Debt-Proof Living: The Complete Guide to Living Financially Free [Paperback]

Mary Hunt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are plenty of heavily pedigreed personal-finance experts dishing out good advice, but not many who know what it's like to have to eat ramen all month to make a car payment. On the other hand, there's Mary Hunt, a recovered credit card addict whose free-spending ways landed her family in the middle of $100,000 of unsecured debt in the early 1980s. Pulling herself out of that morass gave Hunt the courage to strike out on her own as a writer, motivational speaker, and the brains behind The Cheapskate Monthly, a newsletter and Web site (www.cheapsk8.com) dedicated to promoting the art of living within one's means, a message that grows ever more urgent as the average American family struggles each year to pay $1,200 in interest alone on revolving, unsecured debt.

While Hunt's previous books have echoed some consistent themes--debt bad, saving good--they've addressed a hodgepodge of different areas: building financial confidence in women and kids, doing Christmas without a stack of credit cards, tips for gourmet cooking at low cost. In Mary Hunt's Debt-Proof Living, Hunt finally puts together a financial primer for all--whether retirees trying to decide when to start drawing Social Security or teenagers ready to sign for their first college loans. Security, according to Hunt, is built with simple tools: tithing, saving, paying off debt, creating a contingency fund for emergencies, driving used cars, owning a home, having insurance.

Although Hunt's "been there, spent that" zeal and warmth have turned her into the Ann Landers of personal finance, she's not just an agony aunt for spendthrifts--business experts will find her a savvy marketer who's using her name and story to build, somewhat ironically, a very effective brand. That doesn't negate her sincerity, however, or the fact that her advice is sound, her formulas work, and her Rapid Debt Repayment Plan has kept increasing numbers of families out of bankruptcy. And finally, Mary Hunt's Debt-Proof Living is just a joy to read--its clarity and lack of condescension make it a perfect gift for anyone just starting to understand the basics of money. --Barrie Trinkle

Product Description

Getting out of debt is only part of the plan. The reader learns how to give, save and build wealth using the Contingency Plan and Freedom Account along with the authors sound and proven principles. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DPL Press, Inc (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805420789
• ISBN-13: 978-0805420784
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #544,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply excellent, August 28, 2000

By	Michael Mendenhall "september17th" (Monterey, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Debt-Proof Living: The Complete Guide to Living Financially Free (Paperback)

What can I say? This is a darn good book. After reading "How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously" by Jerrold Mundis, I thought I had read it all. That book changed my life. This book by Mary Hunt has taken me to a higher level.

Strangely enough, what I like most about this book is the writing style. The content is excellent, but much of it I've read before. You know, cut up your credit cards, cut your expenses, save 10% of your income, etc. etc. etc. The style of writing makes the subject matter so much more enjoyable to read. I felt like the author was speaking directly to me as a human being. Considering the author had at one time $100,000 in unsecured debt, I'm impressed. She practices what she preaches.

In terms of content, the writing style is a joy to read, but there are some really good points made in this book. One idea, which was definitely worth the purchase was chapter 8. I had already been implementing that idea a little bit, but now I can refine it with the author's method and really make it work.

The point of this book is to make dealing with debt a proactive issue. Don't just work on paying off debt. Structure your life in such a way that you avoid debt at all costs. If you plan your life properly, it's entirely possible and quite easy I might add. Been there done that.

My favorite quote from the book came in the chapter about college students getting their first credit card. Most people I know have at least one credit card in case of an "emergency." Here's what the author had to say about that:

"If you accept a credit card with a big line of credit, I can guarantee you will have lots of emergencies. They'll come in the form of pizza and airline tickets, clothes and social events."

My advice if you're going to buy this book is read it through and mark the areas of interest. The chapters toward the end really didn't apply much to me, so I breezed through them rather quickly. The beginning chapters were excellent. The author has a way of understanding human nature having been there herself.

I'm giving this book 5 stars. That was easy. I found a couple of pieces of really valuable information in here. I plan to go back and read the book a couple more times to start mapping out my plan to the next level. If you have already paid off your debts, this book will help you keep it that way. If you are in debt, that's two reasons to buy this book. Just be sure to use your debit card, not your credit card. Well, in this case, you can cheat.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that makes sense!, January 6, 2000

By	Marie (Belen, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debt-Proof Living: The Complete Guide to Living Financially Free (Paperback)

I have been working on my debt for 5 years. The last 3 with the help of Mary Hunt, her books and The Cheapskate Monthly Newsletter. I can now say I have entered 2000 unsecured debt free! I did not know what I was going to do. After reading this book I have a plan and a direction. I know where to put my money for my Contigency Fund and how to better manage my Freedom Account. If you don't know what either of these two accounts are get the book! These two accounts along with your own attitude and determination will get you out of debt and keep you that way! This book is an easy read and extremely motivational, what everyone needs if they are contemplating getting rid of DEBT! Mary gives you the tools to JUST DO IT!

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Opinion, September 15, 2002

By	Sonja (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debt-Proof Living: The Complete Guide to Living Financially Free (Paperback)

The Good:
Hunt's book has a lot of great information that for the most part is clearly written. She covers everything from credit reports, to mortgages, to insurance and how to save money in these categories. The plan she leaves us with in order to get out of debt is a strong and solid one, that still allows you to have a life and actually create a savings plan wbile paying off debt. Using an RDRP calculator I designed for myself, I was pleased to see that I can pay off my $32,000 of debt in six and a half years, not taking into account and tax refunds, or raises beyond the cost of living increases I may take in.

The Bad:
As with any book that tries to get you to change your life, you need to pick and choose the ideas that best suit you and fit your lifestyle. Hunt tells us we should give 10% of our money away, in a sense back to God. Among other reasons, this is to feel more connected with the world. She states a few times how people write in saying that they'd rather give their time and how Hunt feels this runs counter to the principles of giving away money. I for one, feel much more connected to the world when I am volunteering - writing checks and putting them in the mail is what you do to those evil credit card people you're trying to get rid of.

Another GLARING frustration I had with the book was all the shameless plugs to her website. Not because I am against shameless plugs, but because in order to ACCESS the features she mentions, you have to buy a subscription! Key to the whole book is her Rapid Debt Repayment Plan (RDRP) which, as she puts it on her website, can be a very complicated thing to figure out on your own. If you have rudimentary knowledge of a spreadsheet program, such as excel (and no, you don't HAVE to be a financial whiz to figure it out), know how to use formulas and even hide columns, you can crete a RDRP for yourself and save yourself the $20 yearly subscription.

I found this caveat frustrating because it was not stated in the book that this was a subscription source (perhaps it wasn't when the book was published). So if you buy this book and can't figure out excel for yourself, you could easily spend almost $40 in no time that isn't going towards your credit payments. This issue made me question the line Hunt walks between her capitalistic enterprise (which she admits she loves) and her desire to truly help those of us out there with debt. What about giving 10% back to her readers?