Frugal Village

Title of Book: Live Well on Less Than You Think:
The New York Times Guide To Achieving Your Financial Freedom
Author: Fred Brock
ISBN Number: 0-8050-7725-1
Genre/Market: Business/Finance
Publication Date: January 03, 2005
Book Length: 192 Pages
Publisher: Times Books
Price: $15.00
Paperback
5 out of 5 stars

Frugal Maven gives Live Well on Less Than You Think 5 Stars

Fred Brock has written the prequel to his best-selling book Retire on Less Than You Think. His new book is titled Live Well On Less Than You Think. It’s a money management guide that outlines many ways to cut expenses and avoid making poor financial decisions, so you can live on less money and simultaneously save. This is a great book for those that have felt the pressure from consumerism, debt, and expenses. It’s also wonderful for anyone concerned with saving for their future.

This book was refreshing. It was easy to read and the information was practical and filled with achievable methods to jumpstart your finances. Fred Brock writes in a clear and concise manner. His writing is like sitting across the table from someone you respect and listening to them share words of wisdom. I didn’t feel like I was being overwhelmed with finance, yet this book packs a lot of solid and factual information into its pages. The financial data he compiled and presented in the form of simple graphs and charts makes this book an interesting and informative read. He covers topics as diverse as debt and credit cards to education and cost of living.

Fred Brock was thorough in his research for this book. Every key point he expresses is more than adequately supported. He admits that he isn’t a financial advisor, but provides knowledge from financial experts. This coupled with his progressive views and experience makes this book a valuable tool.

I assumed the contents would be geared toward adults in their thirties. I was impressed to find that the information provided is useful to all ages. He breaks down and outlines plans that cover all generations. It’s a book that I can recommend to students, as well as to peers. It also doesn’t cater to any particular income bracket. Most importantly, it wasn’t boring.

Chapter four focuses on small ways of cutting expenses and was by far my favorite section. It wasn’t preachy, but rather it inspired me to continue making decisions that work toward my personal goals. Page 76 Figure 6 offers a lightbulb moment. Not because this particular section offered brilliant or newly learned information, but because it reminded me of the commonsense methods that can be an A-HA moment to make real changes NOW.

I think this book is a powerful guide and catalyst for change. It prompts readers to seek further into their own personal situations and offers practical and informative resources to do so. Fred Brock says “Cutting expenses increases income.” and I fully agree with that. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

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