I Want More Pizza: Real World Money Skills For High School, College, And Beyond

by Steve Burkholder, Rebecca Maizel of Yellow Bird Editors (Editor), David Aretha of Yellow Bird Editors (Editor)

The perfect gift! Give the gift of financial literacy to your teen - they will thank you for a lifetime. You are not alone; it is often difficult to reach young adults on the topic of money management, but look no further. I Want More Pizza finally has teenagers excited about personal finance and is giving them the confidence that they can succeed. This resource is being used in classrooms around the nation as young adults enjoy the pizza model for learning about money management. Now available for the first time for you to bring into your home, give your young adult the gift of financial literacy and they will thank you for a lifetime. Primary topics discussed include saving, spending, prioritization, goal setting, compound growth, investing, debt, credit cards, student loans, mental blocks, and taking real world action. I am sure you have heard a few of "I don't need it", "I'm too young", "I need to spend my money on _____ ", and the list goes on. The pizza model for learning personal finance breaks down those barriers because, well, everyone loves pizza! Just because money management is extremely important doesn't mean that it has to be extremely complex. I Want More Pizza leaves them in complete control to find the plan that works for your young adult - it's their choice. If they don't enjoy math or don't like to plan, no problem, we've got them covered as well. And it's only 70 pages, which young adults love given their busy social calendars. Money doesn't have to be stressful. Finally reach your young adult and help them become financially literate for a lifetime. After all, there is a lot of pizza in life to enjoy!

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Personal Finance, Money, Parenting

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book in a goodreads giveaway. What an amazing book! Wish I had a copy of it when I was younger. This should be a must read for all high school students. I am going to give this book to my grandsons so they can read it. The one is in 9th grade and his brother is in 8th grade. Hoping they appreciate the book. Thanks for my copy of the book.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if, as a high schooler, I would have picked this up on my own to read but if it was required reading I think I would have secretly appreciated that it was assigned. Easy to follow explanations of financial concepts that take some people years to grasp - this is a solid read for any teen.

[Kellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

had to read for finance class but it was good. felt like i learned so much.

[RACHEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Financial basic are clearly stated and easy to follow for any young adults seeking to make sense of their financial life.

My copy was a gift from Goodreads First Reads.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. Thanks so much to the author, Steve Burkholder, for also signing the book.

This is a great little book. I plan to share it with my young family members.

There are charts showing how money grows with interest and explanations of how debt also grows with interest. The author encourages the reader to save money, to use it wisely, and to be careful with investments. It could be a great tool in schools.

[Jeana Salman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I work in finance and am often curious to find good books I can recommend about money. This was a decently good conceptual book, but I couldn't figure out the best audience. It talks about checking accounts (probably best for ages 12-16, but could be even younger) and investing in stocks or using credit cards (can't without a parent until 18).

The book was quite short, so not a bad primer, but I can't imagine a kid or young adult of any age sitting down and finding most of it relevant to their own situation.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won this book through goodreads. I found it really helpful regarding finances.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This personal finance book, geared toward young adults, uses the common love of pizza to teach young people the ropes when it comes to bettering money skills. Some takeaways:

pg. 7 - 70% of Americans have money-related stress created by mental blocks when it comes to spending and saving money
pg. 9 - 70% of Americans don't have enough savings for unexpected expenses, savings is the crust (or foundation) of the pizza, you can live a similar lifestyle without giving things up and still save
pg. 11 - growing your savings (compound interest) is the sauce
pg. 15 - more time=more money, start now and not later, the most important thing on the path to personal finance success is doing something/anything

1st slice - You. Make goals and prioritize. Many people think saving money means not having money to have fun but the opposite is true. When you spend less on things that are not important, it leaves money for the things that are.
2nd slice - Saving. Set up a savings and checking account and auto-savings between the two so you don't miss the money in the first place. Many small purchases add up. Think about what's important to spend money on before buying.
3rd slice - Growing savings. You lose out on money you can't get back when you wait. The benefits of investing outweigh the risks however it's important to do your research. The higher the reward, the higher the risk and vice-versa.
4th slice - Debt. Two risks - interest and overspending. Achieving big goals like buying a car or going to college sometimes require going into debt but if you have prioritized this purchase and you know you can afford it, it's a way forward. If using credit cards, set a spending limit and pay it off every month. Paying only the minimum payment means you're going nowhere in an attempt to pay it all off. Debts like college can be mitigated by scholarships and grants and hopefully, by the amount of money you've been able to save. www.studentaid.ed.gov is a good resource for financial aid.

Several templates are available at: www.overcomepublishing.com/solution/

Booktalk: I think it’s really common to flip the calendar to a new year and think about a fresh start - wiping the slate clean, starting over. A lot of people make resolutions or more recently, people will pick a word or a phrase to focus on for the year ahead. I always feel some internal pressure to come up with a resolution and then usually just give up and go on with life but this year, we just happened to get a new shipment of books in at the beginning of the year and I had ordered some books on money so I decided to grab one of those books because I think money is a unifying topic for everyone and for me personally, the closer I get to retirement, the more I find myself thinking about money and if I have enough of it! I think anyone who gets to my age in life can look back and find something they wish they could’ve changed when they were younger and for me, one of those topics is money. And the book I would like to talk about today, I Want More Pizza, is a book written specifically for young adults about money. The subtitle of this book is Real World Money Skills for High School, College and Beyond and I love the idea the author has in this book to use a universal love of pizza to speak specifically to young adults but really to anyone who wants to focus more on their finances.
The book is broken down into the components of pizza - the crust, the sauce, the cheese but then also into slices. I think one of the biggest takeaways from this book for me was a statistic that says that 70% of Americans have money-related stress and do not have enough money for an emergency should one arise. Just a little while ago, during that really cold stretch we had, my furnace stopped working, and fortunately, it ended up being just a small fix to get it working again, but for a short amount of time, I was thinking about all of the money it was potentially going to be to fix it and if I had enough to do it!
The most important thing to do when it comes to finances, according to the author, Steve Burkholder, is to start saving now - it doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager or whether you are middle-aged. Just start setting aside something which is the crust of the pizza. Then, you get something called compound interest which is the sauce in this book and which just continues to grow the money that you have saved. The rest of the book is broken up into slices which are:
1st slice - you - setting goals and prioritizing where you spend and where you save your money
2nd slice - saving - he talks about setting up an auto-transfer from checking to savings accounts so you don’t even miss the money you don’t realize is there
3rd slice - growing your savings, every day you wait to save, you lose out on money you can’t get back when you wait.
4th slice - debt - gives you a motivation to save - when you can’t afford to fix the furnace in negative temps, it’s time to think about how you’re going to pay for it without hopefully going into too much debt
The book includes a website with templates for helping to prioritize spending and where to save your money. The author talks about how the higher the risk, the higher the reward when it comes to investing your money, and vice versa so the templates help with decision making when it comes to investments as well.
I highly, highly recommend this book for everyone, but especially young adults who are just starting out in this process of earning and saving money. It’s one of the most important things I think we can learn about in life.

[Haley Boggess]

This is a pretty good intro to financial concepts. It is very short and just knowing students I’ve had in the past I think someone with no financial knowledge would need more examples and explanation. The additional resources referenced are owned by the author.

This was written in 2015 but thankfully is not as outdated as others I have read. This had important topics but did not stand out to me amongst the other finance intro books I’ve read.

(I have worked in loans for 10 years and taught finance in college. Reading to get my mind back ready to teach personal finance to high schoolers in the fall. Saying this because I am probably being rather critical)

[Joseph Brubaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book to prepare to teach personal finance at the high school level. It is a simple read about the complexities helping people to understand the world of banking and money. He uses easy-to-understand terms that help teens to know how to use their money intelligently, how to save for emergencies, and how to prepare to save for the future. Young adults and older adults would benefit from using this system of thought about money. Read it and decide from yourself.

[Corwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super simplistic, 1 hour read but good general lessons. Want more details. Save now, get your shit together(you are 19). General principles like time, compound interest, risk level, don’t let debt work against you, all things I’ve heard and know. Don’t think you don’t have enough of that you are too young to set up your financial future and freedom. Get good habits, keep things simple, and get ahead. Stay frugal while enjoying the experiences that matter. Opened a savings account

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and straightforward personal finance primer for teens and young adults. I like the style, the personality, the modern descriptions of things, and the ease with which it covers the topics.

It's not rocket science, but personal finance is also more than budget sheets. And I think the focus on setting priorities, and not putting off learning about money until you're older is a great way to get some traction with teens.

[Cassina Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for young adults!

I purchased this book for my daughters who are in college. One recently graduated from high school. The teaching is perfect for this age group, easy to understand. The author connects with them on their level and gives sound advice. I really love the emphasis on saving!

[Francisco Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book a lot. It guides you through the basic principals of how money works in our daily lives and how we can identify our spending habits to become more efficient and to save more money. This is one of those books that you would hand a teen so that they can get a basic idea of how cash flows.

[Heidi Misch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to my daughter by a wonderful woman who taught a class as part of the Snowboard Outreach Society mentoring program. Great short read for a young teen to get exposed to personal finance.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this to gain material for a financial workshop - There were parts I loved and others that were so-so. I like how the information was presented and easy to understand. However, I can't say that as a high schooler that this book would be of interest.

[Samantha Dulak]

This book is a very easy to read guide to personal finance for high school students and young adults. The analogies are helpful, and the author uses real life examples that make the numbers feel more tangible.

[Marielle McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dry, but very informative and helpful

[Saloni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would make a nice present for high school, college going teenagers, to help them understand the value of money, saving money, and investing it for compound gains.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read. I added this book for my daughter to read. It’s very basic information for a teenager to start in finance. I highly recommend this book to all parents and children

[Gavin Brownfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to healthy/successful financial decisions for young adults.

[ellen :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good intro to finance book especially for young people who don’t know where to start or need concepts broken down. Could have elaborated more on how to use credit to your advantage

[mikosbookmarks · Rating 2 out of 5]

bay sick

[Stennett Eberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read Sidewalk Spectators by another David Burkholder, but that one wasn’t in Goodreads.

[Emily Maughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beginner finance book in easy to understand terms. I’m going to make all my young adult/older teenagers read this to get the basics. It’s also really short so super quick read. Good advice!

[Dede · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a complimentary copy of this from the author to preview for my classroom. Easy to read and touches on all the important topics for successful personal finance. I wasn't blown away but I am definitely not eliminating it as a possibility for my juniors and seniors. It is very reasonably priced.

[Starbarrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect personal finance primer for a late teen. It talks about budgeting, savings, and debt and it discusses it in terms and amounts teens will identify with. It helps teens add up the costs of frequent small purchases like coffee or video game adds so they can see the yearly impact of regular small purchases. The chapters are short and sweet. I will be assigning this book chapter by chapter to my high school junior. She just got her first job and will be leaving the nest soon. I hope this book will provide her with a good foundation for managing her own money as she becomes independent.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. This is a very short book with only 61 pages but it offers simple financial advice to high school and college students. This seems like a really good starting point for teenagers to learn a bit more about finances and what they should do with their money.

[Tiffany Guthrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I previously reviewed this book, but somehow my review has disappeared. So lets try this again.

This book did exactly what it intended to do, which was to educate finance to the younger generations. After reading it I gave this book to my sister who is younger than me, and she found this book quite helpful. I would recommend it to anyone between the ages 15-23.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really great for kids, starting in middle school, up to kids entering high school and even entering college. I think there is a lot of valuable information, advice, and resources in this book that should not be overlooked. I recommend this book to all my friends.