“If you want to understand money, it has to be relatable instead of this weird, complicated, abstract thing,” writes Renee in this breezy yet highly practical guide to rewiring how you think about your finances. Managing funds, she argues, “has nothing to do with math.” Instead, it’s about how one relates to money itself. Her solution to monetary headaches? Act as though you and your money are in a romantic relationship. Drawing on her long history as a psychotherapist, Renee structures her book like a dating guide, arguing that the same advice she’s given clients for their romantic woes can be used to improve bank accounts. One telling section title, among much straight-talk about the drive to consume, facing “toxic” money beliefs, and how-and-why to draft pre-nups: “Start a Steamy Love Affair with your Money.”
After suffering a “messy, Jerry Springer-style financial crisis,” Renee came to realize her “relationship with money looked a lot like the messed-up relationships my clients came in with.” That made her think about how she’d “helped them turn it all around by teaching them to be kind and respectful, love up on each other, and make the relationship a priority.” Renee offers fun yet practical ways to treat one’s cash, such as going on “money dates”: taking it on shopping sprees, dreaming about what you want to do with it, or simply pausing to appreciate all it does for you—“because, like it or not, you need money.” She implores against negative thinking, like dwelling on past financial mistakes or even declaring money the “root of all evil.” She also reminds readers that just as there are no “happily ever after”s in romantic relationships, dealing with money also demands work and commitment.
Renee’s advice is endearingly playful, though she can sometimes go a bit overboard, such as a section where she instructs readers to draft a prenuptial agreement for their “money marriage.” Meanwhile, her claim that if you “you really, really, really want something, you’ll find the money for it,” sounds tone-deaf in an era of economic hardship. Still, this is not a book about becoming the next billionaire. It’s about making financial choices that are realistic. Best of all, she reminds readers that giving money to those in need, she preaches, feels even better than making it.
Takeaway: Fun, practical financial guide for improving both bank accounts and mental health.
Comparable Titles: Kara Stevens’s Heal Your Relationship with Money, Yanely Espinal’s Mind Your Money.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: B
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
