Today’s giveaway is for a copy of the brand new book Hot {broke} Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too
About Hot {Broke} Messes:
31-year-old Nancy Trejos was supposed to be an expert on handling her money – after all, she’s the personal finance columnist for one of the nation’s leading newspapers, The Washington Post. But a few months ago, she found herself in her own dire financial straits. Faced with a mountain of bills, debt, and no way to pay her rent, she was forced to call her parents to ask them for a loan. That night was a wake-up call – she vowed to get herself out of debt and into financial solvency.
In Hot Broke Messes, Trejos takes readers along with her on her journey. She meets with a financial planner and a therapist to deal with all the issues young people face today – from credit card debt and student loans, to impulse buying and emotional spending, to the cost of having a social life, to buying a house with someone during a potentially impermanent relationship and more. Trejos learns what causes these problems in herself, how she can fix them, and how she can pass that advice on to other young people going through the same experiences.
Even better, she shows readers how they can address these problems without completely giving up their lives – no “give up your latte a day” type advice here! Trejos’ personal and unique voice, along with her experiences that everyone can relate to, will lead readers to relatively painless financial security.
I had the opportunity to read this book and I absolutely love it! It’s written in a conversational manner, as though Trejos is one of your besties. She gives very practical advice that feels like it’s real because every step of the way Trejos shares her own personal finance history and how she got into trouble. It’s written for women, and I certainly felt it was relevant to women with a lifestyle similar to mine. For instance, women who may be wooed by things like designer skin careproducts. In the chapter titled “You’re So Vain,” Trejos describes how she once walked out of Neiman’s with $445 in face creams because she had succumbed to a bit of peer pressure and felt it would make her look good. She then did some research to find a 2007 Consumer Report study that showed that oftentimes the best creams are not the most effective. 200 women tested various moisturizers and anti-wrinkle creams and the product that was the most effective was the Olay Regenerist collection and costs about $60 for three different products.
$60 still sounds a little pricey to me, so luckily Trejos provides many useful tips for cutting back on prices, such as scanning eBay for discounted products, requesting samples at cosmetics counters, or using the same products for multiple uses such as toner and make-up remover. There is one tip, however, that I think is particularly helpful:
Start early. There are four essentials: cleanser, sunscreen, night cream, and eye cream. If you get into a skin care routine in your twenties it’ll spare you the cost of antiaging products later on in life.
Bottom Line: Start taking care of your skin now AND save money.
I’m so glad that one of you is going to get the opportunity to take Hot {broke} Messes
How to Enter:
- Leave a comment sharing one piece of financial advice that you try to follow {required}
- For an extra entry, leave a separate comment indicating that you “Like” Fantabulously Frugal on Facebook
- For an extra entry, leave a separate comment indicating that you follow Fantabulously Frugal on Twitter
This giveaway will stay open through May 29, 2010. A winner will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Good Luck!
Tags: Giveaway
