BUY or PASS? Show me the money! #FridayFiveChallenge

Welcome to the ‘Friday Five Challenge.’

Would you BUY or PASS if you had only a thumbnail image and five minutes to decide?

Welcome to the #FridayFiveChallenge. The original idea comes from Rosie Amber, and you can join up at https://rosieamber.wordpress.com

The rules are laid out at the end of this post if you fancy having a go.

Here is my contribution for this week:

The school summer holiday is almost at an end, and it’s time for me to drag the kids to the shops for new school shoes, bags, blazers, skirts, trousers, trainers, stationery… oh good grief! So, this week I thought I’d search for ‘Finances’. There may not be a pot of gold at the end of the Amazon rainbow, but hopefully something useful will shine.

30 Day Money Plan by Damien Fahy

BLURB:

(Named in The Times top 10 Money Beach Reads)

THE CHALLENGE A reader of MoneytotheMasses.com set me the following challenge: 1) To write a book that can sort out my finances in thirty days. 2) It must require no more than five minutes of my time (on average) each day. 3) It cannot cost me anything to implement the advice. 4) And at the end of each day I must have achieved or implemented something. 5) I have got to make or save ten times the purchase price by the end of the first chapter alone. 6) And I want to be able to do as much as possible on the train on my way to work, without speaking on the phone. The result is this book

HOW THE CHALLENGE WAS WON: You may or may not be aware of The Pareto principle, better known as the 80: 20 principle. In simple terms it implies that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. This rule can be applied to nearly all areas of your life and certainly holds true when it comes to your personal finances. Whether in terms of saving money or making money, most of your rewards come from the initial effort when dealing with your finances. The key is to focus on that 20% that yields the most results. After that the law of diminishing returns kicks in. The world of technology has moved much faster than the world of finance would like you to believe. There are brilliant online solutions to most financial problems if you know where to look and how to use them. So you will find this book full of references to smartphone apps and online tools that can help you make a difference and let you get on with your life. But it’s not just about apps and websites; I also include tricks and techniques I’ve developed myself over the years.

FROM THE AUTHOR For years I’ve often thought what good is having a string of financial qualifications if I only help a handful of very affluent people who can afford my services? So I created MoneytotheMasses.com so I can help as many people as I feasibly can for free. People who, like me, have a mortgage to pay, a family to support and face a world of financial turmoil. It is my belief that no matter how much you earn your finances are just as important as the next person’s. 

My Analysis:

An eye catching cover that tells you everything you need to know. I’m sure I heard that the colour red was lucky for finances (possibly in Japan, but hey, I’m a single mum, I’ll take all the help I can get!) I like the added touch of ‘five minutes a day’. Straight away I know that this book is something I can fit into my daily schedule.

As my motivational blog (http://myresolutionchallenge.blogspot.com) began life as a yearlong challenge, I can say that this book appealed to me instantly. I love setting myself a challenge, and find it helpful to have a deadline to achieve this by. 30 days is probably not enough time to sort out my financial affairs, however, I’m willing to give it a go.

According to the blurb, the author runs a successful website, moneytothemasses.com and has evolved this into a book. I can relate, as this is exactly how I did it; blog first, and book second.

The Stats:

The book has 115 pages, and the Kindle price is £1.99. There are 47 reviews, all of these are between three and five stars.

A couple of the comments referred to this book being ‘nothing new’, but the majority were in favour of the easy to follow exercises, and helpful advice. Quite a few of the reviewers are financial advisors, and here is one example of the kind of review this book is receiving:

This is an excellent, fast-paced book which goes straight to the core of quickly and simply saving you money and helping you sort out your finances. It’s fluff-free and, maybe surprisingly, a real page-turner. I’m a professional financial adviser so I didn’t expect too many surprises, and indeed most of the items I had covered, but even I will save the cost of the book easily by taking a couple of 2 minute actions. More to the point this book is packed with tips that I’ve been reminded I should pass on to friends, family and clients more frequently. Also, as an adviser I thoroughly endorse all the ideas contained- they’re ones that I use myself and find really work. My personal favorite is the ‘Big Picture Budgeting’ which I’ve been using for years to roughly keep on budget for seconds a month.

If this book can help me get a little bit more organised with my finances, and save me some money, then it will be worth the £1.99 price tag. If it is as simple to follow as the reviews say, then I may just pass it on to my children too. It’s a BUY from me.

30 Day Money Plan – buy your copy from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IO6JPA8

Take a look at who else has taken part in the Friday Five Challenge:

 Rosie looks at Chick-lit – https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/would-you-buy-or-pass-fridayfivechallenge-waiting-for-a-star-to-fall-by-elaine-cremin/

Cathy searches for paranormal – https://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/friday-five-challenge-7/comment-page-1/#comment-2430

Terry looks at TV Talent Shows – http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/would-you-buy-or-pass-13.html?spref=tw

Liz searches for time travel books – https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/fridayfivechallenge-2/

 

What is the Friday Five Challenge?

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions on small postage stamp size book covers (thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

The Challenge is this… IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES…

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description of this book,

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

(then write a little analysis about your decision)