Comments on: Review: Money Drunk, Money Sober

By: Dean's Credit Ideas Guide

Dean's Credit Ideas Guide — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:13:52 +0000

Fantastic book – this is a must read!

By: George

George — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:18:27 +0000

@deRuiter – Your tenant sounds like a description of my sister! In her case, the penniless situation she put herself in made her THROUGH OUT all that junk after she’d spent $2400 storing it for a year… could have sold it before she stored it for a small return or could have donated it or could have thrown it out initially. Instead she wasted $2400 by storing it for a year and then throwing it out.

By: paula d.

paula d. — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:56:43 +0000

Thank you so much for your book reviews. They are so helpful to me, enabling me to make decisions as to whether to buy a book. As a person who is a recovering alcoholic, and trying to become sober in my spending, if nothing else, reading your blog helps me stay on track.

Keep it up, more people should be using your suggestions. If we all did, maybe the figures of our collective debt would go down, and we would all have a healthier financial picture.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:56:42 +0000

My tenant is a poverty addict! More than ten years ago I rented a single bay garage to a divorcing man who stored a used washer & dryer, used clothing, used kitchen items and tools. Charged him $75./month. After five years I raised the monthly rent to $85. The total value of the things stored was less than a thousand dollars. I could replace the stuff for $500. by shopping yard sales in upscale neighborhoods one weekend. This character has paid $9,100 to store things which can be replace for $500. By now many of the items are probably worthless because of the damp air!!!! THIS IS A POVERTY ADDICT IN ACTION! I have a yard sale at this house twice a year. I’ve sat the tenant down and said, “There’s a yard sale here in two weeks. You’re welcome to join in, open your garage, sell everything, put the rest on the curb for trash pick up, and save $85./ month.” HE ALWAYS REFUSES, TELLS ME IT’S HIS STUFF, IT’S VALUABLE. This is classic poverty adict in action. Good for me though, I get $85,/ month towards the taxes, regular as clockwork. Soon I will bump it up to $95./month and he will continue to pay. AMAZING HOW PEOPLE ENGINEER FINANCIAL FAILURE AND THEN BLEAT THAT LIFE ISN’T FAIR!!!! These people cling to poverty like a warm cloak on a cold day, and then whine, whine, whine, that they can’t get ahead.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:43:46 +0000

I LOVE THIS! Everyone has zeroed in on poverty addict! Dear Minimum Wage, THIS IS YOUR BEHAVIOR! It’s wonderful to have a professional diagnose your condition! Goodness knows many of us have offered suggestions to help you speed down the road to financial comfort and you’ve refused or denigrated every idea. I’ve offered, “Sell your excess on ebay, stop wasting money renting storage for unwanted items, put that money towards education or a better apartment” and I’ve been blown off like everyone else who made workable suggestions to help you. POVERTY ADDICT is your conditon. Now that it’s been diagnosed and named so neatly, you can choose to change or cling to failure. BORROW THIS BOOK AT THE LIBRARY AND READ CHAPTER 8!!!! “Chapter 8: The Poverty Addict: People who follow this route believe that a poverty-like state is the natural state of their life, so they naturally choose behaviors to reflect that state. They take pride in poverty, believing it is a more righteous way to live, so they often underprice their own skills and forget to claim monies that are theirs….” deRuiter. PS. If you whine that the library is too far away for you to go to borrow the book, BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON, EBAY OR BIBLIOPHILE. This is a cheap paperback, do not tell us that it is too expensive for you to buy!

By: Jason L

Jason L — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:02:00 +0000

This is all well and good, but shouldn’t women be reading a different book?

;-)

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:50:14 +0000

How does a Poverty Addict underprice their skills? Unless you’re self-employed, isn’t the market the arbiter of the value of skills?

By: John

John — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:31:05 +0000

Financial education, Financial education, Financial education.

By: j

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:17:36 +0000

Thanks for reviewing this book! I have done her “Artist Way” book more times than I can remember – I know she is a recovered alcoholic and it’s interesting to see her apply this type of personality study to money management.

To tie in to your previous post about credit cards (and @Tyler) – I don’t have any b/c the “rush” I get from spending is so addicting that I would rather be completely w/o them than tempt myself. I can’t just take one swipe!

By: clevelis

clevelis — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:18:09 +0000

Great review as always! I totally agree with you and the authors about the “Vision: Recovery of Hope” section in particular. In a email to a friend who will soon start her dream job, I commented on how amazing it is to live your dream. The more I travel and meet folks, the more I realize that living one’s dream is not the reality of most people. I know some people even give me backhanded compliments about the various things I’ve done and how I’ll get a real job some day. I actually work as a clinical research coordinator but in the past have taken time off to do volunteer work in Africa and educational pursuits. Now I’m on track to my dream, I start pre-med program in July.

To all who are wondering how in the world do you live your dream, first step is simply to dream. I learned early on that I didn’t truly learn to dream big enough until I went to college. Before udergrad I only had big ideas with my reality at the time as parameters. Mature wise people know that living your dream is true fountain of youth.

By: The Innovative Traveler

The Innovative Traveler — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:05:27 +0000

I’ve always thought compulsive spending was an addiction, but this really illustrates exactly why that is so. I also agree with the above post that some people can’t get past the ‘addiction’ of poverty and feeling like they’re not worth more. I have a friend whose complete outlook revolves around struggling and being poor. I know her family, and they have the same outlook as well. In the past, she and I earned nearly the same income and she always saw me as being very well off. She couldn’t grasp the concept that we basically made the same salary. Presently, I am much better off than she is, and I think it has to do with my belief that I could have more. She continues to work at a dead-end job she hates.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:57:18 +0000

I love, love, love this and I can hardly wait to read the book. The psychology behind the need to shop to avoid something else is worth the dissection. I see a little of myself in several of those chapters so I would really benefit from the analysis (cheaper than therapy.) And I am familiar with another of Julia Cameron’s books, entitled, “The Artist’s Way,” which is truly inspiring for anyone with a shred of a creative bent. I will be interested in her input with her co-author. This thinking is at the very heart of overspending and poor financial management, thank you so much for what I think will be a treasure.

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:22:14 +0000

The Poverty Addict is especially intriguing since lots of people go through this: their mentality just doesn’t allow them to see themselves are being worth more. A very interesting topic.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:07:31 +0000

Wow…just from reading your summary I realzie that my fiance is a money maintanence drunk and I guess I am the cash co-dependent because I allow him to keep in his state of oblivion. I will read this book, hopefully they have suggestions on how to deal with these issues as well. Thanks!!

By: ongrowthtrack

ongrowthtrack — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:29:35 +0000

Thanks for the review, I am convinced this is worth reading. Things like having emergency fund, budget, inexpensive hobbies, volunteering calm the mind and sober it up. Sound mind has to do a lot to win in the money game and personal growth.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:22:44 +0000

Sounds like a good read. I like the section “The Poverty Addict” because I know several of those. I used to think they were secretly ashamed of their poor lifestyle, but they are actually proud of it and do things to perpetuate it, like make “poor” decisions.

By: Tyler @ Dividend Money

Tyler @ Dividend Money — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:18:31 +0000

I think that this is a great analogy.

In fact, I have personally alluded to this very topic on my blog – except I was speaking about the fact that credt cards and other debt are tools that if managed correctly can be great for building wealth. However, if managed incorrectly credit/debt can be an addictiont aht is hard to shake much like alcoholism.

I can have a credit card in my wallet, just as I can have a case fo beer in my fridge – it’s how you use or abuse them that makes all of the difference!