The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Living on a Budget, 2nd Edition (The Pocket Idiot's Guide)

List Price: $9.95 Discount Price: $5.30

Customer Reviews:

Short and Easy to Do [Posted on 2006-05-30]
I read this short book in just a couple hours and by the end I had a working budget that is doable for my family's lifestyle. I really like the idea of having separate monthly monetary limits on personal pocket money, family allowance and personal allowance. I definitely had the Starbucks syndrome, where I spend so much money on lunches, coffee and snacks that I was frittering away thousands a year. Having only a certain amount in cash each week in my pocket for all of these little expenses has been really helpful, and I don't have write down everytime I buy a coffee. I also really like the separate savings accounts - for the must fund, rainy day fund, want fund, and other contingencies like insurance and taxes. I just put a certain amount away in a separate account each month and then just pay it when some it comes due. Perfect if you just want a quick guide to making a helpful and uncomplicated budget.

Empowering [Posted on 2006-10-22]
I have read several budgeting books, and have even taken a class at my bank about budgeting. All of them left me with the message "you want more money? save some!" without giving me real guidelines on how to do it. I had a financial epiphany when I read this book. I now have a savings account with automatic payroll deduction. This account is for emergencies, fun things like travel, and what I call "sporadic predictables" like car insurance and bills I pay every 10 weeks that often catch me off guard. Then the rest of the money from my paycheck is carefully but flexibly divided into obligations (like mortgage and student loans), controllable necessities (like the electric bill and phone bill), and then spendable money. The confidence I feel now after reading this book is well worth the affordable price. I highly recommend it.

Sound Information [Posted on 2007-08-31]
I gave this book to each of my children as they began life on their own. It is full of good, basic information about budgeting.

Do Your Budget A Favor, Get A Different Book [Posted on 2007-09-11]
This book isn't expensive and it isn't without merit, but I recommend you look elsewhere. With all due respect to the authors, this book is rather gimmicky. The flow of the book is choppy and at several points the authors drop the ball by treating various subject with a degree of shallowness that is disappointing even for such a small pocket book. One example is the treatment of credit cards. They repeat the common mantras about credit cards, but the coverage of situations not to use credits cards is repetitive and there is no discussion whatsoever of point-systems that many credit cards offer--an amazing way for a person on a budget to expand their purchasing power.

I close the cover of this book feeling that I've just hung up the phone with a chatty telemarketer, somewhat impressed with their jovial presentation but feeling hardly educated by the interchange.

Good basic budget book [Posted on 2008-10-01]
This book is great if you don't know anything about budgets at all. It's a short quick read that doesn't really go in depth, very basic

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