All in Reviews

The Happy Saver Book Giveaway!

The Happy Saver has just turned seven years old! That’s worth celebrating with a book giveaway. That’s also crazy. If when I published my first blog post, you had told me that seven long years later, I’d now be sitting in my purpose-built writing studio, still producing content, and that people actually read and seem even to enjoy my content, I would not have believed you. But here I am! I wish we had more to give away, as these books are the tip of the iceberg of what is available, but amongst this group are some of my absolute favourites.

Book Review: Barefoot Kids

This week, I’ve employed two exceptional 15-year-old women to help me review the new Scott Pape book Barefoot Kids, Your Epic Money Adventure. When I asked if they actually enjoyed reading the book or only did it because I paid them, Ivy said that she thought it would be a boring chore. But then she began to enjoy it because the more she read, the more inspired to start her own business she became. Nina loved reading it because she is interested in books and websites that teach kids about money. But, sure, she said, the $30 was a fab bonus too! In this book review, I bring together all our different thoughts, and you get to decide whether it is worth buying for the kids in your life.

Book Review: Cracking Open the Nest Egg

The weather turned cold here last week, a perfect time to read one of the many personal finance books I have on my ‘need to read’ list. Reading the latest book by Martin Hawes coincided with people mentioning the book in emails to me. Hearing good things meant it rose to the top of my reading pile.

Book Review: Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?

I have a shelf dedicated to personal finance books that I actually enjoyed reading. The books that live there are the ones that I often refer to, and I’m pretty particular about the books I keep for future reference. I have to LEARN something from them, or there is no point keeping them around. They also need to pass my stringent ‘sleep test’. If I fall asleep reading them, it’s not a good sign. I’ve recently bought several new release personal finance books that I’ll review once I’ve read them, but today I wanted to give you a heads up on the one I’ve just finished.

Book Review: A Richer You - How to Make the Most of Your Money

I’ll cut to the chase for those looking for a five-second read: I loved it. Mary has taken the best letters from her newspaper column and worked them into a book. In each letter, the writer asks a short question about an issue they are having that involves personal finances. Mary then gives a concise and well-rounded reply. This makes it a book you can pick up and put down, just taking in a bit at a time.

Book Review: Money Lessons For My Younger Self

With many other Kiwi personal finance books that I have read, there is a lot of sitting on the fence, or not saying quite what you mean and of pandering to the people who try to be the exception to any rule. This book by Nick Carr is pretty blunt which might be a surprise to a young 18-year-old, but to anyone over the age of 60, they will just be nodding along with the practical thoughts he shares.

Reimagining my budgets with PocketSmith

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of budgeting in some way, shape or form and knowing where your money is coming from and going to honestly helps you get ahead faster. There is no doubt in my mind about this. And from time to time I give my budgets an overhaul and this week I made a cup of coffee and took about an hour to look over every corner of my budgets in PocketSmith. The prompt to do this was because PocketSmith have launched a brand spanking new Dashboard with heaps of new customisable features and once I started having a look around, I was like a kid in a candy store.