Free Book Download – Suze Orman’s 2009 Financial Action Plan

You can download Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan for free for the next week (at time of this writing). The gist of it is that she explains how the US got in the mortgage/credit mess. Be warned that this is a ‘get real’ book where she places the blame directly on all participants – the banks, the government and yes, YOU. It is time to get HONEST with where you are financially.

The action plan is that you:

• order your credit cards from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate
• make sure you are paying the minimum on each card, then
• pay off your highest interest credit cards first (see: finding money section)
• take the payments you were making on the first card, add those payments to next highest interest rate card
• once all cards are paid off, save 8 months worth of monthly expenses

There are a tons of specific problem scenarios and what you can do about it.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ve hopefully been doing this already, because you know that debt will reduce the sense of power you emanate when you negotiate for higher rates. It’s hard to turn down an offer or ask for more money when you can’t afford to lose the job/opportunity. Also, you don’t start to save ON the rainy day, you start BEFORE it rains! But if you haven’t started, it’s good time to do so now.

The HUGE missing piece in this book is the part about making more money. Suze’s great at explaining credit card debt, Roth IRAs, saving for college, mortgages, how to spend less, etc but nothing on making more money!

That’s where this website comes in, whether it be by starting to contract, or building an online business to supplement your income. As a contractor, I have no worries about the current economic situation, haven’t been working on a contract since November. My mortgage is paid off and I bought another house on the east coast. I get calls about work and turn down certain opportunities (that currently would involve travel). I don’t budget or restrict my spending. But I don’t go to shopping malls, spent nothing at Xmas, and don’t have anything on my credit cards. I pay off the card each month if I have a balance (for purchasing online, donating to charity, etc).

There is another reality out there, but you have to consciously work to make it happen.