Escape from Cubicle Nation from Pamela Slim is a wonderful book on entrepreneurship and something that many college students should consider. I want to review the book and you can decide if it’s something you’re interested in.

The book is a culmination of work Pam has been doing for years – helping people start a business based on what they love. She has a wonderful blog where she interacts with readers and their experiences. Her book grabs some of her best material, includes a ton of case studies, and has mini-interviews with those that have taken the plunge.

It’s a very accessible and informative book.  Pam offers a practical guide for those making the transition from employee to entrepreneurs. If you’re curious as to the topics she discusses, here are the chapters.

Escape from Cubicle Nation Overview

1. I have a fancy title, steady paycheck, & good benefits. Why am I so miserable?
2. If it is so bad, then why am I so afraid to leave?
3. Detox from corporate life
4. What’s really involved in moving from employee to entrepreneur?
5. What are all the ways to be self-employed?
6. How do I choose a good business idea?
7. Recruit your tribe
8. Rethink your life: Options for scaling back, downshifting, & relocating
9. Do I really have to do a business plan?
10. Define the spirit of your brand
11. Test often & fail fast: The art of prototypes & samples
12. Look your finances in the eye
13. How to shop for benefits
14. Dealing with your friends & family
15. Line your ducks in a row
16. When is it time to leave?

I appreciate that she covers the realities of having your own business. some people have this unrealistic and romantic notion that it’ll be a breeze to run a business based on something that you love. That’s usually not the case- a business has to be maintained well if it’s to succeed. Many times that means hard work.

Pam covers topics such as developing a business plan, handling the financial side of your business, and how to properly market it later in the book.

My Take on Escape from Cubicle Nation

Your Take

So today I am publishing the Best of Personal Finance Ebooks page. Since I am already sure that I have forgotten a few good ones, I am starting you off with this list and I’ll be adding more along the way, preferably with your help. Make sure to share your favourite personal ebooks by commenting at the bottom of this page!

Best Personal Finance Ebooks from Bloggers:

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Ebook Title: Blueprint For How To Make Money With A Blog

Topic: Make money blogging

Blog: Bible Money Matters

Price: $29.95 (really worth it!)

What is it?: You are looking for a way to make more cash, you are thinking of having a blog or you do have one but you don’t know how to turn a profit from it? This ebook is for you.

This complete ebook is a real blueprint to make money with a blog. In the first pages, you will learn how to choose a topic, setup a website and start blogging. For those who know the basics, midway through the book you will learn how to promote your site and increase traffic. And for those who already have a solid blog and have started to make a few bucks, you will compliment your knowledge in terms of useful plugins, different ways to make money and most importantly, how to optimize monetization on your blog. I will personally use the last 10 pages of the ebook in order to increase my online income.

I would have liked to see more advanced techniques on how to make even more cash (things such as improving affiliate success, how to build high income earner articles or pages) but I guess this will come in a future ebook from Peter who did an awesome job on this one.

Favorite Quote: “If blogging to make money is serious to you, then treat it like a business” By Frugal Dad from Blueprint For How To Make Money With a Blog.

Get it: Blueprint For How To Make Money With A Blog

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Ebook Title: Unautomate Your Finances

Topic: Money Management

Blog: Man vs Debt

Price: $17.00

What is it?: Before buying the book, you get a 5 minute video produced by Adam Baker (the author and blogger behind Man vs Debt). I was delighted by the small window he opened to his mindset about personal finance. “There are no easy solutions. It’s going to take hard work… We explored our own lives for ways we can raise our consciousness… It’s not a system, it’s an idea, it’s a concept”.

This ebook is a revolution opposing the “normal way” of managing personal finance established by our society. This is a great story about a man who wins his battle against debt and pay off his unsecured personal loans. But instead of sharing a magical way to get out of debt and get control over your personal finance, Baker offers an interesting way to drive your battle against debt: unautomate your finances to realize what you are really doing with your money instead of following the crowd.

Finance automation has been great, yet over time, as is the case with many other beautiful ideas, people have drifted away from the idea’s core. Instead of using technology to simplify how we manage money smartly, we just streamlined everything.  This was done without consideration if it was good or not for our personal finance.

This ebook is refreshing and will lead you to another way of thinking about your personal finance. I’d suggest it for everyone as it will help you realize what really matters.

And most importantly, I had fun reading his book! It is filled with quotes, I just couldn’t stop smiling while reading!

Favorite Quote: “Unautomation is…

…the process of re-attaching and re-sensitizing ourselves to our financial lives

…the art of peeling away the excess and attacking the underlying problem.

… the exercise of designing your financial life without the assumptions that feed our consumerist society.

… the realization that car payments may not be a fact of life and that mortgages don’t have to last 30 years.”

Get it: Unautomate Your Finances

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Ebook Title: 52 Ways to Make Extra Money

Topic: Making extra income

Blog: PT Money

Price: Free! (must register to the free PT Money mailing list)

What is it?: Born from one of his posts which made the front page of MSN.com, PT decided to extend his thoughts on making extra bucks and created this great ebook. While you won’t be able to apply the full 52 ways (bar tending, teaching swim lessons and writing a blog may require different skills and knowledge ), I am sure you will be able to increase your level of income with those ideas.

What I also like about the book is that PT doesn’t leave you with just the idea. For some ideas that seem more complicated, he also provides you with quick steps to achieve your goal.

Among the interesting ideas, we found becoming a mystery shopper, sell your body (not the old fashion way but by selling plasma, hair, eggs and sperm), tutoring and staging homes (especially in today’s market!).

Favorite Quote: “This may not seem like much, but it adds up extremely fast!”

Get it: 52 Ways to Make Extra Money

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Ebook Title: How to Save Money on Everything

Topic: Saving money

Blog: Money Ning

Price: Free! (must register to the free Money Ning mailing list)

What is it?: If you are looking to save money somewhere, you will surely find something interesting in this book!

There are countless money savings tips that go from childcare to skiing. At the beginning of the book, you will find the table of contents with all the places where you can save money. This way it is very easy to navigate from one topic to another.

Favorite Quote: “I’m tired of paying for everything and I’m sure you are too… I asked around for help in putting together this ebook, which focuses on saving money for the average joe (that’s you and me!).”

Get it: How to Save Money on Everything

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Ebook Title: Frugal Food & Fitness

Topic: Frugality and food

Blog: Squawkfox

Price: Free!

What is it?: It’s more than a  book about saving on food. It’s more than a recipe ebook. It’s more than a ebook about frugal ways to stay fit. It’s the 3 of them altogether in one free book!

Fun to read and colourful, Kerry Taylor, the author of 397 ways to save money, brings us a great book to put us back on the right track to frugal living and staying fit for at reasonable costs.

Recipes are easy to follow and easy to understand (I like cooking but I am not great with fancy and complicated meals!). As with any great cookbook, you will see what your meal should look like for each recipe. What I like is that the photos were not taken by a professional; they were taken by Kerry herself!

I really like the last part of her book where Taylor presents various frugal ways to stay fit. Among them, you have 3 walking plan schedules (from the coach potato to the walking machine). At the end of the book, you also get a free printable workout log. Definitely a must if you want to stay fit!

Favorite Quote: “… spending big bucks on diet supplements will help us lose weight and get fit. It’s all a bunch of bulls$it”.

Get it: Frugal Food & Fitness

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Ebook Title: 99 Painless Ways to Save Serious Money

Topic: Saving money

Blog: Dough Roller

Price: Free! (must register to the free Dough Roller mailing list)

What is it?: Another great book about saving money on little things in your house. The author concentrates his book on how to save on simple things that will have an immediate impact on your monthly budget. While some of them are obvious (like buying programmable thermostats), other tricks are smarter (how to cancel cable and still watch TV).

Out of the 99 ways to save money, you will surely find a few tips to add to your own list!

Get it: 99 Painless Ways to Save Serious Money

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There you have it, the list of all the Personal Finance Ebooks from bloggers I have found so far. I’ll be updating this list and doing more reviews in the future.

Author	Image	Title	Topics	Cost	Get it
PT Money		52 Ways to Make Extra Money	Make More Money	register to free mailing list required	Click Here
Bibble Money Matters		Blueprint For How To Make Money With A Blog	Make Money Blogging	$29.95	Click Here
Man vs Debt		Unautomate Your Finances	Manage Your Money	$17	Click Here
Simple Trading System		Stock Market Secrets	Investment	$0	Click Here
Simple Trading System		Capital Gains Tax Tips for Traders and Investors	Taxes	$0	Click Here
Money Help for Christians		Short Term Missions Handbook	Missions Handbook	$9.95	Click Here
Pasadena Financial Planning			General Financial Planning	$0	Click Here
Money Ning		How To Save Money On Everything	Frugality	register to free mailing list required	Click Here
Squawk Fox		Frugal Food Fitness	Frugality and Fitness	$0	Click Here
Various Bloggers		Money Saving Tips for the Hollidays Guide	Frugality	0$	Click Here
Various Bloggers		Money Matters for All Ages	Money Management	0$	Click Here
Bargaineering		College Grad Money Guide	College Money Management	register to free mailing list required	Click Here
The Wealth Pilgrim		Money Academy for Couples	Money Management	$27	Money Academy For Couples
Balance Transfer Credit Card		Balance Transfer Ebook	credit card	$0	Balance Transfer Ebook
Dough Roller		99 Painless Ways to Save Serious Money		register to free mailing list required	Click Here

Author: Mike.

Looking to rebuild your finances, check out this book!

Banking with Bad Credit

If you only read part of this book, this is a wonderful chapter to review. Balish and Williams show how the “unbanked” (around 20 million Americans) can get a basic checking account. Why is this important information? There are millions of dollars going to payday lenders and check cashing places, most of that could probably be better spent helping the worker.

It’s not easy depending on how bad your credit is, but Balish and Williams shows it’s not impossible.

Getting a Good Job with Bad Credit

If you’re deep in debt and need to dig yourself out, finding employment is probably top on your list. While you can cut expenses up to a point, building your income is an equally important and potentially more productive use of your time.

Balish and Williams goes over the touchy subject of bankruptcy and job interviews. The information in this chapter is definitely on topic with today’s economy and people’s finances being less than perfect.

My Take

I really enjoyed this book and want to recommend it. While this book isn”t for everyone, I think that this book can be a good resource for some readers as they get back on their feet. So many books talk about improving your credit score, but this book shows you what to do in the meantime.

Your Take

Do you think that this is something you’d be interested in? Did you know there was a book that covered this topic? When you finish reading the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I think this is a good guide and easy to read in a weekend.

I’m going to present a brief review of some of the chapters so you can see if this book would be a good fit for you in your situation.

Get Financially Naked

The book opens up with description from real people on what financial empowerment means to them. Unfortunately far too many do not have this right now and the book mentions that approximately 70% are living paycheck to paycheck. Kedar and Thakor go ahead and explain some reasons for people living on credit and then have an exercise so the reader can look ahead to when they are financially empowered.

This book has a lot of write in activities to get the involved and they share they’re answers and personal perspectives on them as well. I think they do a pretty good job of balancing it all.

How Financially Compatible Are You?

The authors have some frank questions to help you see if  loved one is living beyond their means. I personally know of a friend that had a boyfriend always offer to pay her back, but he could barely keep up with his regular bills. Communication is the key to seeing if this is a lifestyle or if they’ve hit hard times.

Some people are afraid of creating tension by talking about finances, but I think you create more stress by being silent. If you need some motivation and information to get started, this chapter has what you need. There is a compatibility quiz at the end that could open up a discussion based on the results.

Save Wisely for Your Financial Goals

It’s good to have a financial gameplan that you both agree with if you’re married. That means creating a budget together. it may take awhile to get it right, but don’t worry, it’s normal. All couples have to go through this as they are merging their money, bills, and goals. My personal tip is to add 10-15% to your budget for things like car repairs, rental insurance, etc. Both of you should have a say on where the money goes.

My Take

I really enjoyed this book and I thought it covered some big topics without a lot of filler. Since it’s not as long as other personal finance books I’ve reviewed before I think many people can finish this as a weekend read if not sooner. I love the worksheets, scripts, and questions and I think this is a really practical guide for couple looking to be successful with their finances.

Your Take

If you grab a copy of the book, please share your thoughts on it.

Win a free copy of this book, check the Twitter contests below!

This may be a turnoff for some readers while others may be intrigued and decide to weigh the pros and cons of the authors reform ideas.

Like a lot of my other book reviews, I’m going to present a review of some of the chapters, so you can see if this book would be a good fit for you and your situation.

Chapter 1: Why You Can’t Retire from a 401(k) Plan

White opens up  at the alarming fact that many Americans are hoping to retire have nowhere near the amount they need to retire. Fidelity had a report in 2007 that the median balance was $43,000 for workers aged 60-65.

She then compares the situation to Australian workers who have a mandated 9% of the salary invested in their retirement accounts. She argues that automatic enrollement is not enough with defined contribution plans.

Running the numbers, White notes that workers starting to contribute at age 25 should see at least save 10% of their salary for retirement.   She passionately pleads that people need to be informed that the amount that the typical American put aside is not enough to retire on.

She criticizes mutual fund company in the media for not bringing this to the public attention.

Chapter 2: How to Save Wisely Until We Get  401(k)

White mentions that 401(k) reform is necessary, and give her rules to cope with the economic hardships. Many readers may be familiar with the financial principles. Some highlighted here on the blog and in this book were:

• Work longer and live on one income ( if you’re two income family).
• Don’t jump out of the stock market when it’s low.
• Don’t base your investment decisions on the fluctuations of the market, instead focused on your long term strategy.
• Don’t borrow from your 401(k) account
• Rollover your old 401(k) into an IRA

She then mentions her reform plan, and how certain lobbyists might try to fight it.

Chapter 3: The Mortgage Mess: It Ain’t Just Subprime

Jane White tackles mortgage and how some home owners cannot afford their house.

The author gives an example of a young couple in San Francisco who bought a house for $730,000. The problem was they the couples house and expenses came out to 55% of their income. My problem with using this example is that they sat down and did their budget after they bought the house.

When buying a house, people need to ask themselves: Can we afford the costs of home ownership? Besides the mortgage, can you afford to pay:

• Homeowner’s Insurance
• Private mortgage insurance
• Home Association Fees
• Property Tax
• Maintenance & Improvement

One part of the mortgage mess is people buying more house than they can afford. Personal responsibility is a factor in this and to just ignore bad financial decisions isn’t going to fix it.

Home buyers, thought, are not the only one at blame. The other two examples given in the chapter’s opening do a better job pointing out some of the problems of the mortgage problems we see.

We have cases of lenders, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and appraisers all trying to maximize their income to the detriment of the homebuyer.   One example of this is the push for homeowners to get an adjustable rate mortgage, so they can qualify for a house they cannot afford.

I included the definition on my post on mortgages and interest rates:

An adjustable rate (better known as an ARM):  The interest rate changes at specific times and the interest rate is subject to market conditions. There is a lifetime cap and annual limits to give some protection to radical increases, but your mortgage payments can still increase dramatically.

White argues that ARMs have an effect on the increasing price of housing in United States. She says a factor in this housing bubble was a decrease of government subsidy for low income housing  under the Nixon administration  referencing a New York Times article from 1975.

White suggest abolishing adjustable rate mortgages as part of the solution. She also suggest that like AIG and GM the mortgages ahould be scrutinized by Congress.

My Take on the Book

What I enjoyed about the book was the references and statistics that White presented. While some of the suggestions were a bit vague (move to an affordable region), I did get some useful information from it.

I would go ahead use the information to make some changes to your finances. It’s obvious that socking away 3% of your pay into a 401(k) isn’t enough. White makes the case for challenging yourself and putting away 10% of your gross income towards retirement.

The advice in the book has some financial rules of thumbs for those struggling with money.   Later in the book, in part five, White goes towards more political commentary about big business is lobby and and politicians.

This section was not my cup of tea , but I know some readers may find this interesting. I hope this review was helpful for you.

I think the book is suited for readers trying to determine a general strategy with their retirement and want to examine a viewpoint on the economic mess.

Your Take

I’m curious to see how you have dealt with your finances so far. How do you manage your finances to make retirement possibility? If you’re a homeowner or are thinking of buying a home,  what precautions are you taking with your finances? When you finish reading the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Twitter Contest

I have an extra copy of  America, Welcome to the Poorhouse! to give away to a reader. I’m excited about the contest andI’m grateful for the extra copy from the publisher.

Rules

• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the book review.
• You can only enter once a day.
• You must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada

The contest will end Friday, November 13, 2009 at 6pm EST. I’ll announce the winner on Twitter. They will have until Sunday, November 15 at 6pm EST to contact me with their information to claim their prize.