Buy What You Love Without Going Broke: Transform Your Spending and Get More of What Money Can’t Buy by Jennifer Louise Smith and Jillian Faye Sirianni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads
I was able to get a preview of this book – thanks Frugal Friends 🙂
my two cents…
I don’t always read introductions in books, but this one grabbed my attention right away by teaching me something new when it got into the philosophy of ‘Shuhari’- I won’t spoil it, but it is all about the keys to mastering a subject. This sets the tone for the whole book.
As I learned about Jen and Jill’s backgrounds—as a social worker myself, I was delighted when they broached this topic as one of them is in this world and mentioned her struggles with former burnout and navigating difficult themes.
When we get into the meat and potatoes – here we are shown all about the psychology of our spending habits, dopamine cycles, and responses, and even touches on emotional spending.
radical middle and self-esteem
What really stuck with me is the “radical middle”.This means we don’t have to just be spenders or savers, hustling or starving – they go in to explain that there is a sweet spot where we can get the things we – truly – love and the rest will fall into place.
On a deeper note – we dive into self-love, image, and esteem and I think this sets the tone for the book.
spending categories
Some other topics that we get to learn about are – the process of car buying, depreciation, leasing, all the costs of food, and housing for starters, they get into more topics but I haven’t quite finished the book myself.
The three highest expenses are Housing, Food, and Transportation – this is true every month on my budget sheet.
Last but not least – this book delves into a more logical, analytical approach to our spending habits, and makes us stop and question – why, when, and how we interact in this capitalist world.
Overall, this book is a great way to round up an already excellent world of personal finance books out there, but Jen and Jill fill in a few gaps others have missed.
I look forward to what else is in the future from them and am so glad they are adding to the world of personal finance from a female perspective.
Cheers, and happy reading!
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