Wealthier Than You Think! (Everything You Need to Know About Making Your Money Work For You)

Silver Bird Publishing (published 2007)

Written By Paul Squires

Australia

Review 4 Stars – Excellent Book

How the blurb describes the book:

You are wealthier than you think.

It is easy to spend your hard-earned money trying to live the good life and end up in a mountain of debt. Finances often get stretched to the limit and everything you earn gets spent. Monthly bills and unexpected events may also rock the delicately balanced financial boat.

Paul Squires believes most people don’t realise that they actually have a river of money running through their fingers every day, and all they need is a dam. In this no-nonsense, ‘tell it like it is’ book, Paul will demonstrate the easy steps that will leave more money in your pocket. If you ever wanted to become financially fit, have more leisure time and be in control of your financial future, then Paul Squires’ strategies can work for you.

Wealthier Than You Think will help you improve your finances without changing your job, working more hours or asking for a pay raise. It will show you how to avoid the traps of excessive consumerism and impulsive, emotional buying. You will learn how to have a wealthy mindset and a better bank statement, by living comfortably within your means. Just by learning how to save, and how to get great discounts, you can begin to immediately improve your situation and realise you are wealthier than you think!

Energetic Australian business owner Paul Squires is a self-made multi-millionaire, who has spent the past 23 years building a strong financial foundation using low-risk, low-stress investment.

In his debut book, Wealthier Than You Think!, Paul Squires dares to raise a contrary voice in Australia’s debt debate, with crucial yet simple and common sense advice on how to immediately start saving and avoid financial traps.

Mr Home Budget’s Review:

If you only had 30 seconds to explain to someone what this book is about, the following would be very true: Most people don’t realise how much money slips through their fingers every day. I call this money your Streams of Gold, and they are slipping through your fingers on a daily basis. However, some easy new money habits will soon stem the daily loss of your cash.

Paul Squires fixes the leaky bucket that is your home budget. He stops the wastefulness that most people live with on a daily basis. And he does this by getting you to slow right down. Smell the roses and think about where you are heading.

Also, Paul gets you to think about all the materialism going on in the world, in which people are working and competing just to get the next must-have gadget or bigger and better home. This book will challenge all the things the media, advertising and the debt industry have tried to make you believe.

For example, most people believe the goal in life is to continually upgrade to a bigger or nicer house. One of the concepts in the book is, instead of upgrading, why not “clevergrade”? He encourages you to sell your house for a smaller one, or one in a less expensive neighbourhood. By clevergrading, you are releasing pressure from your budget and downgrading your stress levels.

To get you to stop and smell the roses, he refers to blackout nights. These are times when you grab some candles and play games, talk or read, all without the constant mind-numbing television or radio in your ear. A self-imposed blackout is a great way just to let your brain rest without thinking of all the problems in your world. And it saves you money.

The book is about breaking old patterns. Old patterns have probably got you into debt. Having a blackout night is definitely a pattern breaker. Selling your big home for a smaller one is another pattern breaker. And Paul even says to start saying no more often to friends, family, charity and sports, all things to which you are probably devoting time and money. All these life changes will get you refocused on what you really want, and give you more time to think about how to get it.

Here are some of the better paragraphs I liked in the book: “Membership of clubs, committees and honorary positions should be looked at with laser sharp scrutiny. Ask yourself why you are involved, and then look at how much of a financial commitment these activities are demanding of you. Decide whether you can afford to continue with them. If you can’t, start bowing out.”

“In an age where so many people are wanting so many more possessions, mums and dads are working longer hours, bringing work home and allowing the family unit to fall apart. While all this is happening, children can easily get out of control and go off the rails, even when they are being given all the material goodies they want. The newly emerged and powerful debt industry has made it easy for parents to cave in to children’s every demand and whim. But this puts everyone in the family at risk.”

And this is what he says about a investment house: “With a second mortgage to pay each month, they can only hope for three things: that property prices continue to rise, they never become jobless and their health holds out.”

Don’t expect a nuts-and-bolts budgeting book. It won’t tell you how to save money on shopping or how to write and track a working budget. However, it will get you to look at your life in a different way, and refocus on what is really important in life. This is a great read that is highly recommended.

Pros:
- A eye-opening look into our modern fast-paced world.
- You will look at spending in a different way going forward.
- Promotes family values and spending time with one another.

Cons:
- It won’t tell you how to run a day-to-day budget. Rather, it is an overview on how to look at money, but not what you should do or pay off right away.