REVIEW for The Smart Cookies Guide to Making More Dough

TITLE: The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough

AUTHOR: The Smart Cookies

GENRE: Personal Finance

DATE: September 30, 2008

RATING: 3.5 stars

I received this book directly from Random House and Jessica. Thank you so much to both of you!!!!

Prior to reading The Smart Cookies Guide to Making More Dough, I had never heard of the Smart Cookies. The Smart Cookies were formed, in part, thanks to a debt repayment plan that was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show.

I am always interested in personal finance books, especially those written with "first hand" experience and by women.

The book starts off by introducing each of the "Smart Cookies" (there are 5 of them) and details their own initial financial status. All of them are under the age of 40 and all of them had some type of debt problem as well as various spending issues.

As each of these women candidly details their financial situations, we also get a glimpse into their hopes for the future. These include changing careers, getting married, saving and, of course, staying out of debt permanently and they achieved their goals, in part, by forming a money group and basically taking control of their finances. Step 1: debt repayment. This issue is addressed in great detail in this book and features many different debt scenarios. Once the debt repayment is well in hand, the women go on to detail the various ways they have decided to build a nest egg - from career changes to making your own coffee in the morning.

This book is a fun read and I kept thinking "why didn't I read this when I was in my 20's or 30's??"

There are some good tips for saving money and a basic financial investment primer. I also liked that this book is very optimistic and shouts out a huge "you can gain financial control and be happy doing it".

However, I have to admit that this book really is aimed at people in their 20's and 30's - who are basically more or less starting out, before the children and the mortgages come along.

I am encouraged by the interest our younger generations are showing in their financial future and I just wish I had this type of book when I was that age!