This is my second time writing this epinion. The first time after spending hours on it Epinions would not let it go through due to their system being down. When I hit the back button to get my information it was all gone. Talk about frustrating. So here I go again...
How to Get What You Want in Life with the Money You Already Have is a great book by Carol Keeffe. It was published in 1995 and is 235 pages long. There are seven chapters as follows: I Don't Have Any Money, So What Good Is This Book?, Pay Yourself First, Did You Say, Pay the Minimum on My Installment Bills, How to Divide Up $5? You're
Kidding!, Myths, Money Games, and More, Planning for Your Happiness-Today and Tomorrow and Summing It Up~Where Do I Go from Here?
In the introduction she states that she is not a finance expert, a business major or a licensed anything in the area of money. She is just an ordinary person with an ordinary paycheck who has discovered money methods that work. This book was written to put fun back into your life. It is all about your values and choices. She says that whether you live on $6,000, $60,000 or $600,000 a year you will benefit from this book.
In the first chapter she shares stories of different people with different money situations. They all had in common that they spent more than they made, had little or no money in savings, had installment bills, had a feeling of helplessness regarding bills and no long-range money plan. She learned that the problem was not making more money, it
was learning to manage the money she did have.
She recommends a fun game to save for a goal. It is called The Change Game. It doesn't matter if you are saving for a short-term or a long-term goal. It just needs to be something that you want. You get a container and label it what you are saving for. This is very important so that it will motivate you to work harder towards the goal. Every time you get change you put it into this container. Always round up payments in a store to get change back. Your change will build up faster than you think. I have personally done this for different projects that I was doing or things I was saving for. It is fun and is an easy way for me to save. Kids enjoy this game too!
She gives you three steps to take you from where you are now to where you want to be. They are: discovering what really matters to you, choosing based on what you value and acting according to your choices. She tells you more information about each of these steps in the book.
Chapter two tells you to always pay yourself first. No matter how much money you don't have you can always start with just one dollar from your paycheck. If you were to save just $3 a day after one year you would have $1,095. That is a big amount for just a mere $3 a day. There are
a lot of things that you could probably give up to be able to put back a small amount each day. Coffee, cokes, cigarettes, newspapers and things like that are things that are here today and gone tomorrow.
Chapter three tells you to pay the minimum each month on your installment payments. She explains how many people struggle to pay every penny possible to their debts and then when they have an emergency they have no savings. Or if something comes up that they really want they just charge it therefore making them always have a debt. She suggests that you pay the minimum amount each month. I know that it
sounds crazy to only pay the minimum amount on your credit cards, but I can see how it is true that you would always be charging if you had no savings. So the main point when paying the minimum on your cards is to completely stop using them. She tells you what worked for her
and what didn't.
Here is what she says is the ten powerful benefits from paying the minimum on installment bills:
1. Having money left for me.
2. We're breaking the cycle.
3. Positive energy is created by positive choice.
4. We're recognizing new choices.
5. The positive choice to be in charge removes many of the bad feelings surrounding the bills.
6. We're taking control.
7. Paying the minimum discourages us from using our credit cards.
8. We've shifted our energy to the present.
9. We've taken away the guilt.
10. We've set new priorities based on what we truly value.
She goes into detail on each of these points. She also answers these questions and challenges to the "minimum" concept:
~But what about all that interest I'm paying?
~But I'll have this bill forever.
~If I get a raise or have a little extra money, shouldn't I put that money toward the bills?
~But what if each month I faithfully pay off the balance on my credit cards?
~But I want to pay off all my bills so I can start with a clean slate.
~You keep talking about the importance of feeling good. Well, I'll feel real good and have lots of inner satisfaction when the #!@% bills are out of my hair!
~But I don't think I can feel in control unless my credit cards are paid off.
~What's wrong with carrying credit cards if I don't use them?
~But what if I put just a little extra toward the bills each
month...maybe just ten or twenty dollars more?
She explains her thoughts and feelings on each of these. She also goes over methods on paying your bills, credit card and bill paying tips.
The fourth chapter tells you to diversify. She suggests setting up separate accounts for each goal. She tells you the power of a lump sum (if you were to get one)of money and how much it would make over a certain amount of years.
Chapter five lists four money myths for you and explains each of them. The she lists 26 different money games. The first one is The Change Game which I told about earlier in this review. Another game is The Found Money Game. There is always found money that could be
saved for a goal. Sources include: cash from birthday, holiday gifts, rebate checks, refunds, coupons, gifts, machine returns, recycling, store returns, bottle returns, and any other unexpected money that may come your way. She gives you nine different buying tips. She also gives information on an IRA account and insurance
tips.
The sixth chapter gives you a list of ideas for categories. Each category should have a separate savings account or place to save the funds for it. Her categories include: financial independence account, emergency account, emergency future, children now, children future, short-term goal, middle-term goal, long-term goal, car account, tax account, holiday account, charity/church, investment account and any other type of hobby account. She goes into detail about each of these categories. She lists for your five keys to creating a money plan that takes you all the way to your goals. She tells you how to use a master money plan sheet and provides you with a copy of a blank one.
The seventh chapter sums it all up for you. This book is filled with personal stories of the author and of all different individuals and couples with different money situations. It is interesting and easy to read. It will definitely motivate you start some type of savings plan
if you do not already have one in place.
To Contact the Author:
Keeffe Seminars
P.O. Box 1965
Lynnwood, VA 98046
(206) 672-0212
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