The Smart Cookies Guide To Making More Dough And Getting Out Of Debt

Inspired by an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on personal finance, the Smart Cookies, five dynamic young women who weren’t always so savvy about money, formed a "money club," and together developed strategies for turning their financial lives around – without surrendering their sanity or their social lives. In this guide, the Cookies demonstrate how women of all ages can achieve financial security. They share their own stories, offer easy-to-follow steps, and lay out simple plans for meeting any goal, whether it’s eliminating debt, making good investments, becoming a smart spender or saving up for a big-ticket purchase. The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough invites every reader to become "the sixth cookie," to take control of their financial lives and have fun doing it.

Now more than ever it’s crucial to get out of debt, spend smarter, save better, and achieve financial freedom—without sacrificing your social life or your sanity! Let The Smart Cookies show you how.… They were five dynamic young women: smart, successful—and secretly drowning in debt. In one year Andrea, Angela, Katie, Robyn, and Sandra dramatically improved their financial situations. Their proven recipe for success has since been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today show, MSNBC, and in the New York Daily News. How did they do it? The five women—with varied careers in marketing, public relations, social work, and real estate—joined forces to create a fun, simple, effective strategy for achieving financial success, forming a money group and supporting one another every step of the way. Now, in this extraordinary hands-on guide, The Smart Cookies tackle the unique financial challenges facing women today as they share the secrets of their extraordinary success. Learn how to: •Save money and still make room for “guilt-free spending” •Have a Girls Night In once a week—and save hundreds each year •Splurge on big-ticket items—without breaking the bank •Invest like a pro—in just a few short lessons •Get paid what you’re worth—step-by-step instructions for negotiating the best raise •Discover easy ways to cut costs—without feeling the pinch And much, much more!

This fresh, accessible guide shows women how they can get a grip on spiraling finances and manage their money--without sacrificing a fabulous lifestyle.

This fresh, accessible guide shows women how they can get a grip on spiraling finances and manage their money--without sacrificing a fabulous lifestyle.

This hip and accessible guide addresses all of the nagging money questions and thorny situations that come up when you're in a relationship, whether you're just starting to get serious or you're already married. This book gives couples the perfect excuse to break the silence and start talking about… money! Staying on top of your finances when you're single can be tough enough - add another person to the mix and it can seem downright daunting. Even if you've got your own finances in order, there are inevitable money issues that come up when you're part of a couple, not just because one of you may be in better shape financially than the other, but because you may each have very different perspectives on money and how to manage it. The principles the Cookies set out in their first book about the basics of life planning and investing can work for couples, too, and this guide offers simple techniques that will help readers with everything from dealing with "money baggage" to getting out of debt to planning for retirement. Again they draw practical advice and meaty anecdotes from their own financial escapades, as well as readers' queries and the personal experiences of five focus couples.

In this era of the Boomerang Generation, here at last is a full and frank guide to avoiding the need to move back in with your parents. Rob Carrick of The Globe and Mail is one of Canada's most trusted and widely read financial experts. His latest book is the first by anyone to target financial advice specifically at young adults graduating from university or college and moving into the workforce, into the housing market and into family life. Financial beginners, in other words. Carrick offers what can only be described as a wealth of information, on the full life cycle of financial challenges and opportunities young people face, including saving for a post-secondary education and paying off student debts, establishing a credit rating, basic banking and budgeting, car and home buying, marriage and raising children of their own, and insurance. The book is mindful throughout that parents have a big role to play in all this. It addresses young readers throughout but regularly asks them to see things from their parents' perspective. In that way, Rob Carrick is able to offer advice to both generations. He even recognizes that in these difficult times, moving back in with the folks is sometimes a short-term necessity. So there is a section devoted to such important questions as: Should your parents be charging you rent? For that and many thousands of dollars' worth of other reasons, this is a book that every parent needs to buy for each of their kids, plus one for themselves.

In today’s frenetic, uncertain world, the “same old, same old” routines are perfect ways to go nowhere fast. What has worked for you before—professionally or personally—no longer gets results. Whether you’ve been downsized, reached the end of a long relationship, or found yourself questioning where you are in life, it’s clear you need to change. To innovate. Make it new. Make yourself new. Now, in this invaluable book, the world-renowned “Dean of Innovation,” Jeff DeGraff, shares his tried-and-true techniques on how to reinvent yourself—creatively and with maximum impact. Innovation You reveals DeGraff’s unique four-step program to bolster your ingenuity and remake your life. From forging ahead in a new career to losing weight to finally pursuing that long-held dream, DeGraff’s strategies are effective and easy to follow. Inside you will learn to • Rethink Innovation: Find ways to think outside the box, seek out diverse opinions, and pay attention to the next great trend. • Rethink Your Approach: Use the Competing Values Framework to identify your natural innovation profile—do you compete, collaborate, create, or control?—and then deliberately draw from the other styles to augment your usual tactics. • Rethink Your Methods: Put your reinvention plan in motion—set specific, realistic, and meaningful targets, cultivate relationships with relevant mentors and experts, and try alternate methods to achieve your goals. • Rethink the Journey: Understand that innovation is a process and that progress comes in cycles rather than a quick straight line. Accept uncertainty, question assumptions, and acknowledge areas where you can improve. Full of invigorating ideas, engaging anecdotes, practical wisdom, and inspiring success stories, Innovation You is your personal road map to reach your highest potential—and experience a bold new way of living.

The must-have guide for any woman who’s ever thought about saying “yes” to the other big question: Will you move in with me? More and more couples are choosing to live together before tying the knot—for convenience, to save money and, most importantly, to see if they’re compatible. While living together can be an exciting way to take your relationship to the next level, it can also present a host of new questions and challenges. With its fresh, girlfriend-to-girlfriend manner, Shacking Up walks you through every step of the cohabitation process, from making the initial decision to breaking up or getting married. Beginning with a readiness quiz to help you decide if you and your honey are prepared to take the plunge, authors Stacy and Wynne Whitman provide a wealth of hands-on advice from lawyers, psychologists and financial planners as well as entertaining, true-life stories from couples with shacking up experience. Topics include: breaking the news to your family; managing and merging your finances; protecting yourself legally; real-estate decisions; and day-to-day dilemmas such as chores, privacy, and keeping the spark alive. Whether you opt for wedding bells or decide he’s not the one for you, Shacking Up is a stylish, empowering handbook for staying smart, savvy, and true to yourself along the road to happily ever after.