Million Bucks By Thirty Book Review

When I first read some details about this book I knew I needed to read it. It is a book that I could have probably written myself although it wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. Once I got it I tore through it, finishing the book in a matter of hours.

Given I had high hopes for this book -- I was left a bit disappointed. The book was a little simple, more often than not it was focused on recanting the author's experiences at pinching pennies to the extreme and getting into real estate.

The book was an easy read. It was light and humorous - it should appeal to anyone who hates reading about boring finance details and is more looking for examples of how average people "made it".

To that end I was disappointed that 80% of the author's wealth was created by 3 property investments. Great for the author, but not sure its a recipe for success that other's can replicate.

I think its more of a statement of being in the right place at the right time. Purchase properties in transitional neighborhoods and rehab them. Mix in a little landlordng with a focus on positive cash flow is a recipe for hard work and growth, but he got lucky by timing it during the biggest property boom in 50 years. The next story like this may be a stock investor who mortgaged everything, put all the cash in stocks, and rode the stock market to Dow 30,000 in the next 12months. Who knows.

Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is how extreme the author went to cut expenses. College clean, multiple roommates, Ramen binges, always looking for a way to pay less, etc. All these actions which are probably extreme to the average consumer may help give motivation to folks to further cut their fixed expenses. It was a good wakeup call to me as to how content I with our higher expenses.

In the end I give the book a thumbs up -- its a refreshingly easy read to give you a little inspiration to dive into your next project to reach your financial goals.

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Comments (2)

Great review of the book. Sometimes it takes extreme measures to get what we want. We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do.

Posted by Megastar | May 28, 2008 7:38 PM

I also read the book (to be fair I had a few pages left before I had to return it to the library) and agree with your assessment. It was definitely easy to read, but probably not a good guideline for most people as it's a bit extreme for people starting on the road to frugality.

Posted by HIB | May 29, 2008 12:39 PM