Francine Huff is a financial editor for The Wall Street Journal and a financial counselor. She is also a wife, Christian, and author. It is her professional opinion that women need a lot of help in getting their financial act together, and she is ready to provide it.
Women, who are trained as nurturers, tend to view money as a means to create a lifestyle, explains Huff, and spend it on things that enhance daily living. Her book is designed to help them start thinking longer range. Her lessons offer pragmatic advice on planning for retirement, evaluating one's personal credit record, tracking monthly spending habits, comparing the rates of credit card costs, setting up a workable savings plan, and properly storing valuable financial documents.
Huff says that women need to break their bad habits in regard to financial management. Instead of dashing off to work and stopping for a one dollar cup of coffee on the way $260 per work year), they should make coffee at home and take a cup along ($75 per year). Use the saved money to buy more life insurance or to pay down debt. Likewise, women need to quit being soft touches, making car payments for their grown daughters who have wasted their money on partying or giving cash to useless boyfriends who have no intention of marrying them. Huff tells women that ignorance is not bliss when it comes to handling money!
Her book has sections on controlling impulse buying. She tells women that a bargain is not really a bargain if they are buying a dress or purse they really don't need. She also warns women to protect their privacy and shows them how to get off mailing lists.
There are a couple of warnings that must come with this book. Although the author starts every chapter with a verse of scripture, cites Bible verses frequently throughout her lessons, and closes each chapter with a 'Prayer Box,' she walks a dangerous line in other ways. On page 63 she quotes a poem about being in debt, and one of its lines uses God's name in vain. She also just assumes that divorce is part of American life, so she offers many suggestions and ideas specifically to divorced and separated women without ever saying that the Bible says that God hates divorce. No doubt many conservative readers will have problems with this.
This is a very readable, pragmatic, and insightful book for women, but it does have some liberal tolerances that may not set well with traditional Christian congregations. -- Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, Christian Book Previews.com
