Who doesn’t want more money? Money can provide us freedom and flexibility to live our lives how we want and do things that we otherwise would not be able to do. Whether it’s travelling, being able to use your time volunteering instead of working for a paycheck, or having more time to spend with friends and family, we all need money to reach our goals.
The folks over at Plume were kind enough to provide me with a copy of Scott Gamm’s new book More Money, Please: The Financial Secrets You Never Learned in School. Gamm covers a variety of personal finance topics, including budgeting, negotiating, credit cards, debt, and job hunting. Before I tell you what I thought, about his book, there are two things to keep in mind:
- Tough Market to Write To – While you might think young adults are an easy “target market” for personal finance, I actually think it’s difficult to write a book for this audience. Gamm took on pretty much the hardest target market: college students and recent grads. The problem is there is such a wide level of knowledge and a wide range of where people are at in life. You essentially are grouping in recent high school graduates who are just now figuring out what it means to be “on their own” and recent grads who have a job and may even be married or own a house. Writing a book for this market is incredibly difficult.
- Personal Finance books are a “Dime a Dozen” – There are thousands upon thousands of personal finance books, so it’s not easy to write a book that stands out in any particular way. As many personal finance authors do, Gamm covers topics that have been covered time and time again. I kept this in mind when reading, realizing that there is inevitably going to be overlap with the endless number of personal finance books on the market.
There were a number of things I really enjoyed about More Money, Please. In particular, Gamm’s explanation of how to deal with credit card debt is a must-read. It’s fairly basic concept, but when you are steeped in debt it’s easy to miss simple solutions for getting rid of your debt. Additionally, his coverage of how to save money through couponing, deals, and negotiation were valuable and immediately applicable to any age group. I also liked that he ended with an action plan of ten things you can do now to improve your financial situation. The nice thing about this list is that all of these practical tips are explained in detail throughout the book. For example, in the chapter about using negotiation to save money, he specifically explains how to save money on groceries, hotel rooms, etc.
There were a few things I disliked about this book. First, sometime Gamm goes explanation point crazy. It’s a bit distracting when you see ! hundreds of times in the course of a book. Additionally, as I already mentioned, he may have target too wide a range of individuals. It seems like he is “kind of” catering to recent grads, “kind of” catering to college students, and “kind of” catering to people finishing up high school. One final nitpicky thing that bugged me was the fact that he defined what a checking account is. The direct quote, “A checking account is where you deposit your money, either in check or cash form.” Unless you are targeting middle- or high-schoolers, no personal finance author should have to explain what a checking account is.
Overall, though, this is a solid book that I would recommend for college students and younger. This would actually make a great graduation gift for a high school grad. Additionally, I do think that 99% of college students would find this to be a valuable read, and I appreciate the detail he went into with some of the topics.
Win it!
The folks at Plume have been kind enough to sponsor a giveaway of More Money, Please: The Financial Secrets You Never Learned in School. Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway will end at 11:59pm CT on June 27th, and is open to all US Residents. See full terms and conditions in the widget.
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Lol, your ! observation totally reminds me of an early Seinfeld episode is a bit over the top with using them. That said, sounds like an interesting book for the right crowd.
FrugalRules I have been known to go a bit exclamation point crazy in my commenting, but over the course of a book it gets to be a bit too much. It definitely is a good book for the right audience. I might get one as a grad gift for a high schooler whose grad party we are going to in a couple weeks.
Sounds like an interesting book! Nice giveaway!
Holly at ClubThrifty Thanks Holly : )
Looks like an interesting book! Thanks for the giveaway.
Suburban Finance No problem!
I agree, definitely a difficult target audience. The problem I find is that while us old fogeys look back and wish we had more financial knowledge back then, the reality is that most kids that age simple don’t have the experience to really care or even to truly understand the lessons. That’s not a knock on them, it’s just a reality.
Matt @ Mom and Dad Money I won’t dispute that fact. I hope that high schools start covering personal finance.
Thanks DC, I’ll have to check that book out.
ayoungpro No problem!
I am always looking for good books to read. Might have to try this one.
OneSmartDollar It’s a quick read and should be easy enough to skip over sections that don’t provide value to you.
Good review and great idea for a giveaway!
Looks like another to add to the list, DC. Good review
Sounds like a good book, I’ll put it on the list.
I always love a good money book! Thanks for the giveaway!
Sweet, I am building a collection of these books – you can never know enough on this subject. Thanks for the giveaway!
LindseyatCents So true!
You’re right – college graduates are a diverse group and hard to pigeonhole. With that said, it does sound like there was plenty of good info for those starting out on their own. Needing to explain checking accounts does seem a bit ridiculous, on the other hand, there are sadly high school and college students who have never written a check or balanced their checking account. Eek!
TheHeavyPurse Yep I know someone who turned 21 before ever writing a check :0