family-economics

This is incredible and well worth the money!!! Kristie touches upon almost everything a home based mom would need to get her business rolling. You can hear her enthusiasm through her words, which really motivated and inspired me to keep reading. If you are toying with the thought of being home with your children and ending the 9-5 chaotic life, but still want to generate an income, you must read this book!! Our children should be our #1 priority and Kristie brings it home with this how to book on HAVING IT ALL!! You can find out how to have it all too by reading "I Love My Life", by Kristie Tamsevicius.

Kristie's book is a great resource for anyone thinking about creating their own home-based business. Her book is easy to follow and full of advice that is universal to anyone pursuing a stay-at-home career, not just moms. I highly recommend this book as your one stop shop resource for a successful home-based business.

I have set up 3 home-based businesses and have operated as a Business & Life Coach for the past three years. Not only has Kristie's book taught me so much about the practical issues around effectively establishing a SUCCESSFUL home business, it will be a real asset to my current and future clients who are headed that way, as I will gift them this Treasure Trove of a book. It is full of practical, sound advice and will guide anyone through the processes of getting up and running in a well organized manner. I only wish I had Kristie's wonderful book 20 years ago! THANKS KRISTIE, FOR YOUR PEARLS OF WISDOM.

The day this book arrived I read 6 chapters in 3 hours! This is a very inspirational book about leadership and success and is not just about your children. It would apply to anyone, any age, stay-at-home mom to CEO. I especially liked her personal stories, I felt like she was writing about me. I am living my dream and have never lost sight of my goals. After reading her book I feel like I have been more of a success than I had thought previously. This is a must read book for anyone. M. Craig - Successfull Internet Entrepreneur

I am a Preschool Director and I wish all of our parents would read Susan Collins' book. It's in sync with what we are trying to do in the classroom, letting children be creative thinkers and explorers.

Susan Collins has become a bedtime friend. This doesn't just feel like I'm reading a book, it feels like I know her. I look forward to spending time with her each night. She makes me feel her successes can also be mine.

"A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" is a "must have" for any serious home library. Only Ellie Kay can strike to the heart of family finances with such humor and insight. This book is not just for the women in your life, but the men as well! How can such a young woman have such financial wisdom? This is truely a five-star, must have!

I was given this book as a gift. After reading the title "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" I figured my friend made a mistake and meant it for my wife.

But as I browsed the pages I dicovered something I had never thought about before. I'M THE WOMAN OF THE HOUSE!!! I keep the budget, the checkbook. I pay the bills and do the shopping. I always have my eagle eye out for that amazing deal to swoop down and grab before it's gone.

The financial advice here is sound, practical, and extremely useful. There is a spiritual component here too, but it is not so overwhelming as to deter someone not-so-inclined from pursuing and benefitting from Ms. Kaye's tips.

Even though I got this one free, I expect to save 40 to 50 times the book's retail price this year alone by following the bread crumbed path of Ellie Kaye's frugal wisdom.

Ellie Kay, once known as 'the coupon queen' is now called "America's Family Financial Expert" and this book helps show why. She shares practical strategies for making and sticking to a budget, going on a "debt diet", weathering financial setbacks (including touching and contrasting stories of people who suddenly found themselves unemployed, and how they handled it) how to save on essentials, and how to always share with those less fortunate, all in her fun, entertaining signature style.

I learn something new every time I read one of Ellie's books. This time I learned the Four Axioms to keep us from frugal burnout: 1. Shop LESS and you will save more, 2. Watch LESS television and save more, 3. THROW away mail order catalogs and save more (this one really hit home!) and 4. Bypass reading the ads in magazines and newspapers and save more.

Thanks, Ellie, for another excellent book that even the math-and-financially impaired of us can understand!

"Material World" is one of those books that EVERYONE should read. It really is beyond description...deceptively simply yet incredibly moving in its stark simplicity. In these pages about families across the globe, we see scenes from their everyday life. When we glance at the pictures of each family on their lawn surrounded by all of their material goods, the difference between the average American family and the average Ethiopian family couldn't be plainer. We look at the faces on these pages, hear their thoughts on the future, and compare their lives to our own...and suddenly the people in other countries seem real to us, and the faceless people of the news suddenly have faces and thoughts and homes and families. Peter Menzel and all of the others who have worked on this book have done a brilliant and wonderful thing when they created "Material World". They have done what no "You should be grateful..." or "Think of those people in other countries..." could have done...they have made the world real to us.

This is a very interesting book--more like a written documentary--that explores the lives of families in a number of countries based mainly on their possessions. Beautiful photos accompany each section, including the "Big Picture," in which the family is photographed with all of its belongings. Country statistics are also included, as well as interviews with family members and daily life photos.

The value of each family's possessions, as well as the family's values (what's important to them, etc.) are stressed. However, I noticed that while standard of living may differ considerably, everyone, no matter their location, seems to want bascially the same thing: education, a better life for their children, security, etc. This realization was perhaps the best part of the book for me.

What also impressed me was the fact that this book is filled to the brim. There's no way to read it cover-to-cover, really. Instead, it's more of an experience. It must be taken in. Every time I pick it up, I see something differently, in a new light.

You don't have to be an economist or an anthropologist to enjoy this book. On the contrary, anyone who has any interest at all in the outside world would enjoy it. Because the photographers spent so much time with each family, I truly felt like I was transported to each country, like I had a more complete understanding of what it was like to live there.

The residents weren't just faceless, nameless inhabitants of a distant land but were brought to life. And since it was basically told in their own words, very little to no bias is able to come through. Lastly, I have to congratulate the authors for putting together a balanced portrait of life around the globe. The choices were well-made and quite diverse.

Highly recommended!

This book is a fantastic picture book and statistical reference of our world. Menzel's idea was brilliant- -to identify a statistically average family in every corner of the world, and photograph them and all of their belongings, as well as capture aspects of their daily life on film.

The book is organized by continent, and then by country within each continent. Each entry begins with a multi-page photo of the family in front of their house, with of all their possessions. Beside the photo is an enumeration of the possessions that appear in the photo. The remainder of the article is found on the next 3 or 4 pages. There is usually a short summary of statistics about the country, covering such topics as area, population, population density, life expectancy, and rank of affluence among U.N. member countries. But much more informative are a variety of high-quality color photos showing family members going about their daily activities, at work, at school, or eating a meal in the family home. There is a brief text about the family itself, who they are, what they do, and where they live. The photographer also provides a brief summary of his or her experiences while living with the family and taking the photographs. In the photographer's notes are statistics about the work week, the number of radios, telephones, televisions, VCRs, and automobiles. The photographer also asks each family member to identify their most valued possessions and their dreams for the future.

The choice of the family to convey both the ideal and the reality of a typical "American" family was perfect. They have the requisite two children, one of each gender, and a dog. They are shown outside their ranch-style house, with a fairly new pickup truck and minivan in their attached garage. The photographer's idea of commandeering the entire cul-de-sac of the sub-development to showcase the family's possessions for the main photograph does an incredible job at capturing Americans' need for and use of space. (It makes an incredible contrast with the Japanese family, who have just as many possessions or even more, but are photographed with everything crammed together in a tiny block just the width of their house.) The picture of the American family appears on the cover of the book, juxtaposed with the family from Bhutan, with their house and meager possessions perched on a mountainside with no roads in sight. Despite the innumerable differences between the families, there are also many parallels. Both families are obviously proud of what they have and who they are. And in these pictures, and throughout the book, over and over again throughout the world, the family members identify religious objects as their most valued possessions.

In addition to the main chapters, the book also includes short features on televisions of the world, meals of the world, and toilets of the world, as well as appendices with more statistics, contributing photographers' biographies, and a list of more possessions that couldn't be included in the photographs.

Through its photographs, this book does an amazing job at explaining who we are as a human family, and how we are all similar. It also lets us know what life is like for average people around the world, and does a better job at this than any simple listing of statistics or geography text. When I read this book for the first time, I laughed, and even cried upon seeing how little some people in the world actually have to call their own. This was especially moving when I remembered that each family was chosen not because it was picturesque or poverty-stricken, but because it was statistically average. This book should be in every public library, it could be used by homeschoolers as a geography text, but everyone will find something of interest in it. It is one of the 10 most personally influential books that I have read.

If reading this book isn't enough for you, the project also produced a multimedia CD-ROM with added features and a series of children's books with more photographs and information for children about each family. An even more moving sequel called "Women of the Material World" is also available and highly recommended.

Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" is a must-read! As a credit/debt consultant, I assist people in cleaning up their credit and debt. This book is perfect for anyone that desires financial freedom. It helped my family considerably, and it will do the same for anyone with a willingness to make a permanent, positive change in their lives.

First, get and read Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace Revisited." Then get this planner, which takes you step-by-step through Dave's tried-and-true techniques for getting out of debt and getting your financial house back in order - and KEEPING it in order forevermore. Whether you're in serious financial trouble, or simply want to have a little more control over your money, this is the plan for you. Dave Ramsey uses simple, easy-to-understand, yet vivid language to communicate a powerful message.

I bought this book last year after stumbling across Dave's excellent radio show; I try to listen whenever I can. Reading the other people's reviews could lead one to think this book is only for those recovering from or in a debt crisis. Au contraire! Buy, read, re-read, and PRACTICE the recommendations in this book BEFORE you get into debt, stay out of debt forever, and get piles of cash. Doing this will add immeasurable peace to your life.

This book is a straight-talking, no B.S., easy-to-read gem about realistic personal finances. Everyone but the extremely rich should read it.

Now in an newly updated and expanded second edition, Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last by syndicated columnist Lillian D. Bjorseth is a truly "user friendly" guide to building networking skills in order to control one's own career path and uncover bright future prospects in an era where corporate cradle-to-grave job security is a thing of the past. From presenting the best possible personal image; to staying in touch; to engaging in ice-breaking activities; to dealing with gender-specific discrepancies, and a great deal more, Breakthrough Networking is particularly recommended reading for aspiring and practicing free-lancers in any vocational category or job level.

Lillian Bjorseth gives you more than just "tired and true" networking tips. What's more, the author helps you understand how and why networking works in both business and interpersonal relationships, and provides real insight about interacting with one another. Her background and experience in personal and corporate communications is quite apparent in the knowledge and advice she shares with the reader through the pages of "Breakthrough Networking." I picked up quite a few new ideas and have used them to build my own network of contacts increase my client base and expand my market. No matter what business you're in, this book can help you uncover new business and customers. Bjorseth's book should be right up there on the bookshelf with all your other business reference books!

Breakthrough Networking offers many practical, hands-on suggestions for building on networking and communication skills. I have found it a highly useful and informative resource.

Once read, this book can be set aside for the moment, but a compelling urge requires that you return to it for insight and guidance. Dr. Norman Jones has assembled a work that reflects his knowledge of how we relate to each other within our family unit, in our business, acedemic, and social lives. We can improve our relationships within these units, by using the techniques that he outlines. It is not just our own genetic make-up that determines out actions, but it is how we are treated by the people in our lives that have the most influence on us.

Maybe, just maybe, Dr. Jones' approach to the humanistic values in our relationships, expecially between students, their teachers and parents, could have helped prevented the violence that is currently happening in our schools.

Keep it on your bookshelf for inspiration and guidance, go back to it when you need help in any personal relationship, on the job, in your school, or within your family.

Thanks to Dr. Norman Jones for his insight and for this exceptional publication.

Norman Jones is an author on a mission with a message anyone in management can use right now. Performance Management in the 21st Century (Solutions for Business, Education, and Family) has especially helped me to take a new look at my own choice of words in life situations, particularly giving orders. There are examples of good, bad and insensitive uses of power to examine and improve our performances. What I liked best about the 188 page book is Dr. Jones wrote it and designed it so that it is easy to read in spare moments. I find enjoyment in opening it up anywhere and just begin reading. Furthermore, I get new insights each time I read the passages over again. Quotations from industry leaders are set off to stand out. Important information is bracketed to reinforce my memory. For these reasons and many more, this book will be on my shelf for a long time.

Lin Stone author of How To Buy Land at Tax Sales

There is no wasted verbiage in this book. Counting the index, it is but 205 pages in length. In those 205 pages are jewels of wisdom that most management teams are lacking.

The most prevelant gems are pithy observations set aside by top and bottom border lines. One example:
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"The atmosphere in most American companies is so riddled with fear of expendability that workers are afraid totell a boss what they think of his methods of managing."
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The book is organized in such a way as to point out the shallowness of bottom line neurosis and the strengths of inclusive decision making. Over and over, Dr. Jones identifies "Spirit Killers," i.e., those actions in an organization which diminish productivity and, subsequently, profitability, educational insight, and family harmony.

This book intertwines management schemes in business, education and the family. such integration serves to:
-Expose the fallacies of autocracy.
-Explore the possibilities of democracy in an organization.
-Break up management notions that have been set in stone.
-Propose better methods for bringing about civilized organizations.

The book seems to be intended as a tool in business, a text in academia, or a how to book for families. Personally, I'm inclined to recommend it to business schools and/or corporate trainers, though not to the exclusion of the other two entities.

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"Portraits of Success: 9 Keys to Sustaining Value in Any Business" by James Olan Hutcheson is just another "how to succeed at business" book. I wish its value was more than that, but it isn't. It is neither passionate nor any more informative than its competitors.

In the business books I have read recently, I found this one lacks the authority and substance I found in others. William Pollard's "Soul of the Firm" has the authority, as he took ServiceMaster to a new level. "Values of the Game" by Bill Bradley was worth the read because of Bradley's unique metaphorical look at life. "Leadership" by Rudolph Giuliani has power because of what Giuliani has gone through. "Portraits," however, has a flaccid tone to it. I felt as if it was researched information regurgitated into book form. I felt like I was reading the kind of book which gets sold after a corporate sales seminar.

The book, as seen in the subtitle, can be boiled down to nine major points. In each, Hutcheson retells stories of business success and failures, from security company founder Richard Wackenhut to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Action items accompany each chapter, and herein lay the book's greatest value. Hutcheson provides a topic sentence to lead the mini-lesson, but weakly completes the thesis in the following paragraphs.

The redundancy of subject matter mixed with a bland presentation has me suggesting to you to look elsewhere. It was not edited tightly enough to build the necessary tension and excitement. Overall, "Portraits of Success: 9 Keys to Sustaining Value in Any Business" lacks the poignancy I have come to expect from professional advancement books.

Anthony Trendl

James Olan Hutcheson has written a book that should prove invaluable to owners of small businesses and other nonhierarchical organizations. Portraits of Success: 9 Keys to Sustaining Value in Any Business is a book that deserves--and will hopefully get--a large readership.

Drawing on what he has seen in his own family business' transition to second generation leadership, as well as what he has witnessed as a consultant on such transitions, Hutcheson gives the reader much to think about. As he makes each point in his "9 Keys" he illustrates it with a real-life example.

Many of the keys are basic but easy to overlook and (after having overlooked them) sometimes tricky to introduce in a static leadership environment. Yet Hutcheson is a faithful guide through the peaks and valleys.

Having suffered through encounters with ineffective organizations (my daughter's school) and reveled in being a part of an effective, on-purpose organization (my Church), I cannot stress enough how important it is for people in leadership positions to be intentional in what they do and have the ability to be life-long learners. Learning about leadership and listening to those who "have been there," like Mr. Hutcheson, is a big part of this. Nothing less is in the balance than the difference between a life of drudgery and one of joy and freedom.

My only critique of this book is one that springs from my Christianity. I feel that the missing tenth (and possibly most important key) is Spiritual giftedness. When people serve in an area they not only enjoy, but also are gifted by God to serve in, explosive results are to be had. Also, as part of the Kingdom, "Business Traditions, Myths, and Shared Beliefs" melt away in the face of the kind of common purpose given by the Great Commission and the whole history of salvation.

Bearing this in mind and also recognizing that Mr. Hutcheson's audience probably have not all partaken of the Kingdom as of yet, I have to say that this book does a darn good job as a whole. It is less of a compilation of other sources than are most other leadership books. I found it refreshing to be able to distinguish an actual authorial voice in a work such as this. Too many leadership books read like a cross between a presentation and an instruction manual.

Get this book. It is well worth the time spent reading.

I was skeptical at first that this was a book by someone born with a silver spoon just looking to sell a book. But after reading through the thoughts and stories included, it's evident that Hutcheson has been on the front line throughout his career and the information included can be a benefit to any business owner and manager, particularly one looking to grow and transition ownership while facing the rough roads that will come with it.

I wouldn't be without this book raising a toddler. It follows in Baby Bargains' tradition of giving the best and most detailed advice I've seen on the key purchases that we need to make (i.e. booster seats, potty seats). These guys have exhaustive knowledge of manufacturers and standards, and allow me to shop armed with knowledge.

I don't love this book quite as much as Baby Bargains, mainly because there are not as many big purchasing decisions to make. Also, I found the booster seat discussion a bit confusing, but still much better than anything else out there.

I'll buy any book these guys write that is relevant to my life!

Denise & Alan have out done themselves again. I benefitted as much from this as their Baby Bargains book. It has a wealth of information to get you through the toddler years at a great savings. They were right on target with the reviews on Booster Seats. This book by far stands out above other books that rate products. It is laid out in a easy to read format & offers practical well researched information. I will recommend this to all the parents for whom I purchased Baby Bargains. Carry this with you when you shop & you can't go wrong.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing this book in addition to "Baby Bargains." With a 3-year-old and a brand new baby, I truly appreciate the objective and honest "FIELD studies" that thoroughly explain options to the variety of decisions that must be made. These 2 books are full of sensible product comparisons related to price, safety, ease of use, and necessity. Additionally, practical tips of all kinds are included to help a very busy parent with a toddler make good choices concerning "wants" and "needs"--(such as choosing toys, vacations, clothes, and classes). Along with these 2 invaluable books, I keep "The Pocket Parent" a fabulous quick-read guide of the very same shape that fits perfectly in the glove compartment. This A-Z compendium is written just for parents with 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's whom (as you already know if you have one) often don't wish to cooperate on money saving shopping sprees. I found so many great tips that work on the spot for such challenging behaviors as the oh so annoying "Gimmes", Whining, Fighting, Interrupting, Bad Words, "I Hate You's", and Tantrums in public that can drive you close to your wits' end. In addition, all 3 books are loaded with compassion and humor, probably because the authors are parents that have personally "been there" too. My husband and I highly recommend these 3 outstanding books to help moms and dads make wise decisions while remaining somewhat sane in the process!

This book heavily emphasizes planning and prioritizing and also offers tips on how to stave off procrastination. There are a few anecdotes about business managers and housewives that, for me, just fill pages, but overall, this is a clearly-written, useful book that offers effective techniques.

I believe that it is very hard to find a book which is more important than this book. This book is a must for anyone in any field who wants to achieve much more than s/he did before reading it. It may be not but is very close to the bible of time and life management. Being too far away from ideas inside this book, you will be very hard to achieve anything in your life. The time you read it will be paid off several times. Its ideas are worth reviewing several times.

How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life is, perhaps, the best book on time management ever written. It does not waste your time but gets right to the point. You must establish SMART (specific, measurable, achieveable, related/relevant, and time framed) goals for yourself and then prioritize them using Lakein's A/C system. "A" goals are the most important to you and you must plan on spending 80% of your time to achieve them. "C" goals (TV, lawn care, shopping, etc.) are the place where most people "waste" their lives and spend 80% of their time. This ratio must be reversed, according to Lakein.

He would agree with e.e. cummings that "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is night and day trying to make you just like everybody else means to fight the hardest fight any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." Once we have set goals that utilize our unique talents and abilities, we will have the will power and determination to do the work necessary to achieve them.

To accomplish our goals Lakein recommends that we make a daily "to do" list and always start with "A's," not "C's." Most of our time is spent working harder on things that don't matter. We may be efficient, but Lakein suggests that our goal is to do what matters most and become effective. "Work smarter, not harder" is the mantra he wants us to repeat and couple that saying with his last piece of advice --"Do it now."

Stick your finger into this small book and any page you hit will have wise words to put into action. Learning comes from daily practice and developing habits that "put first things first," taken from Stephen Covey's best seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People -- also recommended is Covey's fine book on effective living appropriately titled First Things First.

Rarely has a book that costs so little paid such rich dividends. You won't be disappointed.