I just got done reading a book by Jane Bryant Quinn. Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People was a simple book about how to start your money budgeting and getting your money on track. It was a very easy read, and I really liked it. It got straight to the point and had a lot of great information.
This book is not a get rich quick book. It is a book that teaches a smart and easy way to start managing your finances. She uses a very simple approach that she says can’t fail. She calls it “Automatic Budgeting”. It basically just means you set all your bills and investments up so that they take care of themselves. If you want to save 10% of your income in a Traditional IRA, then have a payroll deduction that places that 10% in the IRA. She says start taking this money out and act like you do not have it. You keep all your living money in your checking account. You then move all the money you want to save and/or invest into other accounts. If you want to pay off your debt, set up automatic payments.
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This was the one thing I did not like about the book. She had too much faith in the readers that they would not spend more then what they had in their bank account. She said take out all the money you need to pay bills and you want to invest. Even add more to the amount of debt you want to pay. Then what you have left is what you live on. She really did not go through a budget, which I think is a very big thing. She just kept insisting that you would not spend more than what you had in your bank accounts.
Other than this, I really liked the book. This book is very good for people who want to set up their finances and just leave them alone. This really does not work for me because I do want to be involved in my finances. That is why I started this blog. But she had a wealth of little tidbits that I know I will keep for a while, and that is why I liked the book. She had a ton of information on saving for your children’s college tuition. As I am about to open a 529 account, this information was very helpful.
All in all, I would give this book a Must Read just the websites and information she includes.
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