Crazy Saving with Coupons – “Pick Another Check-out Lane, Honey” Book Review
Posted by Ed on August 12, 2010
- Success stories
- Stockpile in case of job loss
- Stockpile in case of sharp food inflation
- Stockpile in case of rise in gas price
- Stockpile for peace of mind
- Obtain multiple subscripts to local major newspaper with coupon circulars.
- Buy coupons online(ebay, among others)
- Pay attention to Catalina. Catalina is the small gray box that prints out coupons after you grocery store purchase.
- Coupon websites
- Double coupons
- “Perfect storm: Sale price + Promo + coupon”
- Instructions on how to get things for free and/or make money.
Free Christian Audio Book Each Month (MP3 Format)
Posted by The Happy Rock on December 3, 2008
For those that are interested, ChristianAudio.com offers at least on free full length audio book for download each month.
Dec. 2008 is 90 Days of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. Check back at the start of each month to see what the new selection is.
They also having a growing collection of free books, interviews, and podcasts that also can be downloaded for free. Click here to search the list.
Enjoy. Don’t forget there is only a few hours left to enter the contest for DD’s free Time Magazine subscription.
» Filed Under Books, Frugality, Money Savers
Finding Out What Matters – A Perfect Day Review
Posted by The Happy Rock on August 25, 2008
I recently finished a fiction novel called A Perfect Day by Richard Paul Evans. I am not sure how it got on our bookshelf, but I needed something to read one night and the dust jacket pulled me in enough to start it. I was pleasantly surprised. It isn’t a masterpiece, but it kept my interest and left me satisfied. I was even more surprised that it touched upon a couple of personal finance topics that I find near to my heart and I had no personal finance agenda when I started out.
The story covers a business man that finds himself abruptly out of work and decides to accomplish a life long dream of finishing his first novel. The novel lands him a top the bestseller list and he relishes the whirlwind fame while his wife and daughter are left watching his life from a distance. The main character ends up on an unexpected journey to find out what is important to him in the midst of his new found fame and money.
Below is an excerpt that will give you a flavor of the story behind the story. The scene is towards the end of the novel during an interview between the main character and Diane Sawyer with his wife and daughter watching back home. It is the point were he begins to come to the realization that he lost his way, an apology of sorts.
Diane Sawyer – I imagine that your sudden success has been a little overwhelming.
Robert Harlan - It has. In ways I wasn’t ready for it. Frankly, if I had to do it over again…I wouldn’t
Diane Sawyer – There are probably several thousand aspiring authors watching us right now who would give anything to be in your shoes.
Robert Harlan – I am sure there are. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. My readers have been great, so have my publisher and agent. But success can be a trap. Maybe someone else could have handled success better. But I lost sight of the big picture. My book is a best-seller for a little while, at least until the next big thing bumps me off, but I will always be a husband. And I will always be a father. If I give up those things for a temporary seat in the musical chairs of fame, then I am a fool.
If you like that type of fiction or those topics interest you, grab a copy from the local library and give it a read. It might just impact your career and your finances.
» Filed Under Books, Careers, Chasing Dreams
Book Review : The Quiet Millionaire by Brett Wilder
Posted by The Happy Rock on October 8, 2007
Recently I recieved a copy of The Quiet Millionaire: A Guide for Accumulating and Keeping Your Wealth by Brett Wilder from a publicist. I jumped at the chance to read a new finance book, and bring the review to The Happy Rock readers.
To start, when reading a book of advice, you must take a look at the author. Brett Wilder “is a Certified Financial Planner® with over forty years of professional experience as a personal and business financial adviser. He founded the Financial Management Group, Inc. in 1989, a fee-only financial management and investment advisory firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ” That resume looks pretty solid. Brett should know his stuff, so let’s take a look at what he knows.
The book is meant to be an inside look at the type of clients that he professionally manages. These aren’t your Donald Trump’s, but your slow wealth accumulating business owner types called “Quiet Millionaires”. The book contains 15 chapters that attempt to define the decisions that have facilitated his clients millions. It covers the basic building blocks in personal finance like exploration of your purpose and relationship to money, a personal financial review, budgeting, home ownership, business ownership, health care, insurance, borrowing, and investing. The chapters average about 25 pages, and don’t get bogged down in the minutia. It reads quickly, and is well organized and laid out.
What I liked :
1. The approach to wealth building is refreshing. It is encouraging to see more books that aren’t preaching get rich quick schemes. It is especially encouraging to think that most of his clients accumulated wealth in an ‘average’ fashion.
2. Most of the pertinent personal finance topics are covered. The chapters provide enough meat to get you asking most of the right questions on a given topic.
3. The book contains a few nice lists that grabbed my attention: 7 major obstacles to financial success and 7 investing mistakes. They were pretty spot on, and were delivered succinctly.
4. The “Quiet Millionaire Wisdom” margin notes and the chapter summaries are helpful for skimming and gleaning the authors main points.
What I didn’t like :
1. I personally know that a lot of the techniques in the book are solid, but I am not sure that a person who is new to personal finance would be convinced that this is the path to millions. I don’t think the book backs up the title by underselling the idea that these principles work. The book read much more like “The Beginner Guide to a Solid Financial Future”, rather backing up it title. This is more a knock on the title, not the content.
2. Large sections that were not that relevant. A good example would be the multiple pages describing the differing Medicare plans. I just skimmed these sections, but they may be more relevant to others.
3. Some of the sections are weak. Mr. Wilder sees that most of clients are small business owners and is a big proponent of that path. Amazingly, the chapter on business ownership was lacking. Also the coverage on what I consider junkier insurance policies like whole life was questionable.
4. The constant request to seek the proper financial professional got old and took away some of the book’s credibility.
To wrap up: if you have the basic financial concepts down and are looking for deeper knowledge or support on your quest, I would look elsewhere. Given the title I wish that it would have given a little more coverage on who Brett Wilder is and why the information is important. The fact that most of the book is based on real life millionaires that are Mr Wilder’s client is extremely important and relevant, but not given enough coverage.
In all though, I think this is a good book. If you are looking for a book that covers most of the personal finance topics reasonably well in one place, then this book is a good place to start.
Sources : The Quiet Millionaire Website
» Filed Under Books, Productivity(Financial)
The Happy Rock is a dual writer personal finance and personal development community dedicated to creating positive change that propels us towards success.
