How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt & Live Prosperously

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Review: There is not a good example of a debt reduction plan in this book. By following the suggestions here, it would take my family 10+ years to get out of debt. I am using Mary Hunt's guide and will be completely debt-free in less than 3 years. Also, with a degree in English, I found this book aggravating to read. What's with all the subtitles? And random curse words? (No point is made by using them!) I am certain that Debtors Anonymous has helped many people get out of debt, but I was not impressed by the principles described in this book. (If I could have given in 0 stars, I would have--as soon as I was finished reading it, I put it into a designated "yard sale" box.)

Rating:
Summary: Awesome for people who are in Debt!
Review: This book could hopefully deter anyone from considering filing bankruptcy. This book is as straightfoward as anyone can get. However, you actually must do the program and adhere to Jerrold Mundis' rules. Do not debt one day at a time. If you can do this, then you are well on your way to getting yourself out of debt. The best way to tackle this program is to start it on the beginning of any given month so you have a beginning of the month start.

Rating:
Summary: This book was not very useful.
Review: This book did not provide much "meat"...it spent too much time prepping the reader for the right mentality. ("Take a deep breath", "you can do it", etc.) I would have liked to have seen more explicit suggestions and useful recommendations. Those offered could have been condensed into 1-2 chapters. ("Stop charging", and "leave the credit cards at home" are very basic recommendations).

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Summary: We can Be Debt Free no matter what our financial situation
Review: This book has been an amazing experience for me. I have read a lot of "how to" books on Finances and have never put the book down feeling like I had actually gotten somewhere.
With all the talk about investing, IRAs, 401ks and savings, or the other extreme of clipping coupons and reusing saran wrap I wondered was there anyone else out there like me?
This book actually was for me! There ARE others. I am a hard working person with a compiling debt situation, just trying to make it. As my bills have been piling up and I am working full time, I don't have time to go to extremes to save 5 pennies, and I don't have the extra funds to put into 401ks and special savings.
This book has completely opened my eyes to my financial situation and BIG changes have happened in just the several weeks since I got this book. I do see a way out. I have not incurred any new debt. I haven't paid off all my debt, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. It will take time, and it is not easy, but it CAN be done!
This book is practical, motivating and gives useable solutions for everyday people. It is worth every penny and time spent reading it.

Rating:
Summary: this book is a must have to stop the madness!
Review: this book is a must have if you are tired of passing out all of your money to everyone else but you. If you have bill collectors calling your home and job you need this book. If the student loan people are calling your relatives cause you refuse to answer your phone.... you need this book. If you toss all of your bills and "pink" bills into a corner and never open them you need this book. If you are tired of living paycheck to paycheck get this book. If you keep asking yourself where did my money go? get this book. if you find yourself at the bank right before opening to deposit a check to cover for a check you wrote that might bounce. getting this book is a good idea. oh and one more if you have relatives that never seem to have enough money and you think to your self hey these are my parents i should be borrowing from them not visa versa... get them this book. I liked it so much im going to a debtors anonymous meeting today.

Rating:
Summary: this book is a must have to stop the madness!
Review: this book is a must have if you are tired of passing out all of your money to everyone else but you. If you have bill collectors calling your home and job you need this book. If the student loan people are calling your relatives cause you refuse to answer your phone.... you need this book. If you toss all of your bills and "pink" bills into a corner and never open them you need this book. If you are tired of living paycheck to paycheck get this book. If you keep asking yourself where did my money go? get this book. if you find yourself at the bank right before opening to deposit a check to cover for a check you wrote that might bounce. getting this book is a good idea. oh and one more if you have relatives that never seem to have enough money and you think to your self hey these are my parents i should be borrowing from them not visa versa... get them this book. I liked it so much im going to a debtors anonymous meeting today.

Rating:
Summary: Stop the Madness of Debt
Review: This book is excellently written. It does not condescend or preach because the writer has been there and experienced everything related to having the joy sucked out of you because of money worries. "How to Get Out of Debt" has changed my life, literally, and its methods are simple, as in all truly great answers to life's problems. A shift in perceiving the way I viewed money and I am on the road to recovery (one day at a time) and for the first time allowing myself and my family enough monthly spending money. It really helps if you use a computer for working out your financial plan. I would recommend this book to anyone who is either in debt or starting out on that rocky road. As Charles Dickens said, "If a person has one pound and spends 99 pennies, then bliss. If he spends one pound and one penny, misery." (Or words to that effect). And he should have known, his family ended up in debtors' prison. Today, there are no debtors' prisons just misery and this book leads the way out.

Rating:
Summary: great book!
Review: This book is great. It gives you a chance to look at your spending humerously. and it helps you realize that you really don't have to be in debt if you don't want to be. I was encouraged and as a back up im going to attend my first debtors anonymous meeting. I have been hiding away all of my bills and late payment notices for months Yesterday i finally had the courage to calculate how much i owe. (normally this would through me into a state of depression) and i owed 36,000 more than what i kept telling my self i owed. And believe it or not im not depressed. If i had not read this book i would be at work this weekend trying to make overtime and crying the next week because i didn't have enough money. If you have bill collectors calling you and you are tired of waking up in the middle of the night trying to figure out how to pay your bills get this book.

Rating:
Summary: great book!
Review: This book is great. It gives you a chance to look at your spending humerously. and it helps you realize that you really don't have to be in debt if you don't want to be. I was encouraged and as a back up im going to attend my first debtors anonymous meeting. I have been hiding away all of my bills and late payment notices for months Yesterday i finally had the courage to calculate how much i owe. (normally this would through me into a state of depression) and i owed 36,000 more than what i kept telling my self i owed. And believe it or not im not depressed. If i had not read this book i would be at work this weekend trying to make overtime and crying the next week because i didn't have enough money. If you have bill collectors calling you and you are tired of waking up in the middle of the night trying to figure out how to pay your bills get this book.

Rating:
Summary: If debt is creating a crisis for you- get this book!
Review: This book made a huge difference in my life. I had problems with debt for 20 years and was heading into serious trouble when I found a copy of this book. I remember finding the book in a bookstore (before Amazon.com existed) and I was embarrassed to buy it- that was the shame of being in debt. I was very scared because I was getting deeper into debt and not able to make even the minimum payments on my credit cards. I was borrowing (getting cash advances at ridiculous rates) from one card to pay the other. I sat down and read this book and it was tremendously comforting. I also found a local Debtor's Anonymous meeting and attended the meeting the same week. This book and DA changed my life and after 5 years I have nearly tripled my annual salary and have eliminated my unsecured debt. Jerrold Mundis teaches you that those who work this program obtain a great deal of "abundance" in their lives. Mundis writes about the "miracles" that occur when you work this program and I have experienced them first hand. It is not a Debtor's Anonymous sanctioned book, but everyone in DA has heard of it. I would have to say though that this book is not for everyone. The principles you learn in this book regarding the concept of not carrying any unsecured debt are excellent and everyone with a credit card should learn them. But this book was written for those who are in a crisis due to their debting. It will benefit problem debtors the most or anyone who is going down the road to deeper debt. Mundis is adamant about not giving up on yourself and not declaring bankruptcy. He guides you through all the consequences you may face due to your debting, such as judgments and court appearances. It is very comforting to learn about all these issues and how to deal with them, rather than live in fear of having collection agencies phoning day and night.
I've read some other reviews here that were critical of this book. As I stated before, this book is for those who are in a crisis due to their debt. This book was written in the 1980's and has not been revised so the writing style may seem dated, but the principles are rock solid. There are excellent books available on subjects relating to investing and personal finance, but this book is a special book for debtors in crisis.
I am still using the principles that Mundis lays out in his book such as the spending record. I know exactly where every cent of my money is going and where I have a tendency to over spend. Even though I no longer debt I still have a tendency to be a spendthrift and the techniques I learned from this book help to keep me in check. I also have a spending plan- not a budget- that I update every six months and follow consistently. As Mundis points out, it is not about doing without and sacrificing. You will learn that you can take the vacation you want and pay cash for it. You can have everything you truly desire and not go into debt. You will develop an incredible sense of freedom that will enable you to live fully and successfully because you won't be burdened by debt anymore. I'm sure all this sounds too good to be true, or even magical in a way, but it isn't. If being in debt is causing a problem for you, you should get this book and read it and then follow the advice closely. Mundis walks you through all the difficult tasks you must face, such as totaling up how much you owe, contacting creditors to work out a payment plan, and not going one cent further into debt. I felt like I was the only one going through the hell of being seriously in debt, but he made me realize I was not alone and I could one day be debt free, too.
This book will teach you so much and it will also restore your confidence in yourself. It gives you the courage to face up to dealing with the mess you've made of your finances and it gives you hope that you can one day truly be debt free and living prosperously.