The Credit Diet: How to Shed Unwanted Debt and Achieve Fiscal Fitness (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When my son reached his 13th birthday, he started thinking about how close he was to getting his driver's license..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Like a bad case of food poisoning, corporate malfeasance just won't go away. Columnist Don Silver stirs the corporate scandal pot in his parable about a chef who imparts the financial facts of life to his college-bound son, Cookin' the Book$: Say Pasta La Vista to Corporate Accounting Tricks and Fraud. "We think this is going to be a very big book, "says Adams-Hall marketing v-p Blair Randall. "It's a topic that's here to stay." To get Cookin' cookin', the.15-year-old company is planning a $50,000 promotional budget for this January release.
While Silver takes a humorous look at wrongdoing, political commentator Arianna Huffington provides a more sobering approach in her indictment of big corporations, Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America (Crown, Jan.) There are light-hearted moments, however, including Huffington's P.I.Q. Test, which includes multiple choice questions on such subjects as the name of Bernie Ebbers's 60-foot yacht (Aquasition) and George W. Bush's nickname for pal Kenneth Lay (Kenny Boy).
In another Crown title out next month, Sweet Potato Boss Queen Jill Conner Browne provides plenty of food for thought on finance, and just about everything else, in her third collection of words of wisdom, The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner). Among the tips not to be found in, say, the Wall Street Journal are: "Rich old people are generally more attractive than poor old people, so by all means, try to get rich before age sets in. Otherwise, you'll just be playing catch-up for the rest of your life and that will just wear you out." Intermingled with bon mots are recipes for comfort foods like Pig Candy (bacon, brown sugar, chopped pecans) and Fried Dill Pickles.
For those whose finances could benefit from slenderizing, John Furhman offers a debt-loss plan, The Credit Diet: How to Shed Unwanted Debt and Achieve Fiscal Fitness (Wiley, Jan.), based on real examples and personal experience. -- J.R. (Publishers Weekly, December 23, 2002)

Product Description

"You’ll treasure the practical insights and the useful tips in this book. You’ll think differently, act smarter, and increase your wealth by learning John Furhman’s ideas."
–Nido R. Qubein
Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Co.
Founder, National Speakers Association Foundation

It’s no big surprise that each year thousands of people fall into debt. What is shocking is that many of us accept the fact that we could be in debt for the rest of our lives. John Fuhrman should know because he has been there, but he decided to put a plan together that would eliminate debt from his life for good.

In The Credit Diet: How to Shed Unwanted Debt and Achieve Fiscal Fitness, award-winning speaker and bestselling author John Fuhrman uses his personal life experience of overcoming debt to provide you with a practical and easy-to-follow road map that will help you to rise above your current financial situation and take the necessary action to remove debt from your life.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (December 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471250708
• ISBN-13: 978-0471250708
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #379,502 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can finally get out of debt!, December 16, 2002

By A Customer

This is the year I do it. Finally a book that understands what people have to go through to pay bills. I'll be able to pay off my debts AND put more money in the bank this year than I have in the last few years. Even when I was earning more money.

John Fuhrman makes it simple to understand why budgets don't work and how changing the way you think about money is the most important first step.

I've read all the finance experts and while they have great information, there is no way to take advantage of it until I get out from under all this debt. Then I can use their information to secure my future.

If this is the year you want to eliminate debt from your life and start really building a financial future, this is the one book to own.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Chapter 4 is 5 stars, the rest of the book I rate 0 stars., February 8, 2003

By	J. Scott Langworthy "Woofgeed" (Queensbury, New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First off, I like his ideas, and I didn't mind spending 10 bucks to get those ideas. That being said, the book itself is simply long winded, wandering, meandering and simply fluff for a concept that upon another review was discussed in detail, and the point well made by simply reading Chapter 4, JANE-A CASE STUDY.

Those 9 pages explain fully what his entire concept is, and how it works. He spends the other 200 pages giving you affirmations and positive thought. I'm sure some people will find that soothing, but I was looking for hard core ideas, and some meat on the bone. It's not here.

As an example, to explain a bit about paying down your mortgage sooner, he shows you charts of every payment made over the life of a thirty year mortgage. That encompasses 12 pages. Then he shows how making extra payments will make your loan go quicker. With this we add another 4 pages of detailed payment charts. So in 16 pages he executes an idea that he could fit in a well written page. Does he think we will actually look at all these minute details for every payment? Not me.

For those of you who are in serious credit debt, or who are unfamiliar with finances in general, this book can help you get a grip on debt and can really make a difference(Chapter 4 anyway). Don't get upset at his constant positive affirmations, simply skim and move on. When you find the meat of this book. Read it and learn it. Therein is the real value. Chapter 4 I rate 5 Stars, the rest of the book, I rate 0.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I would recommend it........, June 27, 2003

By	pina3470 "pina3470" (Bronx, New York United States) - See all my reviews

I checked this book out of the library about two days ago... I finished and dropped it off yesterday. I would recommend this to anyone who feels at a lost when it comes to saving money......
I am going to caution that if your credit card debt is already in collection some of his principles will be hard to follow to the letter... Bascailly he want the reader to go on a credit diet... use only 90%of the income pay instead of the full 100%....Personally I am in deep debt....however I have begun my journey to freedom by writing down all of my accounts,listing them in a large book which is divide into two. The first half is for account that will be paid off.... the second is for monthly payments such as rent,insurance and utilies..... I am reading several other books and taking notes.... once I begin to build my wealth account I will transfer some of the funds to a low risk investment...