Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is a must for any woman who enjoys shopping. It's so easy to get to that point.
Rating: 
Summary: She paid off her debt but didn't seem to learn much
Review: I give Karyn Bosnak credit for her chutzpah--it's not easy to ask for help so publicly when you've gotten yourself into money troubles. And I am a fan of her web site, which is very amusing at times. If you can laugh at yourself first, other people can't make fun of you so easily. People like good sports. And by making a lot of people laugh, Karyn was able to make others see their own problems in hers. I believe this is why Karyn's site was one of the most successful "save me" sites.
Karyn didn't expect her debt to be paid off 100% through the kindness of strangers: She cut her living expenses by moving to a less expensive apartment and taking a roommate. She auctioned many of her things on Ebay. She taught herself HTML, put up the website and updated it regularly so that people could track her progress. She clearly worked hard to retire the debt, and I respect her for that.
What I don't understand is that Karyn didn't learn some of the smaller tools of effective money management along the way, i.e., Direct Deposit or Overdraft Protection. She mentions she has a problem with checks bouncing because of her bank's policy of holding deposited checks for a few days. The "Lack of available funds" cost Karyn a lot of money in bounced check fees. So why didn't she go to her payroll department and ask for Direct Deposit? She'd have had ready access her cash on payday and her rent check wouldn't have bounced. Or if she'd applied for an Overdraft Protection line of credit at the bank, that would have served the same purpose. I hope she's got her cash flow situation figured out now.
Another thing I don't understand is that she seemed to consult very few people when in crisis. She mentions she's a "good Catholic girl" but never once mentions talking to a priest or a church counselor. Isn't that what they're there for? She might have been steered in the direction of Debtors Anonymous, a twelve step program similar to AA where she would have met lots of other people in the same boat. These people could have offered her--in addition to moral support--a lot of insight into her debt problem, not to mention a practical tip or two. I hope Karyn has a bigger support network now.
She mentions that she has bad credit, but never refers to her FICO score or states that she has any constructive plans for her future, even when it's clear that the debt is under control. No mention of opening an IRA or saving for a downpayment on a house. She only states "I'm the CEO of my own life" and "Credit Cards are Bad". It isn't the CARDS that are bad, it's the habits people develop using them cards to pay for things they can't afford and don't need.
After Karyn paid retired the debts with a combination of donated and earned money, she kept her promise to "give back" by helping other people in need. Her heart is in the right place, but I just wish she'd helped herself by learning a more practical way of dealing with her money.
Rating: 
Summary: Give Her Credit (No Pun) For Thinking It Up
Review: You have to admit -- the girl is creative. Who would have ever imagined begging for money on the internet to get yourself out of credit card debt? Pretty ingenious. I must confess --- if I had thought about it first -- this book might be called, "Save Carrie". But - I didn't... and now I am still trying to get myself out of debt before I'm 30.While I caution everyone that this is not the ultimate solution - it worked for her. It's a funny and really clever look at taking responsibility for your own actions and getting yourself out of jam without turning to you parents. Some may argue that she turned to everyone else --- but it's not like she put a gun to people's heads and said "give me all your money". People decided to help her -- and more power to them. If there are anymore people out there with the giving spirit - I am more than willing to accept donations. :) Really funny and cautionary tale -- with a new and modern twist!
Rating:
Summary: LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY, SWEET AND INSPIRATIONAL! A+++++
Review: From the moment I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It was laugh-out-loud funny, sweet, and inspirational. If you have EVER had buyer's remorse, bought something you knew you shouldn't have bought, or DREAMED of buying something you couldn't afford, then you will LOVE this book. The book details how Karyn ran up $20,000 in debt by shopping, including her hilarious justifications for her outrageous purchases. Karyn then loses her high-paying job, and is unable to find another for four months. The job search and the rejection letters during this part were a riot! With the huge debt looming over her head, Karyn realizes that she needs to make some changes in her life, like coloring her own hair, and buyng drugstore brand makeup and shampoo - could you imagine? On the verge of bankruptcy, Karyn finally lands a low-paying job for a cable show, but her low salary isn't much of a help. She still can't pay her bills, so she comes up with an idea to start a website to ask people for the money to pay of her bills and voila - it works. In 20 short weeks, she is debt-free. I loved this book and am amazed at how well-written it is. It is truly enjoyable, like you are listening to a friend tell you a story. BUY IT, BUY IT. Buy it for your friends at Christmas. Great book. A+++++++
Rating: 
Summary: Cyberbegging is about a community
Review: One word can sum this book up- me. There's far more to cyberbegging than this book. This book doesn't speak for the cyberbegging community. She wasn't the first one. I think that cyberbegging is about a community and not one person. This book shows how she spent money but she has never provided proof of how she achieved her goal. She has media contacts. Why is it that she comes out a darling while the media portrays other cyberbeggars as parodies. Why would you give money to support someone's credit card. There are other cyberbeggars who need "real" help. If you didn't give her money before, you sure are supporting her now by buying her book. She hasn't learned her lesson. I own cyberbeggar.biz
Rating:
Summary: A good read for every shopaholic and recovering shopaholic
Review: If you love shopping you will love this book. If you've ever been in debt up to your eyeballs you will love this book. If you've ever lived in NYC you will love this book. If you've ever been anxious and depressed about your spending habits you will love this book. This book was a wonderful read. I absolutely enjoyed Karyn's humor and the fact that she turned a corner in life. It was great fun to get to know Karyn better after following her website week after week as her debt got paid down. I recommend this book to every person that has been there done that or is there and doing that right now.
Rating:
Summary: If this were fiction, it would be a bestseller
Review: This book is so funny and fun. People get mad at Karyn Bosnack for asking for money, but if you really read her webpage you'd know that she was really providing quite a bit of entertainment value for the dollar or 2 that some people sent in. This book is a riot and as good as any other "beach book" I have read. Worth the price and then some.
Rating: 
Summary: The Cautionary Tale of a Compulsive Spender
Review: Shopaholics take heart! Help (at least in the form of comic relief) is at hand. SAVE KARYN is the cautionary tale of a real-life Becky Bloomwood, the endearing fictional protagonist of the popular SHOPAHOLIC series, whose penchant for spending lands her in a variety of sticky situations --- although in real life, unlike fiction, it is slightly more difficult to dredge up sympathy for someone making a six-figure salary who manages to rack up over $25,000 in credit card debt in a year. Nonetheless, anyone who has ever experienced the high that comes from an armload of shopping bags will find themselves identifying with the author, Karyn Bosnack, who seems convinced that every purchase is the key to her salvation. Karyn's financial downward spiral begins when she leaves her native Chicago to accept a job as producer on a court TV show in New York City. Once there, she finds that temptations abound in the form of what she terms the four Bs: Bloomingdales, Barneys, Bergdorfs and Bendels. The pressure to fit in and look good quickly takes its toll, and Karyn soon finds herself living beyond her means. The cost of regular manicures, hair appointments, personal training sessions and shopping sprees begins to mount on her American Express card. Between these payments and the $1,900-a-month rent on her studio apartment, she must resort to cash advances, bounced checks and an ingenious buy-and-return credit scheme to make ends meet. Disaster seems imminent when her show is cancelled, but she quickly lands an even better paying position on a new daytime talk show and her spending continues. That windfall turns out to be short-lived when the show flounders and she is again let go, this time unable to find work due to the terrible economy following the terrorist attacks. Finally, she is forced to face her addiction and begins to dig herself out: she moves into a less expensive apartment in Brooklyn, enrolls in a debt consolidation program, and gives up her expensive habits. Still, the $25,000 in debt she has accumulated looms and the freelance job she finds barely makes a dent. Inspiration strikes when she realizes that if thousands of people donated a dollar each toward her cause, the debt could be painlessly eradicated, and from this seed her website SaveKaryn.com is born. The website combines a humorous plea for donations ("Together we can banish credit card debt from my life!") along with a self-deprecating chronicle of her road to ruin, and includes a weekly debt calculator and 'the daily buck,' entertaining anecdotes about what she does to make or save a buck each day. SaveKaryn.com is an unexpected success, generating hundreds of positive and negative email responses and eventually catching the eye of the media. Newspapers and radio shows from all over the world clamor to interview her and donations flow in. Her big break comes when she appears on the Today Show, and within the space of a few months her debt is incredibly eliminated. Many of us can relate to Karyn's overspending, but the vicarious shopping thrills this book provides will likely make our own indulgences pale in comparison. Readers will be divided on their feelings about Karyn's solution, with some applauding her ingenuity and others disapproving of her reliance on strangers to bail her out. Although Karyn's sense of humor, humanness and likable nature may redeem her to some extent, one still questions what lesson was really learned. By allowing others to dig her out of her frivolously acquired debt, she seems just as self-indulgent as she was while racking up the debt in the first place. This feeling is furthered by the fact that she spends precious little time reflecting on the inner demons that drove her to the brink of financial ruin. Nonetheless, if national consumer debt statistics are any indication of the number of people mired in oppressive credit card debt, then this cautionary tale of fiscal irresponsibility is sure to find a wide audience. (And the book has conveniently been published in an inexpensive trade paperback format, making it affordable for even the most pinched pocketbook.) If nothing else, SAVE KARYN may inspire you to put away the plastic and forego that daily Starbucks cup of joe, at least for a few days. --- Reviewed by Joni Rendon
Rating:
Summary: Laugh your @!# off fun reading!!
Review: I know everyone seems to have an opinion about what Karyn did to get out of debt, but this book was a fabulous read! I read it in one evening. I laughed...I cried. As I too was in serious debt and could really relate. I think Karyn's story will make you do the same.
If you just buy the book and read it instead of listening to what everyone else has to say about the way she chose to get out of debt, you will understand.
Rating:
Summary: Love Karyn!
Review: What a hilarious book! Karyn's stories made me laugh out loud, and the people she meets along the way add color and depth. I recommend this book to everyone who wants a funny, great read.
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