Book Review: A Life Preserver in a Sea of Debt

A Life Preserver in a Sea of Debt: Acquire Permanent Financial Stability by Judy Guralchuk. A useful book if you are either finally ready to get out of debt, or even if you need a little convincing. Guralchuk is passionate about helping people get out of debt, and uses her own personal experience as an inspiration.

I first heard about this book when Judy contacted me to ask permission to use some of my calculations about credit card debt in her book (page 55, if you are interested). Although I have never been overextended in debt, many of my friends are, and I will definitely suggest they read this book. It has many tips on saving, which I will use because I like to save money (which is why I am debt-free).

The thing I like most about this book is Judy's passion for the topic. Most of my friends who are in debt seem to be fairly sanguine about it. In other words, they accept it as a way of life and just keep spending, rather than attack the debt like a tree to be cut down. Judy's passion for getting out of debt springs from her own experience, so she really understands the psychology of how people get into debt. More importantly, she understands how they need to change their thinking to get out of it. She calls this PAA - Positive Attitude Adjustment. She refers to it frequently throughout the book, and correctly identifies it as the key component to get out of debt successfully.

She talks a lot about self-entitlements, which people in debt use to justify buying things they can't afford. This includes a cup of Starbucks to expensive jewelry. She explains how she came to realize that these self-entitlements were actually self-punishments because they kept her in financial insecurity. She goes on to explain how debtors can change their thinking to seeing how true self-gratification means living below their means to achieve their long-term goals.

If you truly want to get out of debt, I highly recommend getting, reading and, most importantly, using this book.