An Excerpt From "It's Your Money"

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I've read Eric's book three times, and after each chapter I keep telling him, "THIS IS SO GOOD." I'm so, so proud of him. I wanted to share with you a chapter so you can all see how good it is. The ebook will be on sale for $4.99 next Thursday on our blog and Amazon! We're also working on a paperback copy and audio version, so stay tuned! It'sYourMoney2

Chapter 1: Young Money

I didn't learn much about money when I was younger. As a kid, I knew that holidays meant a few cards with cash in them and also that there would be no present to open from that particular relative. I began to get suspicious when my parents demanded that I give them the cash for safe keeping. That's when I knew it was worth something.

As time went on, I learned on the playground that I didn't have to wait for a holiday or my birthday to earn money. Heck, all I had to do was wait for my teeth to fall out! Too bad I was late to that game, and the Tooth Fairy didn't pay near as much at my house as my friends were telling me about on the playground.

I think I was 11 before I really understood how to earn money. My sister was three years older than me and she had just gotten her first job. When I asked my mom why my sister had to go to work after school, she said, “Because she wants to buy a car when she is 16, so she has to work and save her money." My brain nearly exploded. This was my first introduction to savings. And buying a car was motivation enough for me to want to get a job and save my money.

So, exactly one week after I was legally eligible to have a job in the state of Iowa (age 14), I started washing dishes at a local restaurant and saved my money so I could buy a car. School, sports and work is where my time was spent from ages 14 to 18.

When I turned 15, I bought my first car: a 1985 Monte Carlo. It cost me $1,500. After that, I decided saving money was for the birds. Spending money, now that's where it was at. The only payment I had to make was at the gas station to fill up the beast of a car ($1.19 per gallon is what I remember paying).

Working part-time and having no big payments meant I was free to spend my money as I wanted. And that is the philosophy that carried me through high school, college and into the real world.

Lesson #1: Make money to spend money.

Spending was fun. I was never taught the power of savings other than short-term savings to pay for something I wanted. Which did come in handy later, but I was missing out on a big lesson.

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Eric goes on to tell about how I grew up learning about money, and how that set us up for a difficult time when we got married. But luckily the story doesn't end there.

Here's a look at the table of contents:

Part I: Everything I Know About Money I Learned the Hard Way

  • Note From the Author
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Young Money
  • Chapter 2: The Other Half of the Story
  • Chapter 3: When You Mix the Two Together
  • Chapter 4: The Honeymoon
  • Chapter 5: The House We Weren’t Ready to Buy
  • Chapter 6: The Jeep Daddy Bought
  • Chapter 7: The Breaking Point
  • Chapter 8: The First Thing Saved: Our Marriage
  • Chapter 9: Our First Budget
  • Chapter 10: A $39,000 Hole
  • Chapter 11: Climbing Out of Debt
  • Part I: Conclusion

Part II: Helping You and your Money Work Harder and Smarter

  • Chapter 12: Accountability
  • Chapter 13: Budgeting Gets a Bad Rap
  • Chapter 14: Enjoying the Journey
  • Chapter 15: Getting Started: Your First Budget
  • Chapter 16: Keeping a Budget Going
  • Chapter 17: Play the Budget Game
  • Chapter 18: Why Get out of Debt?
  • Chapter 19: Grab a Shovel and Start Digging
  • Chapter 20: Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best
  • Chapter 21: Saving for Everything
  • Part 2: Conclusion

Thanks for reading! We are so excited for the official launch next Thursday!