Green with Envy: Why Keeping Up with the Joneses Is Keeping Us in Debt

by Shira Boss

Book Overview

Everyone wants to keep up with the Joneses, regardless of income, occupation, or net worth. Our contentment is based on how we measure up to those around us, how close we come to the image we feel compelled to live up to, even when it means putting up a front. But how can anyone make realistic comparisons to others when everyones personal finances are shrouded in secrecy and shame? Were living in the dark, and its turning the American dream into an...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446578355
• ISBN13: 9780446578356
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Business Plus
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Refreshing GREAT information

I REALLY liked this non-fiction book - one of the best "how to's" I've read in a looooong time. I found myself laughing and also compelled to keep reading. I felt a bit like a voyeur learning about other REAL people and their difficulties keeping within a budget. I'm buying another copy for my kids in the east - even want my 14 year old granddaughter to read it, getting her off on the right foot. And I'm insisting that my California kids read it too. With the right mindset about "wants" and "needs" people can be a lot happier with what they have. It's all about seeing the cup half full or half empty... and unfortunately too many young families see the cup as completely empty. What children need today from their parents is TIME, not things. This book is a must for all young couples BEFORE they get married.

Excellent book. Really looks at the psychological side of money and how we spend.

An amazing book. Not your typical financial advice/wisdom book, but that's what makes it so unique and amazing. This book addresses the psychological aspects of how we relate to money, success, status and our perceptions of it. If you've ever felt jealous of another person's job or wonder how a friend or neighbor can afford luxurious vacations, or wonder who's buying those fancy condominium lofts or driving those flashy BMWs and how they did it, this is the book for you. A total page turner.

A surprising page turner

This was a surprising page turner for me, because I NEVER read books like this....I don't even slow down by the personal finance section of Barnes & Noble. I decided to read it because I felt like I was seeing mention of it everywhere - CNN, NPR and USA Today. Figured if it was getting this much press, it was probably worth a try....and I was right. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy for my parents, my in-laws and several accountant friends. And they have all enjoyed it....and for different reasons, my parents and in-laws liked the personal stories (the confessions of other people's dirty financial secrets) and my accountant friends liked Boss' mental approach to other people's money in the conclusion. I plan on continuing to give copies as gifts - great for recent college graduates, newlyweds, etc.

Most honest personal finance book out there

First and foremost, i loved the first and second chapters about the author's perception of her neighbors and what the reality turned out to be. This book is hilarious, a page turner and also pretty scary at times as I can relate to the slippery slope of charging more than i need to. It's not your typical 9-steps to riches book, it's much deeper than that. I've read many personal finance books, but never came across one that really deals with the pyschological aspects of things. And that's actually where most of us need help and the book offers a very philosophical approach in the last chapter. Absolutely recommended.

Fun Read

While it's true that there is not a great deal of "new" information in this book-that's largely true of most books on money. There is only so much money information to dispense and there are many, many books on money out there. Green with Envy gives a new and interesting spin on that information. It is also fun and--I'll admit it--a little gossipy. It was particularly interesting to read about the money woes of our members of congress. Many people, myself included, read books on money not so much for information, but for incentive to keep saving, and the encouragement of knowing that we're doing pretty well compared to, well, the Joneses.