100 Ways To Save and Grow Your Money | Book Review

This review was written by Linda A Stortz. Linda is a CPA in Florida and also a budget/debt coach with Crown Financial Ministries. You can find out more about her at LStortzcpa.com and FinancialPeace4You.com.

I reviewed the book, 100 Ways to Save and Grow Your Money: Financial Fitness for Regular People, by Peter Sorrells, copyright 2009. The author holds eight patents and has held successful engineering, marketing, and management positions in several high-technology companies. He’s an accomplished speaker and author and teaches large and small groups on technical, business, financial, and Biblical topics.

The purpose of this book is to give the reader 100 down-to-earth, practical suggestions in improving your financial future. Actually, there are over 120 practical suggestions included. The book is written for average people who don’t need special skills, extraordinary luck, rich friends, or any money to get started. The author believes that you can start where you are and immediately start to create a better financial future for yourself through knowledge.

The book contains 146 pages and is an easy read. It is made up of  the following chapters:

1. Plastic Attack
2. Give Yourself A Raise
3. Tax Minimization
4. Income Maximization
5. Lifestyle Equalization
6. Mind Your Own Business
7. Around The House
8. The Art of Self-Discipline
9. Get Smart
10. Future Shock
11. A bonus chapter is included that gives ten ideas for ways of saving money on travel and entertainment expenses.
12. Also, a Sample Monthly Budget form is included for the reader to start recording 31 days of monthly income and expenses.

The author begins the book with asking the reader WHY he/she wants to increase his/her personal wealth and answers the question by stating that to save and grow one’s money, one must begin to change the way he/she thinks. Some reasons that people want to create personal wealth may be:

1. To use money as a tool.
2. To use for family needs.
3. To live the good life.

However, because there is a difference between what most people think and the Bible, as our source of all wisdom, the author reminds us of Proverbs 22:4: “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” True wealth and honor can only come by knowing and following Biblical principles.

Some specific money-savings ideas that the author gives are:

1. Brown-bagging your lunch.
2. Checking GasBuddy.com to find the lowest price of gasoline in your local area.
3. Reducing energy costs by controlling your use of the number of watts used by home appliances.
4. Starting a home business.
5. Clipping coupons from Coupons.com.
6. Saving up for a new car by making payments to yourself.
7. Paying off your mortgage early by adding more to the principal payments.
8. Selling household items that aren’t being used on EBay and Craigslist.
9. Writing articles for magazines for profit.
10. Daily putting a fixed amount of money into a designated jar to save up for Christmas, birthdays, special events, etc.

For the Christian reader who is looking for simple, practical tips for saving and growing one’s money, this book is an excellent choice. I read the book in two days because the vast amount of useful information in these pages kept my attention and aroused my curiosity to want to know more. I would definitely recommend this book to a Christian who may be struggling with his/her finances and is looking for practical ideas as to save, spend, and grow one’s money. Scripture references are included throughout the book and are applied to each chapter topic. It would be great to see this book placed in the hands of every graduating college student, every newlywed couple, and every single or married person who is having financial problems.