Book Review - Live It, Love It, Earn It: A Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom by Marianna Olszewski

Title: Live It, Love It, Earn It: A Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom
Author: Marianna Olszewskix
Year: 2009
Page: 256
Genre: Non-Fiction - Finance

New to me author? Yes
Read this author again? Not sure
Tearjerker? No
Where did it take place? US
FTC Disclosure: Borrowed from the library

Summary (from goodreads.com):
Does your heart race when your credit card bill arrives? Are you one flat tire or one emergency room visit from financial ruin? If you think a secure financial future is out of reach, you're wrong. Let Marianna Olszewski teach you how to love your money instead of running scared from it.

Marianna didn't start out rich, happy and fabulous. A strapped-for-cash childhood motivated her to strive for abundance and financial independence-goals she exceeded by age thirty as a successful business owner and respected Wall Street player. Now Marianna reveals the lessons she learned on her own road to success and the savvy strategies of other amazing women. She shows how to let go of stress, break your bad money habits, take control of your finances, and finally achieve your goals and a happier, richer life.

You'll learn to:
-Say Yes to Yourself: Turn toward people and situations that enhance your life and well being, and away from those that don't. Until you start affirming your future through both thought and action, your efforts to improve your finances will fall flat.

-Fall in Love with Your Money: Having a cavalier attitude toward money is part of the reason many of us find ourselves in a financial pickle. But when you treat your money with respect, keep track of it and spend and save it wisely your money will always love you back.

-Act as If: If you think that change is impossible, think again. Start your transformation by acting as if you already are as successful, intelligent, and prosperous as you want to be.

Live It, Love It, Earn It is full of true stories of ordinary women who have overcome tough challenges, such as climbing the corporate ladder, getting out of debt, and changing jobs mid-career, to get the life you want. Marianna also shares insights from other successful women like designer Diane von Furstenberg; shoe mogul Tamara Mellon (of Jimmy Choo); fashion entrepreneur Tory Burch; the first woman to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, Muriel Seibert; and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn.

Let Marianna give you the tools you need to create and maintain and abundant and fulfilling life.

For more information, visit: www.LiveItLoveITEarnIt.com 

First Sentence:
Growing up, I was just like so many other girls pining for a life that seemed out of reach.

Why did I pick this book?
While luckily we are doing okay with our finances (just mortgage and student loans, and the fact that we have no kids make it a bit easier too. But definitely not rich or well off), I want to learn more what we can do to prepare for the future, and manage our finances better.


My thoughts:

• This book was not quite what I'd expected. It said "A Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom" and I wanted to read it to learn more about money management, investing etc. But this was more than just that, so the chapters about money was spread thin. It included other self-help materials like think positive, visualize yourself with your success etc... whereas I was looking for more concrete materials for investing. So I probably wasn't the right target market for this book

• I would probably benefit from reading this book if I was in my late teens or early twenties. A lot of what it covered, I'd already read elsewhere. It included stories of how other women succeeded or vignettes of "everyday" people. But again I felt like I'd read about them before
  
  
• 2 stars because it may be beneficial to others, while it was not really for me as this was a bit too high-level. I may have enjoyed more it if this was my first money-related book. I am far from being a financial expert (I hated accounting and finances during college), but we are doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University now (in class and reading his book) - we are almost half way through - and I felt it is more what I am looking for.
  

Rating: 2 Stars

 

Have you read this book? 
If you have, I would love to hear what you think! I'll link your review here if you wish!

Challenges:
100+ Reading
Non-Fiction Five