumb for it to do any good anyhow.
However, if you are one of the average working Americans who has cut his budget to the bone and to the bone again, you will not find much here. Oh, you can send send your PDA, whatever that is, back to the store and only take ONE swell vaction a year. Well, duh...
I was particularily distressed by the health care discussion. The author has no conception how difficult it is for the average person to obtain and pay for adequate health care. Could you image how much more difficult it would be if you or your child had even the most minor health imperfection?
Frankly, I think the author makes far too much money to competently advise the common folk. Spend less. Save more. It has all been said before!
But, you can save your first ten dollars a day by checking this book out of your library and paying off your debts with the savings.

Cancel the cable, pack a lunch, learn to do your own nails, skip the morning bagels and take the bus to work, blah, blah, blah. Chatzky's advice is identical to every single financial guru out there who has preached to the American middle class over the past two decades. Pay It Down is loaded with all the standard financial advice clichés and has the appeal of a warmed-over latte (oh yeah, you're supposed to skip those, too). The only relief this book provides is comedic, and that's when the author comes off sounding like the Queen of England dispensing advice on having a successful garage sale. The painfully dated suggestions within just don't address the problems of REAL American families who are already struggling to balance their checkbooks and make time for husbands and/or kids. When it comes down to the real bottom line, an extra hour spent commuting on the bus or time with loved ones, I choose my family. Furthermore, if you MUST read this book, don't buy it. Take the author's advice on page 137, USE THE LIBRARY. I did.

I read this book thinking it would have the answers for the people I try to help and provide advice to. The jacket and cover reviews would lead one to assume that this book is workable and doable. The author tells you to evaluate what caused your financial problem, as if you had no idea. Then she tells you to set aside $10 each day to pay down debt, as if you don't know that is $300 per month. Then she tells you to refinance your mortgage or get an equity line of credit, call your credit card companies and ask for a lower interest rate, have a garage sale, and so on. All suggestions any person who desires to get out of debt can learn with a basic search of "get out of debt" on any reasonable internet search engine. Very basic information that most people know.

There is nothing wrong with this book... but there's not a whole lot substantial either. Look at your budget and see what you can cut for the long term goal of debt reduction.

The health care section is particularly distressing - sorry, not a lot of help either. This book also seems to be geared to those in the mid-upper to upper income brackets.

Like I said, nothing wrong, but not that helpful either.