Customer Reviews

A Woman's Guide to Family Finances

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This book gives practical advice to any woman interested in getting control of family finances, whether she is married, single with kids or on her own.
It also includes help for financial recovery for the deeply in debt and for the suddenly unemployed.
Divided into two sections, Ellie Kay jumps into the hard truth with "Where Did All The Dough Go?"

Ms Kay's description of the America's normal family:
1. Married with two children
2. Modest home with a 30 year mortgage
3. $40,000 annual income
4. Savings account with less than $500 in it
5. $8,000 in credit card debt
6. Two car payments
7. No household budget
8. No long-term retirement account
9. They want their children to go to college


Where they hope to be One Fine Day
1, Paid off mortgage
2. Paid off credit cards
3. Nice savings account
4. IRAs
5. Kids sent to college
6. Retirement

And where they will actually be if they continue their financial habits shows a vast divide that hits all too close to home for many of us.

Ellie Kay asks, "What are you willing to do today in order to make your family's financial dreams cone true in the future?"

She goes on to show the different personalities and emotions that drive financial decisions. Chances are you will find yourself in one or more of these personalities as I did.
But, take heart, she gives practical ways to break free from the destructive spending cycles that accompany each of these personalities.

After facing the hard truth of who we are and how we spend, we get to take action in Section 2 "Money Management For Everyone"
In this section there are action steps such as Ten Tips to Save Ten Bucks in Ten Minutes (or less) and establishing a household budget, based on The Fifty Thousand Dollar Pyramid
This section is packed with useful information about everything from choosing a mortgage to garage sales and Ebay.

The last chapter brings home the spiritual reason for being financially secure. - So that we can give generously, in very practical ways, to those in need.
I enjoyed Ms Kay's entertaining sense of humor, which got me through even the painful areas of `self-recognition' and 'plastic (credit card) surgery'.

Do you dream of the day when . . .

. . . Your credit cards are paid off?

. . . You have a savings account and an IRA?

. . . You can take a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation?

Then A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is the book for you. Written in an entertaining, easy-to-read style, Ellie Kay will teach the reader how she took her family from over forty-thousand dollars in credit card debt, to being completely debt-free in two and a half years.

Ms. Kay shows in easy to understand chapters how to budget, how to save on essentials, how to go on a debt diet, and how to weather financial set-backs, including losing your job and looking for a new place of employment.

I don't usually like to read how-to books, but this book reads like a good novel. I had to keep reading. I learned some really valuable tips and relearned others that I'd forgotten and am looking forward to putting my new budget into operation.

A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book to read through once, but then come back to time and again as you are ready to make more financial changes. She advices you start small and build your way up so you don't go into shock and stop trying to save money. Whether you are a born spender or saver, A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book for a keeper shelf to be read and studied over and over. I'd recommend having your teenagers read it too, especially if they are soon to be on their own.

=== reviewed by Laura V. Hilton for Christian Bookshelf

Ellie Kay, once known as 'the coupon queen' is now called "America's Family Financial Expert" and this book helps show why. She shares practical strategies for making and sticking to a budget, going on a "debt diet", weathering financial setbacks (including touching and contrasting stories of people who suddenly found themselves unemployed, and how they handled it) how to save on essentials, and how to always share with those less fortunate, all in her fun, entertaining signature style.

I learn something new every time I read one of Ellie's books. This time I learned the Four Axioms to keep us from frugal burnout: 1. Shop LESS and you will save more, 2. Watch LESS television and save more, 3. THROW away mail order catalogs and save more (this one really hit home!) and 4. Bypass reading the ads in magazines and newspapers and save more.

Thanks, Ellie, for another excellent book that even the math-and-financially impaired of us can understand!

I was given this book as a gift. After reading the title "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" I figured my friend made a mistake and meant it for my wife.

But as I browsed the pages I dicovered something I had never thought about before. I'M THE WOMAN OF THE HOUSE!!! I keep the budget, the checkbook. I pay the bills and do the shopping. I always have my eagle eye out for that amazing deal to swoop down and grab before it's gone.

The financial advice here is sound, practical, and extremely useful. There is a spiritual component here too, but it is not so overwhelming as to deter someone not-so-inclined from pursuing and benefitting from Ms. Kaye's tips.

Even though I got this one free, I expect to save 40 to 50 times the book's retail price this year alone by following the bread crumbed path of Ellie Kaye's frugal wisdom.

As a banking consultant and MBA, I've gotten the finer aspects of personal money management pretty well nailed down. But I never miss the opportunity to pick up a good financial read, and will say this book had yet new ideas and fresh reminders on keeping my family's finances in good shape. Great take-aways.

The style in which author Ellie Kay writes carries the reader along (with a whole lot of laughs while Kay reveals her hilarious personal foibles) so what could have been a boring tome truly morphs into a page-turner. Don't pick it up if you've got insomnia, because you won't be falling asleep! I've read Suze Orman, David Bach, Andrew Tobias, and many other best-selling financial books. This one is right up there, and not to be missed.

No wonder the book is featured by Wal-Mart. I checked out the author's website and found some v. entertaining video clips as well, fyi.

Written with light humor, this book on a serious subject is a delight to read. Ellie writes as if she is sitting across a cafe table, drinking coffee with you. What makes the book fun to read - and interesting so you keep turning those pages - is that Ellie uses experiences from her own life and turns them into lessons for readers.

The advice Ellie gives in her book is rock solid and makes perfect sense, and she doesn't just tell you what to do, she gives the reader steps on how to do it.

This book is not a "How to Get Rich" book. It does not delve into the dark mysterious sometimes boring world of the inner workings of stocks, bonds, banks or international finances. "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" is a book that tells, step by step, what a woman can do to get herself out of debt and into the black in the most painless, easy to understand methods possible.

Chapters begin with interesting information, usually a personal experience Ellie has had. She then tells the lesson she learned from her experience. Then she lists the steps taken to correct the problem or make the success discussed.

I would recommend this book to any woman, no matter what stage of your life you are in. Young and just beginning to "I'm too old to change" (which I don't believe is ever true).

"A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" is a "must have" for any serious home library. Only Ellie Kay can strike to the heart of family finances with such humor and insight. This book is not just for the women in your life, but the men as well! How can such a young woman have such financial wisdom? This is truely a five-star, must have!

Ellie Kay does a masterful job helping families manage finances. In fact, the book should be titled, Family Guide to Finances, because she has the whole family involved! Having been raised by immigrant parents whose values helped me to become a responsible spender, saver, donator, Ellie's book still offers reasons to keep reading--from the eight money-saving/spending personalities (including, Love Ya Louie and Balanced Betty), resources for saving money online, keeping track of what we spend, to the Money Pyramid (starting with 10% FUN money). Most of all, her stories and digressions make this a real page-turner filled with valuable nuggets.

Dr. Phil focussed attention on the emotional and psychological barriers to weight loss with his book and television programs on the "Ultimate Weight Loss Solution." Like Dr. Phil, Ellie Kay is a Texan who has opened up a new dimension of thinking, but in the area of the family finances.

Ellie Kay's book, "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" gives friendly and useful tips on saving money, but also goes way beyond that. The book is a fun and fascinating exploration of the emotional and psychological barriers that block people from achieving their financial goals with the family budget. The book's opening up of the issue of why people who know they can save money are not doing it, makes this book one that you cannot put down once you start reading it. This book will open up your mind and is truly outstanding.

I was so excited to read this book. A simple, inspiring book to help me get my finances in order. This book told me step by step how to budget my finances and become debt free. My favorite part is the fun and encouragement Ellie gives along the way. Thank you!!!!