I had too much debt, no savings and had no idea how to build a real budget and live within my means. In June of 2009 my finances were a mess and I needed help badly. There are thousands of families with their finances in the same state of disarray today, and looking for something or someone to help them get on the right path.
I had the opportunity to take an advanced look at a new book by blogger and Certified Financial Planner Jeff Rose which aims to help people in situation just like mine.
Soldier Of Finance leans heavily on Jeff’s experiences to provide meaningful analogies between being an a soldier in the armed forces, and handling finances successfully. The book invites readers to imagine themselves being a new military recruit learning the ropes of being a soldier. This is my favorite part of my book, as it’s sometime easier to make major changes to your lifestyle if you step outside your comfort zone, and take on almost a completely different persona.
The book conquers every mission you’ll ever need to get your finances in tip top shape including:
- Creating a meaningful budget
- Identifying spending problems
- Credit repair
- Paying off debt
- Preparing for emergencies
- Investment Basics
While I agree with the importance Jeff puts on ensuring the accuracy of your credit report as well as his methods on how to fix any errors, the concept of how to increase your credit score was presented rather early in the book. In my opinion, it seems more logical to build a good financial foundation before engaging in activities to increase your credit score.
I also would have liked to have seen the inclusion of guidance if readers find their finances in such a dire state that they cannot dig themselves out and require some sort of outside help (debt relief plan) to get their finances moving in the right direction.
I really enjoyed Jeff’s use of real military terms adapted for the world of personal finance to explain important concepts. The military analogies help emphasize that the same concepts that could save your life on the battlefield, can also save your finances.
When I asked Jeff who his target audience was for the book, he said:
“My target audience is anyone that has made bad financial choices in the past and seeks improvement. They are tired of not having control of their money and are motivated to finally have a stronger relationship with their finances.”
As someone who has made plenty of financial mistakes and had zero control over my finances for over thirteen years, I have had to address all the concepts in this book on my financial recovery. The book not only re-enforced that the important changes Vonnie and I have made over the last four years were necessary, but also pointed out several areas of improvement.
The book is an easy read and serves not only as an instruction manual, but a reference book that families could put on their bookshelves and reread on a regular basis to give their finances a checkup.
If you’re ready to go to war with your finances, you can purchase your own copy from Amazon. But before you whip out your debit cards and head over to Amazon, you could also win a copy right here on Enemy of Debt!
To enter the give away leave a comment stating what part of your finances need the most help. Make sure you leave your email address when entering your comment (email address will not be made public) so I can contact you and arrange shipment if you win. The contest will close at 11:00pm Central Time on Thursday, September 12th.
The winner will be announced in Friday’s “I Love You Like a Blogger Roundup” post on September 13th. Good luck!
I have really begun to seriously get back on track with our finances. Other than our mortgage that started in 2011 and large student debts (>$150k), our other debts are on track to be paid off in less than 12-months. I really need help with preparing for emergencies (emergency fund) and investments since we will now have cash available that was previously going to credit cards.
Anything helps and I believe you can never learn enough!
Not being aware of my husbands finances was my biggest mistake. We both work for the same company, and four years ago, they started instituting furloughs every year, sometimes twice a year. He had always commented on how good I was with my money, so when the furloughs started, he came to me and said he couldn’t pay his bills. This is a long story…lol, so I will just say that he graciously allowed me to take over our finances, and four years later, we are still working on paying off this mountain of debt, but we are able to pay our bills each month, have a savings account started, and no longer use our credit cards. The situation, and our credit scores improve every year.
If you are married, sit down with your spouse, and be sure you both know, understand, and agree on a financial plan!
I am starting a new business and need to separate my financials from the business financials.
long time reader of jeff rose……i could use help funding college for 2 girls
I would say the most help I need in regards to finances is understanding investments.
We are a large family of 10 and I really need help with budgeting….ugh!
The finances at my house are always a work in progress but hopefully we will be back on track around summer of next year. We just need to further reduce our wasteful spending on things such as cable television and taking way too many trips to the store.
This book looks like a road map to help me recover from debt overload. It would be great to use this book as my finance bible.
I would like some ideas on saving for an emergency fund as this has been quite difficult. Thank-you..
I’m always looking for new PF books to read, this would be a great addition to the list!
For me, I need a lot of help with my debt – namely my student loans.
Budgeting! Getting on a workable and simple, easy to follow budget with my wife. To create ‘margin’ in our lives and to create exciting goals to work towards. Thank you!
I need to get better about making an actual concrete budget so I don’t overspend and end up relying on my credit cards as I have in the past.