Crystal Paine
240 pages
ARC, Kindle Edition
From the Publisher:
When it comes to finances, many of us feel strapped and stressed, buried under bills, worried about an uncertain future. Even if money is plentiful, we long for greater wisdom to manage it well.
In Money-Making Mom, finance and family blogger Crystal Paine shares real-life stories, practical tips, and hard-won wisdom from the failures and successes that have carved her family’s path to financial freedom.
Paine blends insight with inspiration as she shares creative ways to manage money, generate income and–most importantly–live a life of deeper meaning, fulfillment, and generosity than you might have ever imagined possible.
Review:
If you’ve read my blog – or my old one – long enough than you already know I am a huge fan of Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine and her blog. I have read, reviewed and posted about all her books. I love her inspiration and down to earth stories and blog posts. I was given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of her new book Money Making Mom, and be part of her launch team. I have SO excited about this….you probably all know this because I’ve talked a lot about this.
Up until about 2 years ago I have always thought of myself as a stay at home mom. After reading this book and thinking back over the almost 12 years since I became a mom I am beginning to see things differently. I have been a stay at home mom, but a money making mom too.
Since the time I turned 16 I have almost always had a job. I worked a part time job in high school and college. I got married pretty young (20) and then worked full time and finished college. I worked in the professional field doing marketing and public relations before having our first little guy. Then I quit my job and become a stay at home mom. It was kinda a scary move, but something I always wanted to do. Since my husband was still a student and we were working towards graduate school I decided I would sell items on ebay for a while. Then we moved to medical school and I swapped child care off and on during those years. I also used every resource I had and got really creative with our finances. That might not be a “job” but it’s a job. Trust me. I was able to stay at home and we were able to come out of medical school with minimal student loan debt and no credit card debt.
Then came residency. I did childcare for some friends during some of those years and it really helped us out..and my kids loved the friendships that they formed too!
Our goal has never been that I work. I have never considered myself as having a job..but looking back I can see so many ways that I “worked” to help my family. I brought in money here and there. I used resources, pinched pennies, got creative and made things work.
I never imagined that we would become business owners. That was never our intentions while in medical school. We wanted safe job with benefits and a big paycheck. (doesn’t everyone?) But after my husband’s first job as an associate at a private practice didn’t turn out quite like we expected it too, and after every job opportunity we looked at never felt right we were left praying every day that we would find the right place and opportunity for our family.
I’ll never forget the day that my husband loaded all 7 of us in the van, he drove about a mile away and then parked in front of an office building that said “For Lease” turned to me and said, …What do you think?
And the Spirit told me the answer. I knew it in my heart. This was it. This was our place. This would be our practice. I knew it. And as hard and scary as it has been to open a medical practice, completely from scratch(no one even does that anymore!) I know it is the right thing. It’s were we need to be right now. I can look back and see what blessings have been involved that lead us to this decision.
And sometimes things don’t work out like we expected them too – but how they should and they are blessings in disguise. We felt really great about accepting our first job out of residency. But in the end it wasn’t the right fit for us. I struggled with this for a while. Then I realized all the blessings that job brought us. There are SO many I could share. But the most important one was that after 7 years of living out of state, we were home for my husband’s mother when she was sick. We were home and able to surround her with family when she passed away. Had we accepted any other job that would not have been the case.
I LOVE that Crystal points out that we must always be thankful and giving along the way. There is always something we can be thankful for. I am a firm believer in that. There is.
I would even venture to say that Crystal would agree with my next point too…this book offers great motivation if you want to make money, but Crystal even points out in this book – that money is not everything. So if motherhood is your thing, if you are blessed to stay at home without another income and motherhood is your calling – than feel great about that too! Don’t worry that you aren’t bringing in a paycheck. I spent a lot of years feeling bad about myself because I wasn’t bringing in a steady paycheck to help our growing family. We spent SO many years in school (12 to be exact). I did what I could when I could to help financially. But I would get so down on myself. But then a little voice in my head would remind me of this quote. I actually printed it out and hung it on my fridge as a daily reminder.
The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes. - Harold B. Lee
You can order the book HERE and then fill out the form HERE get get your bonuses.
(the link to amazon is affiliated. I do get a small payment if you use my link. but even if you don’t use my link, get this book – it’s worth it no matter how you get it!)
- Make Over Your Calendar: 7 Day Online Course—a comprehensive course to teach you how to simplify, streamline, and organize your daily schedule & to-do’s.
– Crystal’s Top 10 Favorite Productivity Tools Tip Sheet—a printable PDF with links and information on Crystal’s favorite tools for better time management.
and how cool is this one:
–An Exclusive Live Q&A Call—an invitation to join Crystal for a special Q&A call to ask any of your Money-Making Mom questions
You can also take a free 5 day course about making money from home by filling out your email on the book page (click for link). I signed up and took the five day course and learned so much from it. I took a lot of notes and really enjoyed it – it was easy to watch and wasn’t really long either. It was perfect for a busy mom!
If you can’t tell by now – I really loved this book. Honestly, I would love to grow My Reading Spot blog. I have a passion for books and reading and sharing good books. I have a passion for writing and hope I can continue blogging for years. It’s scary to think about, but I wouldn’t mind making this a full time job too. The information was so useful for our practice as well. I can’t wait to implement what I’ve learned and see where it takes us.
Our journey is just getting started. If yours is too – this book is for you.
Final Score:
