Budget Like a Dictator! (Review and Giveaway)

Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by Forest in Freebies & Offers, Saving Money & Finances

The Secret to a Successful Budget Short Review and Giveaway

When Craig Ford from Money Help For Christians announced his ebook release last week I was lucky enough to grab a preview copy to mull over and write about here on Frugal Zeitgeist. Craig has also been kind enough to pass on some free copies of his latest book to some of us bloggers to pass onto our readers.

Links to the Secret of Successful Budget throughout this post are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission.

I sat down yesterday to start reading Craig’s new book about budgeting and I must say that from the get go I was impressed by the stance and detail he has taken to laying out the art of creating and maintaining a budget. He has packed over 50 pages with solid information covering almost every aspect of budgeting and accounting for a variety of styles and personality. I could lay the whole book out for you but I think it’s better to talk about a few aspects of the book itself and maybe you can then check it out for yourself if it interests you.

How To

The main success of The Secret of Successful Budget is it’s simple and pinpointed How To approach. Craig is obviously a veteran of budgeting and has experienced feedback from many others. His system’s are direct, well laid out and flexible. They are also not exact copies of other budget systems that I have read in the past (ie Dave Ramsey) so if you are struggling with some other methods it may be worth a look here.

I particularly like the Menu for Financial Health that Craig sets out at the beginning of the book and then later on the full explanation of different strategies to distribute your monthly budget (such as the envelope system or the use of a hand drawn spreadsheet).

Giving

Throughout the eBook giving is given a heavy focus. I like this a lot as I think we should all be giving when money allows. I am not sure I fully agree that people should give until debt is 100% blasted but as mentioned in the Financial Health Menu giving is the last thing on the list when getting on your feet.

Faith

Craig is clearly a devout follower of the Bible. Personally I am not but the leaning towards using the Bible as guidance was not too heavy for us non-Christians and of course none of the examples and references used are without merit. As a non Christian I can still see the advantages of using the lessons taught from the Bible to live your life as a good person and Craig is not forcing his faith on anyone. His belief is strong and not hidden and is also an important part of bringing his personal touch through in the words of this book.

Flexibility

One thing that struck me about The Secret of Successful Budget was that it is an extremely flexible guide. As I was reading I was questioning “how does this work for people like me without a fixed income?”. Then as I read on it turns out that this is covered quite well and has it’s own section with examples. Different personality types are also taken into account and different budgeting approaches are covered in detail.

Overall

As always with any book very little of the advice, figures and charts found in this book are exclusive. You could go onto the net and search around and compile your own lists, examples and action plans. Of course the thing is that generally we are likely to never do such a thing. Craig has prepared a detailed budget creation guide with all the details you need in one place at a reasonable price. You can grab his book, keep it on your eBook Reader, Phone, Print it out or wherever is handy and have it close for reference at all points throughout your budget creation and maintenance. It’s also important to note that Craig’s excellent use of personal stories and real world style examples are extremely motivating. He starts off with a great story about him climbing down a canyon and then worrying after about having to get out and I was extremely tickled by his suggestion that we manage our budget like a dictator! One of the only time such behavior does any good!

Grab Craig’s new Book with a 30% discount. ONLY until August 31st.

Now to the Giveaway…. 2 Copies up for grabs (ends 26th August).

As mentioned at the beginning of the post. Craig has been kind enough to supply 2 copies of The Secret of Successful Budget for me to giveaway to my awesome readers.

To enter the competition simply leave a comment on this post before the end of the day on 26th August and I will simply select a 2 people to win at random using Random.org (remember to leave your email in the comment).

Tweets and other social media sharing of this giveaway would be greatly appreciated .

Other The Secret to a Successful Budget Giveaways and Reviews

Start a Budget and Open the Door to a Debt Free Life – Craig’s own introduction of his new book.
Book Review – The Secret to a Successful Budget – Canadian Finance Blog’s opinion and a giveaway

Tags: better budgeting, creating a budget, free budget worksheets