Making Peace With Money

Rating:
Summary: Changes Our Money Attitudes
Review: "This program works. I give you my word on that," Jerry Mundis writes in the introduction. And I believe him. Although the focus is an inward journey towards changing our relationship with money, it's not a book that one just reads and puts on the bookshelf but works in order to get the most benefit from it. It contains both insights and practical exercises that bring changes in our attitudes and then our actions towards money.

The chapters are divided into different areas of our relationship with money--debt, spending, generosity, vision, etc.--with each chapter containing essays, exercises and then quotations, anecdotes or meditations on that particular area. This book seems to take off where Mundis's first book, "How To Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously", left off. I found his first book to be more matter-of-fact with a 12 step program foundation for debtors and only a relatively small amount of space dedicated to the attitude changing or more spiritual aspects of money problems. "Making Peace with Money" addresses debt in the first chapter but then is more focused on changing inner thoughts and attitudes about money. Therefore it's more useful to a larger number of people, those who may not have a debt problem but want to come to terms with their money relationship.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the last chapter that addresses special circumstances such as being out of work or problems with being able to spend money on oneself, what the author calls 'Anorectic Spending'.

I think this book would be especially useful to the person with serious debt problems when coupled with Mundis's other two books, "Getting Out of Debt,..." and "Earn What You Deserve". By diligently doing every practice in these books, one's attitude towards money couldn't help but change. Don't positive attitudes plus positive actions equal positive results? No wonder Mundis guarantees his program.