Product Description

Are you ready to strike out on your own?

In today's competitive world, you need all the help you can get. Essential Survival Guide provides you with how-to and hands-on instruction to make life less of a chore and more of an adventure.

Sections include:

• Getting through the Day: Setting goals, organization, and understanding essential documents
• Money, Money, Money: Learning about banking, credit, and debt; understanding taxes
• Getting Your Own Place: Finding the right roommates, resolving conflicts, and purchasing a home
• Wheels: Buying a car and purchasing car insurance; maintaining your new or used car
• And much more!

Independent living is only a read away. Full of practical advice in an easy-to-use format, this book covers everything from sorting laundry (yes, you have to sort) to choosing a church. The concise chapters and quick tips will make the learning fun and easy to apply.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70324 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416549697
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Preachy Christian undertones remove all credibility
While there is no suggestion of this on the book's cover or description, this book has several chapters that give advice on "how to live on your own" based on Christian principles. I felt that the author is suggesting that you must be Christian in order to be a responsible, mature adult. Chapter 16 "making time for god," 17 "your church," and 18 "your church your part" are blatantly preachy, but even in the section about "when you're more than just friends," Siepel piles on the religious garbage. For example, the relationship checklist asks whether you can "serve the lord better" if you date this person.

If I had wanted a guide to being a good Christian, I would have purchased a bible. Siepel sacrifices her credibility on the actual subject of this book because it seems to be evangalism in disguise. Please do not purchase this book for a non-Christian; they are likely to be insulted and disgusted by your attempt to convert them through such underhanded means.

Misleading
I purchased this book for my younger sibling, who will be moving out of our parents' house soon. I am in my late 20's, and I would describe this book as one that would be loved by conservative parents and used to prop up a table by those who are supposed to benefit from it.

If you are a parent looking only to put your mind at ease as you send your baby off to live on their own, feel free to give this as a gift to your child, although it's unlikely that they will read it. On the other hand, if you are looking to provide your child with useful and insightful information on living alone, you may be best served to go elsewhere.

The main theme of this book seems to be to promote a conservative christian agenda to a young adult that will be living on their own. While that is fine, the problem is that nowhere in the product description or on the front or back cover is this apparent until you begin to read the book.

- To start, Chapter 4, titled "God and Me," focuses on "Making Time for God," "Finding a Church," and "What Isn't a Church."...Other tips direct readers to websites like Focus on Family and [...], and they are instructed to 1st pray to God asking that he will direct you to the proper church.

- Also discussed is voting in your new area, which quickly refers readers to consult the "Christian Coalition of America" and "[...]" as a source for voter information. Take a minute to visit these sites. The underlying message is simple...Vote Republican!

- Then we move onto abstinence only education, providing readers with "Tips for Staying Sexually Pure Before Marriage," "A Case for Purity," and some intentionally misleading and sometimes downright incorrect information on STDs.


The book does contain some useful information, but it's all framed within the heavy context of a conservative christian agenda. This would be fine, but that fact seems to be hidden from the reader until they open the book.

If these views align with your own, then you will likely be delighted with the book. If not, there are much better, more informative books out there addressing this issue.

A great tool for parents and their grown children
This book covers a lot of bases, probably more than a young adult preparing to move out will need initially, but will eventually have to deal with. For example, information on maintaining a car will be useful for a teenager, but advice on buying your first house won't be needed for years. That said, parents would be wise to read this book too, using it as talking points for discussions with their young adult children before they even leave the house. Then hand the book over to them as they go, for they surely will refer to it often.

This book is, however, not for everyone. Its mixture of the spiritual and practical lends itself to some, but not to all. And the sheer size of the book - almost 400 pages - will put off some kids, and that's not the author's fault.

The Essential Survival Guide is a well-written, comprehensive guide that covers all the bases, essential and otherwise for the focused young adult leaving home for a life of their own. Believe me, the author has thought of just about everything! 50 Ways to Leave Your Mother