When I got married I received a few marriagey-type books and for the most part I was thankful and had great intentions to read them…but two years later they're still sitting on the shelf.
Part of it is because I have a bucket of books to read and another part is because I don't actually know how to read a couple's book. Do I need two copies and my husband and I read it at the same time? Does one of us have to read it aloud to the other? Does one read it and then lend it to the other? Just me?
So imagine my surprise when the next book I chose to review was a couple's book about money.
Right‽
The Five Money Personalities is written by "The Money Couple" Scott and Bethany Palmer, who work as financial counsellors and have written several books and studies on money and relationships. For this project I took a few approaches. Since I'm doing the review only I needed to read the book, but some parts were just so darn interesting I couldn't help but reading them out loud. And then since I got an ebook it was interactive and found myself doing quizzes and, well, interacting. I went from simply reading the book to participating in it.
I raced through Part 1, which is all about your Money Personality. Riveting stuff. It was light, fun, and easy.
Part 2 is where the tone of the book shifted. I think it was necessary but a real downer. Topics centred on why couples fight about money, and how financial infidelity tears relationships apart. I've never thought about this concept before, and I think I buy it. This section also explained the different ways you can commit financial infidelity. There are some obvious ones like having secret bank accounts and lying about your spending, but there were also some unexpected roots of financial infidelity like overspending and lack of planning.
It gave me a lot to think about.
After those chapters I was less eager to finish the book. It was all about fighting, how to fight fair, and how to talk about money in a way you won't fight. Part 2 and Part 3 are nitty, gritty, practical sections. And heavy, serious, and difficult to skim.
I appreciated the information in these last parts, but it kind of felt like if you're at that point in your marriage you should probably be in counselling under professional care rather than reading six or seven pages on topic. But it's a good start down that path.
You don't know what you don't know, right?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.
