7 Money Rules for Life - Review

Book - 7 Money Rules for Life®: How to Take Control of Your Financial Future by Mary Hunt.

Publisher - Revell

Pages - 194

Price - $12.23

Author, Mary Hunt, is well-known for her financial help, from a Christian perspective. In this book, she shares her own story of struggling with a mountain of debt, a problem with spending, and how she climbed out of it all, and got victory.

She also shares the 7 rules that helped her. She wants you to have the knowledge to  manage your money successfully.

Many people have lost their homes by foreclosures and are facing bankruptcy. Lenders have given out risky loans to families who, seeking the American dream, did not have the tools or knowledge to make the right choices.  Mary wants you to know the facts about money.

Chapter topics:

1. "The Cost of Financial Ignorance."
2. "My Story."
3. "Financial Intelligence Will Improve your Life."
4. "Rule 1: Spend Less than you Earn."
5. "Rule 2: Save for the Future."
6.  "Rule 3:  Give some Away."
7. "Rule 4: Anticipate Your Irregular Expenses."
8. "Rule 5: Tell Your Money Where to Go."
9. "Rule 6: Manage your Credit."
10. "Rule 7: Borrow only What you Know you Can Repay."
11. "Getting it all Together."
12. "The Irregular Income Challenge."
13. "Drowning in Debt."
14. "Which Bills to Pay."
15. "An Invitation to Join our debt-free movement."

In "Rule 2" she says, "No matter what your situation - even if you are up to your eyeballs in credit card debt - you must have an emergency fund. Every household needs one. The very foundation of our money management plan is liquid cash, meaning that in 24 to 72 hours you could get your hands on money you have earmarked for specific emergencies."

This is so important! This past year, we had saved a few hundred dollars, specifically for an emergency.  One day, as I was driving home, my car was making terrible noises. I pulled off to the side of the road and it completely died. I had to be somewhere in a few hours, and it was urgent! My mechanic, a friend of the family, rushed to my aid and took care of it in just a couple of hours. I was grateful we had the quick cash to pay him.

Mary also has inspiring quotes at the beginning of each chapter. This one is my favorite:

"Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-not's, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have's." - Earl Wilson.

Overall, this is an excellent book. I plan to send copies to my grown children. A constant stream of financial education is essential for peaceful living.

*Disclosure - I received this book for review purposes.*

To find out more about my commercial breaks, please see my disclosure page.

Tweet


An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

A Morning Visit



One of my favorite, vintage books.  {Do you see the bookmark? It is an empty m and m wrapper.}

 I am slowly feeling better.  But I will have several Jane Austen days before I am ready for normal activity.  Last night, I did a little sewing and finished an apron. I plan to cut some new material this morning. 

I am going to read passages from Beautiful for Thee, which was published in 1978. It is a charming pink book full of godly messages for wives and mothers. Each chapter is a transcript from a speaker at an event that was hosted by The Sword of the Lord publishers.  I love the vintage photographs of each speaker, and the brief description of who they were.

I am looking forward to a restful day by the fire. I will not care that chores are not being done, but I will do my best to make things look pleasant.

Blessings
Mrs. White

A gentle reminder - Fighting the Hectic Life.

The One Condition of My Agreement to Marriage  - The Housewife Contract.

Please don't give up! - The Homemaker's Despair.

Joining with
How Sweet the Sound

Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

The Smiling Mask of Mother's Pain

We mothers deal with so much trauma. It is in our homes, in our world, and in our minds.  Right now I am suffering massively with physical ailments. Last Sunday, I woke up and tried so hard to go to church. I actually drove partway and realized I couldn't make it. I went back home and back to bed. I stayed there, off and on for 3 days. . .  I have not recovered. . .  It is a weary sort of sickness. It is not something that is contagious or that can be diagnosed. But it is disabling.

I am trying to smile and make light of it.  One minute I am up and writing, or trying to clean something, the next I am sound asleep. It is a puzzle to the children.  My step has slowed. My work is neglected.

But I am smiling, with that sort of saint-like nature that means I am helpless and grateful.

Our children deal with so much in the world. They have problems to contend with in their own lives. They need the comfort of mother's smiles.

We need to do our very best to hide our pain. We need to make home a place of rainbows and cheer, even if we cannot walk very fast, or clean as well as we would like. We must not complain or let despair overcome us. 

The children know we suffer. They live with us. They see enough of it. Our job is to encourage their innocence, and enjoy their daily antics. 

If we can endure to the end, with that gentle, smiling mask, what a sweet memory that will be, of their dear mother.

Blessings
Mrs. White

I will do this  - No Matter what it Cost Me.

To Use Coupons or Not - with Stories and Memories of Home Economics.

It is - A Lovely Day for Chores.


Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

A Paper Plate Society

Years ago, in home economics class, we students learned how to set a pleasant table. We were told that dining together as a family was an experience. We felt that it was an essential part of family values.  The table didn't have to be fancy, but the basic elements were there:

Plates, silverware, a napkin at each place, cups, and serving bowls in the center.

I've noticed that families are using paper plates on a regular basis. Here is the problem:

- They tend to make people eat more. Why? Because we eat quickly. Paper plates are for fast and easy meals.  

When we sit together and dine at the table, the meal goes slower. We visit with one another, smile  and enjoy the food. We tend to eat less.  The experience is savored and enjoyed.

Our society loves paper plates because no one wants to clean. The plates are a modern substitute, creating a fast food environment.  Something is wrong when we are too busy to sit down together as a family to enjoy the blessing of food.

Are paper plates wrong? Certainly not. But they should be reserved for emergencies, when someone is ill, occasional dining, or for picnics.  Paper plates should be the rare exception, not the common rule.

What if you have a busy schedule and cannot find time to sit together? Does that mean you have to use paper plates? (gentle smiles) How about setting the table, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with real dishes and enjoying the meal with whoever happens to be there. Meal times are commonly at specific times and should be an expected routine. This helps keep order and security in the home.

Dine alone, at times, if you must, but please use real plates. (gentle smiles)

Blessings
Mrs. White

Be comforted - Mother's Silent Influence in the Home.

A Precious Hymn - Be thou My Vision.

The meaning of Sitting Alone at the Kitchen Table.




Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

The Danger of being an Unproductive Housewife

There is a danger in having nothing to do. Many housewives get bored at times, when they don't have a sort of vision. They need to be creative, inventive and productive.

Recently I read a post describing a barrenness in life. This is an emptiness. It made me think of a withered fruit tree that is unprofitable. This kind of barrenness can cause intense depression, misery and sadness. (It can also be caused by doing far too much that we are no longer producing good. This, too, is unproductive.)

We all know that when our children are idle, they get into trouble. But with Mothers, if we don't have something  to do, we spiral into sadness. A dark cloud comes over ones life.

When the housewife is sick or incapable of doing anything, she may read or have visitors while she is recovering. She is still being productive while she heals. But the housewife who is perfectly well, needs to find things to do that she enjoys, or that creates something.

The Lord said, "Occupy until I come." Did that mean to keep busy? To keep producing?

What about "Do all to the glory of God?"

And certainly we are commanded to rest one day of the week, and also to rest at night. It is a special, deserved rest that feels rewarding after accomplishing much, in our own small way,  for the Lord.  

I wonder if being productive  - whether in prayer, Bible studies, visiting others, creating, baking, caring for babies and children, or what have you, we are creating a fruitfulness in our lives that will bless us, and those around us.

Yet there is another danger  - it is far more serious. It is the danger of doing too much. It is a danger of taking on the whole world and destroying a restful spirit. It can make one angry, physically ill, and depressed.

In other cultures, such as Italy, family is the center of life. The people work, but at a slower pace.  I also read a lovely passage from Stepping Heavenward. The main character, Katy, was so overburdened with household tasks that she was ill and irritated. Her husband soothed her, advising her to take on only the work she was capable of. He said something like, once you feel yourself getting upset, or burdened, stop at once to rest, and be refreshed.

We are to be productive, but the ideal way for that is to do it at a steady, calm pace. This is a mysterious sort of way. It is keeping busy in an almost romantic way. It is determined, but tender. It is cheerful and pleasant, and produces lovely things in the heart and life.

Blessings
Mrs. White


When you are very worn out - Have a Jane Austen Day.

The Day I made a restaurant-style Breakfast at Home.

Don't read this until you do your chores - Only Rich People Have Clean Houses.


Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

Designed to Comfort Us

Sometimes when I drive my teenagers on an errand, we stop at a little store at the corner of an intersection. Across the street is a large church.  We can hear a gentle sound of hymns being played from the church bells. It is lovely. The sound calms my nerves. It soothes me. It takes my mind to heavenly things, and off my daily troubles. I am grateful to them. I wonder if they know it is a blessing to those walking by?

Sometimes I leave my Bible on the kitchen table, or the hutch counter.   When I am busy doing chores, I absentmindedly notice it and touch the cover. It slows me down for a moment, and turns my thoughts off this difficult life.

The Church, The Bible, Prayers, and Religious Duties are all designed to comfort us. They are there so we can take a break from the constant, stressful demands in this life. How would we ever survive without them? Wouldn't the light and the salt be removed? How, then, can we ever consider the neglect of these essential duties?

blessings
Mrs. White

The Hidden Lesson - What Sundays Used to Mean to Housewives.

The Way it Was -  The Old Sunday Dinner.

Are you one of these? - Brave Mothers who Walk into Walls.

When I am gone - These Things Will Comfort My Children.




Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.

When Mother Doesn't Want to Go Out

Did you ever have some errands that you were dreading? Perhaps you didn't feel well, but those tasks could not wait?

I have had the nicest time, staying home all this week. Today, I have to go out.  But all I want  to do is stay home! (gentle smiles)

So I will have to take "home" with me.  I will bring a special book, for while I am in waiting rooms. I will bring one of my sweet children with me. (I wouldn't bring one of the grumpy ones! - smiles). 

I will buy something easy for tonight's dinner, so I won't have to dread any extra work.

I will listen to Fred Astaire this morning, while tidying my house, with a cheerful (in the clouds) outlook. Maybe by the time I have to head out the door, I will be so happy, I will forget that I don't want to go?

There will have to be some kind of reward... hmmm.... I need to think of something lovely for when I get home - as a reward for doing all the dreaded errands that have me so stressed out today....

Perhaps I will look forward to tea, a cozy fire, and reading a sweet new book that I am enjoying. 

Or maybe the idea of just having the entire weekend with no demands will be my reward.

Blessings
Mrs. White

A written record of who was present - Recording the Family  Bible Study.

I dearly miss these days - Rocking Babies and Staying Home.

It's not what everyone else does for me, it's what I do to make it special - A Mother's Touch.

Tweet



An Invitation - Subscribe to The Legacy of Home and have it delivered directly to your email.