Choose to read the whole book, or just the chapters you need at the moment. Brisk details on how to create a budget, make a savings plan and determine your income and expenses are in Chapter 1. How to fill out a W-4 IRS form and other job-related forms is the focus of Chapter 2. Balancing a checkbook and avoiding bouncing checks and bank fees is covered in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 gives you the basics of how to successfully manage credit cards and watch out for feeling like credit is equal to “easy money.” Chapter 5 describes what a “credit score” is and why it’s important to keep it as high as possible. If you’re already in some debt, Chapter 6 gives you some ways of managing debt and working free of it, a little at a time. Saving money through becoming a better shopper is the topic of Chapter 7, and Chapter 8 focuses on techniques to keep your identity as safe as reasonably possible.
Each chapter includes a light-hearted one-panel cartoon that gives a little lift of humor to each chapter. The overall feeling of the book is that financial information isn’t that scary, and you really can manage your money successfully. But, yup, it takes work to do it (and that sucks).
This is also a great gift from moms and dads to graduating high schoolers or as a “going away to college” handout, or for grandparents or aunts and uncles, as well. This could make a great supplement for teachers teaching these basic skills in a classroom, so that students have an easy resource to take home.
Our U.S. economy is showing the effects of the lack of basic financial skills possessed by our citizenry. We need to prioritize this subject matter and make sure every 18 year old has the knowledge of how our financial system works, on a very basic level, just as he or she needs to know how traffic works – whether driving, biking or walking, how to get and keep a job, and other vital safety areas.
So, empower yourself, take charge of your money, and you run it. Don’t let it run you!
Whether your child was lucky enough to learn these tasks at school or not, Money Sucks! Money Strategies for Real Life is available to give basic instruction in this most important life skill. Accessible, easy-to-read, and fun for young adults, the large font, white space between paragraphs, and short chapters entice the reader to give it a try.
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