Book Review The Skinny On Credit Cards, Master Credit Cards

I spent just a few hours this afternoon reading Jim Randel’s new book: The Skinny on Credit Cards, How to Master the Credit Card Game

skinnyoncreditcards It literally took me less than 2 hours of reading to take in all this quick guide (of around 125 pages) had to say. And I read slow. A faster reader could have knocked this thing out in an hour, I’m sure. What’s the point? The point is we all don’t have several hours each week to devote to understanding the basics of personal finance. That’s probably why you’ve subscribed to this blog. You just want some quick, helpful information a few times a week.

And let’s be honest, personal finance can be a really boring subject at times. But you have to learn it. So, why not pack key subjects into nice, easy-to-absorb books. That’s what Jim has done.

The Skinny On Books

The Skinny On™ book series is here to help those of us with little time, who are in need of quick, solid information. So far there’s a book on credit cards, one on the housing crisis, and another on will power. The idea for the style of the books came from the Japanese style of writing called manga. The book uses a story line and pictures (stick figure drawings) to illustrate the concepts around credit cards. It’s very fun and easy to read. Throughout this book you follow Billy and Beth as they discover the secrets to mastering credit cards.

The Skinny On Credit Cards

The book covers all you need to know in order to help you master the credit card and the game that credit card companies try to play. Specific topics include:

How to get rid of credit card debt
How to teach your kids about credit card debt
How to avoid late fees and identify credit card company tricks
How to take advantage of 0% credit card balances transfers
How to improve your credit score
and more…

The book includes advice from notable authors Liz Pulliam Weston, David Bach, Suze Ormon, and others. I also really enjoyed Jim’s 20 key points on the FICO credit score.

I found the book to be a good way to introduce your spouse, who may be allergic to financial books, to the basics of credit cards. In fact, the book follows a couple who struggle in their relationship because one spouse isn’t on board with the financial plan. Both of them get a good education in credit cards though. And you will too with this book.

Win a Copy of this Book

You can get it using the link above or in ebook form direct from The Skinny On website. Jim also gave me a few extra copies of his book to giveaway here on the blog. If you live in the U.S. and would like a copy, simply leave a comment below. Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win. I’ll randomly select a winner this Friday, May 8th. Good luck.

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Thanks everyone for the kind comments and for entering the giveaway. The winners, randomly chosen, are Mindy and Nicki. I'm emailing you guys to get your address.

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Jesse

I would love a copy!

Emilie S

oh, I would LOVE this book -- thank you for the chance!!!
emvark at gmail dot com

SAH

Hook a brotha up!

Valerie

I sure could use this

kim v

Would love this for my college graduating son.
Thanks for the giveaway!

Jason Nickolay

Looks like a very informative book.. Thanks for the chance

Jim

Sounds like a great book - maybe I can get my wife to read it!!!

good work pt. you're a pro....

John

Please put my name in for the drawing. Thanks

Nicki

The Skinny on Credit Cards - it sounds like a book that should be issued to every college-bound senior upon graduation, right along with their diploma. Perhaps required reading before filling out applications? At the very least, it sounds like a valuable tool to help parents with young children (like myself) understand early what Credit Cards are really about. I wish I'd been able to have an education like you describe this book gives!

I'd love to be considered for the drawing.

I read your blog (nearly) every day in my RSS feed, and seem to learn something just as often. Keep it coming! :)

Jenny

Hello, I just found your site. I like it so far. I'm working to reduce my credit card debt, and I can use all the help I can get!

@Theresa - We would be paying for both if the Federal Trade Commission under the Bush Administration hadn't seen to adopt the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act which requires the three credit agencies to give you a free credit report. The act didn't make them provide a free score though. Which is why you have to pay for them. The reports and the scores are all provided by independent, non-government companies. They can essentially do what they want with the information they collect. They provide a service and want to get paid for it. Banks and lenders pay them to look up information on us. They want to charge us too for seeing the same information. They're just trying to run a business. The problem is that these are the only companies in the business of credit reporting. They are an oligopoly of sorts, and have too much power because of no competition.

Theresa

What can to tell me about what we have to pay for Fico scores but not for credit reports? Looking forward to reading your daily reports. Thanks.

Gabriel

Hello,
I'm Gabriel from Argentina. I guess I'm not entering the drawing, but just wanted to say that by reading your blog I learned a lot about personal finance. Thank you!