Introduction
How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any is not a how to get rich book but a book about achieving financial stability. It is about doing the best with what you have. My book is the second edition of the book that the author wrote back in 2011.
Author
Erik Wecks is a full-time writer and blogger. He is an ordinary guy who had held several jobs before settling into current occupations. The author got into financial mire during the US recession and is sharing his tips on how to stay afloat when everything seems to be falling apart. Currently, he is focusing on fiction writing.
Content
How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any has 13 chapters. The author divides the book into 3 main sections. There are summaries within each section. Chapter 1 serves as the introduction. The first section deals with financial mission and consists of Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The second section is regarding strategies to accomplish the mission. Chapter 4 to 9 make up this second section. The final section is about the tactics that can be used to accomplish financial goals and complete the mission. This section contains 3 chapters. Chapter 13 is the conclusion of the book. This chapter contains the gist of the book and can serve as a quick guide.
Review
This book is very different from most financial books on the market. There is no tip about accumulating wealth, just some advice to keep on living with limited resources. The author uses his real-life experience as a common guy who faced the looming threat of losing his house to write the book. As this is not a book from some self-made rich guys, the content of this book is very relatable to the general public.
The author has a very negative view on all kinds of debt instruments, including credit card. I do not totally agree with his view but he is right in most aspects. He recommends using debt only when it has the potential to pay for itself and gives us return for the risk. In my opinion, credit card is not such a bad thing as the author describes. Used in the right way, it can actually help us to save money. However, we must make sure that we are not using credit card to buy things that we cannot afford. If we do that, it is considered as a bad debt. Only buy item that you have cash for it with credit card.
In order to avoid from slipping into unexpected debt, the author suggests the establishment of an emergency fund. The ultimate target is to keep an emergency fund equal to 6 to 10 months of our basic needs.
A budget is very important in managing our financials. The author recommends us to make a budget at least on a monthly basis. He proposes a zero-balance approach where every cent in our income is accounted for. This will help us to avoid overspending.
A financial roadmap is a tool to keep us on track over long term. The author provides his own financial roadmap as an example. The most important point in a financial roadmap is meeting our immediate needs first. There will be a few steps in our map and depending on our situation, we may have to move backwards on the map when we encounter setback. It is not easy but at least we have a plan to follow.
Overall, I think this book is good for everyone. It offers plain and concrete steps to take charge of our finances. Some of the author’s recommendations may not be applicable in Malaysia but the basic ideas are universal for us to achieve financial stability.
Quotes
- Lasting change takes more than simply changing what you do. Lasting change also requires that you alter what you believe about money.
- Wealth is not equal to financial stability.
- How you spend your money reflects your true values.
- Human desire is an unlimited and boundless ocean, a body of water that can never be filled.
- Aim at nothing, and you get nowhere. Aim at something, and even in long odds you often get closer than you would otherwise.
Rating
Interested in How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Any?
You may get the book from Kinokuniya Malaysia through the link below*.
*Disclosure: The above link is Involve Asia affiliate link. Thus, I may earn a small commission when you purchase the book through this link.
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