We may all be very different in many ways from where we live to how we look to what we like. But there is one thing most every person has in common: they want to not worry about money. Even those who do not wonder how they are going to pay bills each month or how to they are going to handle it if there is a disaster, hope to never end up in a place like that.
Those times when you are financially frustrated can seem endless. It can feel like you are always going to have to watch your grocery bill to the penny and pray that nothing big breaks. It can feel hopeless.
I have so been there. Sometimes I live there. Heck, there have been years where I have been the mayor of there. Hope when you are in that season of life can feel impossible, especially if that season has been going on for a long time.
Just recently I was fully in that place again. We put $1,300 into a van that needs to be replaced. We had a bunch of other expenses on the horizon. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the grocery bill down any lower. That’s when I stumbled upon a book that really helped me to see that someday there will be another side. Someday this will just be part of the past. It gave me back the hope that I had not been able to find.
Hope for the Financially Frustrated
More Than Just Making It was just what it claimed to be: hope for the heart of the financially frustrated. Erin, the author, (and blogger behind The Humbled Homemaker)went through a number of years of having to use WIC, pinch pennies, and struggle with ever financial decision she and her husband had to make.
More Than Just Making It isn’t your typical “here’s how to live on next to nothing” book, although there are some really practical tips. This book covers more about the heart of the issue. It helps the reader to understand that they are not alone, that other people have gone through similar circumstances. I think my favorite chaper is called “Changing Our Midsets.” So much of this chapter is about changing how we think about people that have to take government aid to get by.
Erin herself used to look down on those who had to use food stamps or WIC then she ended up in a position where WIC was one of the only ways they were getting by. It can be so hard to wrap our heads around the fact that sometimes aid is necessary. Many of us have grown up with the idea that those that are on aid are somehow lower class or lazy or just working the system. While there certainly are those that are working the system, the vast majority just need some help in a season of life. (Sometimes you have no choice but to ask for financial help. If you are in that position, be sure to read my post “When Ends Don’t Meet.”)
Changing Our Thinking
There’s also a chapter called “Redefining the American Dream.” Erin basically asks: what if we change the idea of the American Dream from homeownership and prosperity to being satified with what we have, when our needs are met? We would go to a society of people trying to keep up with the Joneses and getting into deep debt to a society of people not tied down to material goods. We would be a happier society as whole. How many people have to stay in jobs they hate just to keep up a lifestyle they think they want? It’s perfectly fine to want to own a home and have nice things. However, the mindset shift that Erin is talking about when it is no longer a status symbol. I love that!
Interspersed with the heart issues is practical advice from when Erin lived in that place. There’s advice on buying used and eating on the cheap as well as advice on using free resources. (If you want more information on eating on the cheap, be sure to sign up for Erin’s free 5-day challenge to help you learn how to eat well on a budget.)
Overall, this is one of the best personal finance/frugal living books I have ever read. And now is your chance to read it for free! I am giving away one copy of this book to a lucky reader! Contest ends September 2nd, 2017 at 11:59pm. Winner will be announced Monday, September 4th, 2017.
Don’t worry! If you do not win, the book is super affordable and available starting September 5th. Don’t want to wait? You can go ahead and preorder it on Amazon now. If you preorder, you can also submit to receive over $220 worth of free bonses.
Now, on to the giveaway!!
Congrats to Nichole H., winner of a copy of More Than Just Making It!
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