The Money Game and How to Win It Paperback – Import, 24 October 2019

Ellen Abramson has written a very easily digested primer on how she and her husband reduced their debt to $0 through insight, focus, and determination. She bares her financial soul with stunning candor and even humor! by sharing the mishaps and mistakes that got them in a financial hole, and then with incredible honesty discusses how they turned it around, while sharing instructive nuggets with the reader. You can almost hear Ellen talking to you through this book. While a quick read, the book has wisdom that can benefit anyone seeking to reduce their debt load, whether it be light or heavy. Everyone will find something different as a takeaway from this book. For me, one of the biggest takeaways was to remember to anticipate known expenses and plan for them, like having insurance funds set aside so when insurance bills come due payment is just a matter of writing a check, rather than scrimping and scraping to find the funds. Before reading her book I was already trying to reduce frivolous purchases that are more wants than needs, so I could put my money toward paying down debt like our home equity line of credit or our vehicle loan, and her common sense tips and pointers are helping me stay on the straight and narrow. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a handle on their spending to reduce debt and enjoy more financial freedom. Her book is a bit like a financial recipe book, teaching you to have a healthy financial lifestyle you can stick to for life.

This is a great primer on smart money management based on personal experience. The stories shared are very candid and easy to relate to - they keep the message from being a dry read. The author and her husband were at one point more than $100,000 in debt and found/created a way to turn their finances around. It's a great example of how a husband and wife can work as a team to fulfill their goals. I think we can all relate to spending money on things that won't bring us long-term peace and fulfillment; this book will help you really think about what you're doing with your resources, and show you how you can get on track with your goals.

Ellen takes the reader beyond the numbers and math of debt and its resolution. She gives the reader an eye opening view of money and the power it has in our lives. Surprisingly simple, how understanding and being in charge of your financial situation can bring so much personal power. Being in charge of your spending, saving and giving makes it all that more meaningful. Prioritizing what is important to you and allocating your money to support those priorities puts you in charge of your life. She illustrates simply how emotions can negatively interfere with spending and saving. This book should be required life skill reading in high school/college. In her book, my dear friend Ellen demonstrates her keen intelligence, great kindness of spirit, wit and positive outlook on life. No surprise, she doesn't disappoint but exceeds expectations.

I strongly recommend The Money Game …And How to Win It. This is the most practical ‘how-to’ book I have ever read about personal finance. The author is exceptionally generous about sharing her mistakes and the hard-won insights that helped remedy her financial situation.Written plainly and clearly, the author begins each chapter with an inspirational quote and finishes with a summary of key takeaway points that focus the lessons of the chapter. She shares concrete examples of the simple and effective tracking tools she created which can be easily customized to fit your own situation. She explains just how to make your financial life reflect your own deliberate goals. And she models the joy that accompanies rising to meet your life lessons.This book really delivers!

Ellen Abramson and her husband David may have turned an unglamorous chore - tallying receipts and payments against the reality of income and assets - into a fulfilling hobby or practice, like juggling, yoga or lighting a fire.As an exercise after reading “The money game...and how to win it,” I made a list of my Top 5 items that are “givens” for a basic level of comfort. Then compared them to some of the authors’ charts; they offer many templates for tracking costs and savings and financial goals, including “freedom” and emergency funds.