I had the opportunity to review Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel and boy, am I sure glad I did.  It is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!  I actually laughed out loud a number of times (and I must say, getting me to do that while reading something is pretty hard).

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is written by Phil Vallarreal.  If you don’t know who he is, I have to be honest with you, you’ve been living under some sort of rock because he’s one of the writers/ contributors to the Consumerist.  He’s also a syndicated film critic for the Arizona Daily Star and also contributes to OK! Magazine.

I had no idea he was this funny (sorry, Phil, I follow you on twitter, but I suppose it’s hard to capture that amazing sense of humor in 140 characters at one time).  Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is funny.  At parts, it’s almost so funny that you feel guilty and sheepish to be laughing about it, and more importantly, you feel shocked that someone would actually say something like that out loud, let alone publish it in a book.

Basically, the book give 100 dirty little money-grubbing secrets that will help you save money.

Some of my favourites are:

• Double your Pleasure, Double your Fries- in which the tip is to use ice cubes to make your fries soggy.  After you’ve eaten the fries before you dumped the ice cube on it to make it soggy, go to the restaurant employees and demand new fries because your fries are soggy.
• Tupperware Thief- when you go to parties, look pathetic taking home something wrapped in saran wrap or aluminum foil.  More often than not the host will make sure you have some Tupperware to take it home in (and we all know how much Tupperware can cost).  The only thing Phil says you have to deal with is the passive aggressive parting shot “oh don’t worry about bringing that container home soon- I’ll hunt you down for it if need be”.  LOL love it!
• The Legend of the Cubic Zirconium Heirloom- Now, I must warn you this tip was found in the last part of the book (which is, in my perspective, the funniest section labelled “Gross, Mean, and Just Plain Wrong…”).  He talks about giving your future fiance a cubic zirconium ring and calling it a heirloom ring passed down to you from your mother.  Adding some sort of sentimental story to it increases its luster even more.  The author denies having used this tactic himself though.
• Double Movies-  Reading this excerpt made me think of my teenage days- going to an early film and then staying there until you see the next film in another theatre room.  Who hasn’t done that before?  It’s just a lot harder to do it as an adult lol, I would think.

There are some great tips in here that even I have tried (but I won’t tell you which ones) or that I think would absolutely work (the trick where he avoids going to concerts with his long term girlfriend by acting like a total jerk at the concert and embarrassing her… then apologizing profusely for a few days afterwards).  That one, he has tried and now he’s married to his long term girlfriend.

Some of the most useful ones involved negotiating, complaining (which I am obviously good at LOL), and “sticking it to the man” (aka big bad corporate America).

If you’re easily offended (especially with things that don’t sound ethical) then I would probably not read this, but if you like sarcasm, cynicism, and quick humor, this is a great read and will have you laughing (and learning) about some crazy ways to save money.

Secrets of  a Stingy Scoundrel Giveaway

This book is worth $15.95 and it will be worth even more because I’m going to be shipping it out to you.  Good luck and thanks for reading!  Contest ends February 7, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Andrew Hallam was one of the first personal finance bloggers who reached out to say “hi” to me when I first started blogging.  His writing is amazing (he writes for the Globe and Mail, has articles in Money Sense) and his life is amazing (became a millionaire in his thirties on a teacher’s salary, teaches at an international school in Singapore and gets to see the world, he runs marathons, seems ridiculously fit, and also battled bone cancer).  I was very very excited (this is an understatement) to hear that he wrote a book called “The Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth you should have Learned in School.” 

As if the above examples aren’t enough, he’s also really really really nice and seems like a very inspirational teacher.

Honestly, I would love to read an autobiography of Andrew’s life (hear that Andrew? That could be your next bestseller!) because it is so fascinating and his outlook on life is so strong and positive.

I was even more excited to read it.  Andrew has a fantastic way with words, he is a natural writer.  He has a great way with analogies and helps make the often boring concepts of investing and P/E ratios crystal clear.

I was interested to hear what he has to say, especially since I read recently that he sold all his common stocks and stuck to index investing, which is often contrary to what we hear and see in the financial media world.  He tells it like it is, and shares some of his experiences of actively managed mutual funds (which I agree with).

He also talks about spending like you want to GROW rich instead of spending like you ARE rich.  This is something that is not stressed enough in this day and age.  Everyone wants instant gratification and we will be paying for this dearly down the road.

My favourite parts of this book is how Andrew gives you the “how to’s” for index investing and evaluating whether a common stock may be a good purchase (if you want to fulfill that adventurous gambling driven side of you, of course).  Many personal finance books do not do this, which is their pitfall, and I was really happy to see that Andrew even writes about the websites you want to go to if you were to invest the way he suggests.

He even teaches you how to start a TD eseries (for the Canadians who want to index invest), which is one of my personal favourite investing tools.  I am seriously tempted to start a TD eseries for my TFSA instead of worrying about picking dividend stocks.  Or I could do both

I also learned that Vanguard is actually a not for profit company, which I did not know beforehand.  I learned a lot from reading Andrew’s book and it was really good.  I’m sad to be giving it away, but I think that any new (or even seasoned investor who needs a new perspective) investor would benefit from reading this book.

I would rate this book VERY highly in practicality and usefulness.  I think it would be ranked as one of my top 5 investing books I have read so far (that says a lot because I have read a ton of personal finance books).  He is so honest, doesn’t BS (to appease the mutual fund advisors, or the advertisers for magazines- you’ll find out why when you read his book), and he shares some dirty little secrets of the investing/ financial world that I didn’t know about.

Millionaire Teacher book Giveway!

Because I love you guys, I’m giving away this book to one lucky reader.  Trust me, you will love this book- no wonder it was sold out on Amazon Canada and Amazon USA for weeks.  It’s a $19.95 value.  If you don’t win, I highly recommend you buy his book, the $20 goes a long way in financial literacy for years to come.  Your investments will thank you later.

I will draw the winner on December 15 and announce the winner on December 16, 2011 (Friday).

Good luck!

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As you all know, The Wealthy Barber is one of my all time favourite personal finance books (and I believe one of the very first ones I have read), so you know that when David Chilton announced that he was writing another book, I was waiting with delirious anticipation to read his second book, The Wealthy Barber Returns.

It was through The Wealthy Barber that I learned that Paying Yourself First is the way to go (and it remains to be my most important financial piece of wisdom).

I really enjoyed the Wealthy Barber because of the humor, the easy reading, the story line and I’m happy to say that The Wealthy Barber Returns doesn’t disappoint!  No story line in this one, but lots of humor.  I actually “laughed out loud” at a few pages and to be honest, I NEVER do that with a book, let alone a PF book.  Ten years later, he still looks the same as the original book (I did a side by side comparison of course) and has not significantly older as he claims in the title of his new book.

He wrote the book because he found that the rate of savings and the financial literacy of Canadians was pretty dismal and he’s right.  In this book, he focuses mainly on his insights into saving, spending, and borrowing, and says that our current society is CONSUMED with consumption (I totally agree with this- material goods don’t necessarily bring lasting happiness- I have yet to try and convince my boyfriend otherwise).

The way David writes reminds me of how I write (like its a conversation) except he writes a gazillion times better of course.

In the latter part of the book, he talks about some random thoughts on personal finance, and I liken this to the “nitty gritty”.  He talks about financial advisors, what common personal finance abbreviations mean, why its a good idea to be oblivious in the stock market, and he even mentions about some great personal finance blogs you should follow (namely the Canadian personal finance gurus Preet Banjeree and Squawk Fox). In one of my favourite chapters, he acknowledges that because of the multiple registered plans available (RESP, TFSA, RRSPs) it can be difficult to “choose just one”, so he elucidates (there, word of the day!) which one might be better for you, given your specific situation.

I really liked his chapter on TFSA vs RRSPs (and I have also asked this important question, of course) and he thinks the TFSA wins hands down.  You can read an excerpt of his book in the Toronto Star.  He does make a good point that with the RRSP, it can be very difficult to predict your income when you withdraw from it.  However, I am being optimistic and don’t think that there will be a 40% tax rate when I withdraw my RRSPs, but who knows, I might be a very wealthy pensionable 65 year old!

Another chapter (titled “A Tough Call”) I really enjoyed was about whether or not to contribute to an RESP (or contribute to an RRSP).  Do you put your children first or your retirement first?  He suggested that you could recruit grandparents to help with RESP contributions and that approaching this subject with your parents might be difficult but he gave an easy tip:

Get some RESP brochures and say to your parents, “Here’s the material you asked for.”  When they look confused, follow up with, “Oh sorry, that was the in-laws”.

Haha that is the best trick in the book ever, if you ask me!  Creating motiviational competition and guilt between inlaws is like getting two Christmas presents from your separated parents (Hey! My parents are separated so I can say that, don’t hate me )

The coolest part of this book is that he actually gives his real number in the book and I am tempted to call it to see if it is really him.  Judging by his friendly, personable personality, I am taking a guess that it really is his phone number listed in the book.  Anyone want to test it and see?  When I emailed him (or so I thought his publisher) to ask for a review copy of his book, I was surprised that he replied back himself!

Readers, what are your thoughts on The Wealthy Barber Returns?  Have you tried calling his number?  Here’s his website if you want to have a visit: The Wealthy Barber Returns.  You can also follow him on twitter: @wealthy_barber.

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Because it’s my birth month (a big shout out to my fellow September friends!) I’m going to be giving away TWO books this month (and there’s plenty more in store!).  I had the opportunity to read and review The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper.  If you don’t know who Hill Harper is, he’s famous for acting in the television series, CSI New York.  He also is a New York Times Bestseller for the books The Conversation and Letters to a Young Brother.  Oh, and did I mention that he’s hot?  Hot and smart (he graduated from Harvard)?  *drool* (sorry my dear male readers, I got side tracked).

Anyways, I didn’t really know what I was expecting when I first read this book.  I thought it might be just another personal finance book, telling the reader that he or she needs to do this or that in order to get their finances in order.

It was actually quite different from what I had expected.

I learned a lot about life AND about finances.  So two birds with one stone!  Hill Harper told his story, about how he grew up thinking about wealth (both his parents were physicians), about what he thought about love (his parents were divorced) and about how his friends and acquaintances in the movie/ Hollywood celebrity industry thought about money and managed their money.  It was a really good book and I learned a lot about Hill Harper and about money.

Hill Harper never seemed like he was frivolous with his money, but he did make some big purchases on real estate over his years.  He talks about how we can be truly wealthy (and it’s not what you would think, this definition of wealthy).  He travels across United States to clear his mind about his life and what his thoughts are on money, love, living, friendship after a diagnosis of a serious medical condition.  He learns about what truly matters when you are faced with a life threatening disease, and as you might have guessed, it’s not about our material possessions.

I also learned some cool history, like where the term “The Real McCoy” actually originated from.  (Do you know where it came from?)

The book read like an autobiography/personal finance book/ and spiritual book (without all the new-age lingo) in one.  It was good and I would recommend it, more for the spiritual learning that you will get from learning how to redefine your relationship with money.  I think it’s a great book for people who are interested in learning more about whats important about life.

So, I hope to give one book away!  It’s a new book (haha, youngandthrifty.ca got UPGRADED yeahhhhh) and its worth a whopping $30 Canadian (or $26 USD).  Oh and did I mention its hardcover?  Which means it will cost me more to ship it to you.  Value for your entry!!

The Wealth Cure Book Giveaway:

There are two ways to enter:

1. Subscribe by RSS for one entry and comment below OR YOU CAN
2. Subscribe by Email for two entries and comment below
3. If you already subscribe, thanks for reading (I heart you)!  Just let me know below and I’ll give you one entry
4. For an additional entry (you have to do 1,2, or 3 as well), spread the word of the giveaway by tweeting this:

The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper book giveaway (ends Sept 21  @youngandthrifty) http://goo.gl/eZBZE

Winners will be drawn via random.org and announced on September 23, 2011.  Contests closes September 21, 2011 (Wednesday) at 11:59PM PST.

Good luck everyone!  Thanks for reading Y&T!

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Because this month was seemingly all about women and money (Are Financially Independent Women a turn on? drew a record 89 responses on my blog, woot!), I thought I would do a giveaway for a book tailored to women, as well.  I’m a big fan of David Bach’s books, namely The Automatic Millionaire.  He’s the one who taught me that paying yourself first is the way to go, and that if we skip daily luxuries such as that Starbucks latte, we will be on our way to financial freedom.

When I stumbled upon Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding your Dreams at a bookstore, I had thought it might just be another spin off of his bestselling book, with a focus on women.  I was pleasantly surprised and actually think this book is better than The Automatic Millionaire.

He begins by talking about why women nowadays are taking control of their financial futures, and gives anecdotal evidence as to why this is crucial (more divorces, women are in the dark about the finances because the husband usually handles the finances).  He then goes on to explain WHY we need to do more financial planning than men- we live longer than men (sorry guys!), we earn less than men, oftentimes women are the ones let go by corporate downsizing… the list goes on.

In the next step, David asks you to re-evaluate your values, and list them.  Money is a vehicle in which we can express our values.  He says men often seek to gain money for the sake of gaining money (e.g. “I want to make $100,000 a year by the time I hit 30″) and women seek money to so they can use that money to manifest their values (be it: have more time for family life, being financially secure etc.).  I really enjoyed this chapter because it made me think hard about where my values lie- this is something I don’t do often, admittedly.

In the next few chapters, he talks about finding where your money is.  Really finding out where your money is, and how much you’re paying in commissions and fees etc.  how much is in your registered portfolios, how much is in your non-registered portfolios, how much cash you hold.  The nitty gritty.

Of course a David Bach book isn’t complete without mention of the Latte Factor, in which he explains that if you cut out your daily needs (like that daily lunch out, daily coffee and a muffin) you can amass some serious wealth.  He does use a 12% annual return, which to me sounds somewhat unrealistic, though.

David Bach’s Grandma instilled some pretty sage advice about money into little David Bach.  So much so that he writes about her advice, namely the three-basket approach to financial security.  One is your security basket, one is your retirement basket, and one is your dream basket.  Dreams are categorized into short term dreams and long term dreams.  You know which basket is my favourite! Dreams!!   In this section, he goes into detail about how to invest, and why you need to invest (and not just put your money in a high interest savings account earning next to nothing after inflation).  I really like how he does it “step by step” and its easy to read.

Another thing that’s different from his initial book is that David Bach talks about the major mistakes investors make and how to best avoid them, he writes about how to raise children so that they are not financially incompetent, and how to attract greater wealth.  Basically how to make sure you are getting paid for what you’re worth.  Men may make more than women because they’re not afraid to ask for a raise, they’re not afraid to quit a job and move onto another job if they aren’t getting paid well (uh, case in point: boyfriend is on his 5th or 6th job and he’s been out of school for 6 years!).

(more…)

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