Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #929314 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From the Back Cover
Financial disharmony can blow a marriage apart. But financial harmony can bind it together.

Put Mary Huntís money management principles into practice with this easy-to-follow interactive workbook.

It is important to create an atmosphere of acceptance, freedom, safety, and honesty before tackling money matters. But that is easier said than done! The activities in this workbook are designed to help you do just that. Probing questions get you and your spouse thinking more deeply about your relationship to each other and to money.

More than just a financial guide, this companion book to Debt-Proof Your Marriage will help you develop a more open and honest relationship with your spouse. It facilitates discussion about difficult issues, like a financial past youíve been hiding or dishonest spending habits youíve developed. And it shows you and your spouse how to resolve these issues without criticism or finger-pointing.

Beyond that, it will show you, in practical, clear terms, how to get out of debt and start saving for the future. By honestly answering the questions in this book, you will break free from your bad habits and be empowered to develop a healthy attitude toward your money and your marriage.

Mary Hunt is founder and publisher of Cheapskate Monthlyô, which has 35,000 print subscribers and an average of 800,000 web site hits per month. Her books have sold nearly a million copies and her daily newspaper column, Everyday Cheapskate, is syndicated through United Features. Hunt is also a weekly contributor to KNBC-TV Midday Report in Los Angeles and has been featured in magazines such as Womanís Day, Family Circle, and HomeLife. She speaks widely on personal finance and has participated in shows such as Oprah, Good Morning America, The OíReilly Factor, and Focus on the Family. She and her husband live in Paramount, California.

Customer Reviews

Purchasing This Book Would Be a Very Wise Investment
The great thing about reading a Mary Hunt book on finances is knowing that she writes from experience and not just from abstract theory. This woman had run up something like $100,000 in unsecured debt (credit cards and such) and worked her way out of that crushing load of debt, without a high-paying job or an inheritance or a windfall of any kind. She simply persevered.

Of course, that's only half of the story. The other half involves her husband who, of all things, was a banker during some of the time she was amassing a heavy debt load. Like many spouses, she kept thinking she could handle it --- she would figure something out, or some magic reversal would wipe out their debt. Really, it's a wonder they didn't duke it out once she decided to come clean with him.

The plan Hunt outlines in DEBT-PROOF YOUR MARRIAGE is legitimately workable, for all you skeptics who think hers is just another budgeting plan that will never work for you. She doesn't propose living in a tent and boiling roots to make tea, though she probably wouldn't try to stop you. While she gives lots of very specific, very detailed information on how to eliminate credit card debt quickly, how to pay off your mortgage early and how to create a spending plan that is based on freedom rather than restriction, she is careful to emphasize that couples must customize their financial plan to fit their lifestyle and temperaments.

Hunt writes in a friendly, nonjudgmental style. I doubt anyone could come away from this book feeling worse than they did when they started reading. Hunt is a master at encouraging people to do what they can do, a little at a time, rather than feeling they have to grovel over their shameful financial mismanagement. She uses humor, anecdotes and illustrations to underscore the serious point she's making: that financial disharmony can destroy a marriage, while financial harmony --- no matter what it takes to achieve it --- can strengthen and save a marriage.

Before she gets into practical matters, Hunt establishes a foundation for understanding the factors that result in money-related problems in a marriage by discussing emotional differences, myths about money, and marital problems that are exacerbated by financial conflict. She pretty much follows a conservative Christian blueprint for marriage, conflict resolution and the like.

About the only thing that leaves me cold are the sections on making deposits in a "Love Bank" --- the idea being that every little thing you do to show your love and respect for your spouse is deposited into an account that incrementally adds up to a significant balance. I don't know. Maybe some couples like to talk and think like that. I've just never met one, or one that openly discusses it. Anyway, this idea isn't original with Hunt; she attributes it to Willard Harley, so her only responsibility for it is in repeating it. Oh, and then there is the implied suggestion that engaged couples exchange credit reports. I'm not sure why I find that so, well, weird. It's not like I think it's too personal; maybe I just can't see a couple actually doing that.

You probably won't agree with all of Hunt's suggestions, and you probably won't get around to following all of her advice even if you want to. But there's enough here to make the book a wise investment. And if you'd like to contribute to the lofty goal of reducing the divorce rate, you might want to consider giving a copy to every engaged couple you know.