The more I turned the pages of this book, the more I could relate my own experience with money to the fear that many, if not most of us, experience when it comes to being free and decisive about our personal and financial futures. Reading this, and even though I was raised by a single mom, I could identify with this inner resistance, this sense that even as an educated, ambitious woman, I tend to experience a lack of closeness to and clarity about my money. As a result, there has been a dissociation between women’s mindsets and money. This ties back to the fact that for the longest time, women have been conditioned to defer money matters to the male figures around them, from parental figures to spouses. She accurately points to the fact that so many of us, even as educated and professionally successful as we may be, seem to experience an inner resistance to dealing with our own money. In the book, Suze, who in my head I picture as my financial big sis, first starts by discussing how we have been relating to money as women since the dawn of times. And this is exactly what this book made me do… What I didn’t do as much of, is to take some time to pause and reflect on my relationship, past, present and future, with money. As much as I could, I practiced applying sensible rules to managing my money, from budgeting to saving and even dabbling into investing. What I discovered as I perused its pages in just a few days was nothing short of a financial eye opener…Īs a working woman and mom, with training in accounting at that, I’ve always known, in theory, how important it is to have a good handle on your money.

When I noted this “oldie but goodie” book had been recently revised and edited, I couldn’t help but order it. As my word for the year is “ consistency”, I resolved to apply more consistency to all the areas of my life, including my finances. I’ve had the earlier version of this book on my shelf for many years, and have only recently decided to dig into it, especially when starting the new year. This revised and improved edition from her 2007 original masterpiece certainly does not disappoint when it comes to establishing, or re-establishing for that matter, a healthy relationship with your money.

If you’ve ever thought of taking control of your finances as a working woman and mom, Suze Orman’s “ Women and Money” book is a must-read.

Women & Money by Suze Orman