Unf*ck Your Finances

by Melissa Browne

Most of us would rather be caught naked than have our finances open to view. Why are we so reluctant to engage properly and effectively with something so fundamental? Mel Browne challenges us to change our thinking and our bank balances for the better. With clear, easy to follow advice, she tells you how to set up savvy savings accounts, make the right investments, and discover why budgeting is a dirty word. Learn to financially adult and become not just financially unf*cked . . . but financially well.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Audiobook, Money, Personal Finance, Personal Development, Self Help

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unf*ck Your Finances (whose name is surely influenced by the f*ck book title trend spawned by Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck) is a personal finance book which seems set out to do something similar to Scott Pape’s The Barefoot Investor, however falls short of ever achieving the same space of relatable, easy-to-digest and fun-to-read financial advice. Browne take you through the major self-help steps of planning and clearly envisioning your goals, organising what your values are and any preconceived notions you have towards money, setting up bank accounts (or bowls as she calls them) to weighing up the pros and cons of property investment, the share market and better understanding conscious spending and debt priorities. This book is targeted more towards women which comes across in the writing with the mention of shopping, shoes, cocktails and girlfriend brunches as well as a chapter devoted to women’s business practices. Despite it being targeted in this direction the financial advice is applicable for everyone and because it seems more for women is no reason not to read this book. A reason not to read this book however is simply that all the information contained here is found in Pape’s Barefoot Investor, in a much less clearly stated, entertaining and practical manner. While there are certain chapters which I managed to glean new ideas (the good, bad & ugly of debt and celebration vs rewards come to mind), most of the book I spent ploughing through, hoping for something fresh to bring some life to the incredibly dry subject of personal finance. An okay read if you haven’t read The Barefoot Investor, if you have, give it a miss. 2 stars.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
This book is like The Barefoot Investor lite. It's not as practical (although the resource section at the back of the book is good) and it almost feels like the author isn't talking about money some of the time. I suppose I was expecting some more nuts and bolts, specific information, but the book is quite high level philosophical advice. This is good for people who need to change their relationship with money and who have low financial literacy. It's a good start, but I think the The Barefoot Investor does more despite being as easily accessible.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their financial literacy.

The main message I took from this book is that our relationship with money is personal, emotional and philosophical and recognising our idiosyncrasies helps us to control for them.

Some notable points:
- You can have it all. Just not all at once.

- 10 steps to financial wellness:
1. Do a financial detox. For example, don't buy anything aside from essentials for 30 days.
2. Understand how you think and feel, specifically what thinking leads to you spending money and want feelings make you susceptible to spending.
3. Understand your values. This helps ground you to make purchases that are consistent with these values.
4. Work out your goals. 3 month and 12 month financial goals are good.
5. Break down your goals into a plan. Make it actionable and incremental.
6. Understand how you're spending by tracking your spending. This helps you see where your money goes and make necessary adjustments.
7. Become a conscious consumer and check in on your progress regularly.
8. Remove temptation.
9. Seek expert financial advice.
10. Consistently monitor, gauge, adjust and track.

- Steps to life designing and goal setting:
1. Brainstorm your ideal life. What does it look like? What does it feel like?
2. Write down what this looks like and what need to be true for it come to fruition.
3. Work back to the present day and set goals to reach this future life in 5 or 10 years. Make sure the goals are specific, measurable, realistic and have a deadline. Break them into 12 months chunks. Where do you need to be in a year to achieve your ideal life in 5 years?
4. Break down even further. Break the year into quarters and figure out where you'll need to be each quarter to achieve the yearly goal.
5. Make yourself accountable by sharing your goals and plans with other people.
6. Every quarter celebrate your realised goals and progress.

- Shop around every 12 months to make sure you're getting the best deal, and if you're not, change.

- Some frugality/lifestyle steps:
1. Don't spend more than you earn.
2. Always take home leftovers.
3. Make your own meals, preparing food will reduce the chance of buying take away.
4. Enjoy holidays and trips away sensibly.
5. Shop vintage - or make your own.
6. Find a great tailor and a good cobbler.
7. Grow your own food.
8. Play together. You don't need to spend time to have fun.
9. Share.
10. Trust yourself and be happy with who you are.

[Nez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah I just love when people with lots of money tell people with little money what they are doing wrong in all aspect of their lives. I just love when they assume we are all as shallow and obsessed with shoes and cocktails like they are. Ok, there was the odd tip for the totally clueless, but it all could have been summarised on two A4 sheets of paper instead of 222 pages, but Melissa wouldn't be able to sell a book and make more money! Also I think that some people just like the sound of their own voice on piece of paper. You need at least 3 red wines or 4 ciders to make this digestible. If I haven't had some vino, it definitely would have got one star. Don't invite me to a Melissa Browne talk as I will throw my $10 shoes at her.

[Hannah J Wilding · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book felt patronising. You don’t need to use sex as an analogy to put something in layman’s terms, that is the cop out route. I listened to the audio book and the tone was mocking. Awful.

[Adakhc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing my project of becoming financially literate.
This book was helpful to me personally for its concept of bowls (having separate money accounts with a capped amount for certain needs), dislike of budgets, the notion of "good vs bad debt" and also how important automating savings is. I enjoyed its focus on women too and staying safe financially when coupling up (eg/ risk of financial abuse)

This book is written for an ideal reader that i presume is a straight white middleclass female in her 30's. I found lots of it alienating, maybe because i'm not many of the above and was put off immediately by her reference to having a dad who is good at money/financial adviser(?), getting her first house in her early 20s (hello parental help) and suggestions to buy a $200 bottle of champagne rather than a $5000 handbag to save. Also i've never "gone out for brunch with girlfriends" and then spent $600 at a clothes shop or on shoes after brunch which seems to be a real threat for the imagined reader.

Probably a good entry level books for people who meet more of the above demographics.

Friends - if you have suggestions for similar books i'd like to read them!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept wanting to like this book but it just kept missing the mark. Every chapter was 90% convincing you of the issue or explaining a theory and then only 10% actual advice about actions to take. The result was a lot of high level philosophical ideas about money with no real substance to do anything practical. An interesting read to get your head around a few of the hows and whys of our relationship with money but would recommend the barefoot investor if you want actual steps and instructions to follow.
Also, if you’re annoyed by cliches about women and shopping and cocktails don’t bother with this book. They’re ridiculously frequent, with the most absurd being a chapter that uses a $5000 Prada handbag example throughout, followed immediately by a chapter about our grandparents’ generation’s frugality and to not define yourself by possessions and status. I just couldn’t get my head around that editing...

[katewans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of Unf*ck Your Finances, which really improved my experience! While the author may not be the most technical writer, listening to the audiobook almost felt like I was being given financial advise by a trusted (extremely non-judgemental) friend. The writing also lends itself to being listened to in many bite size pieces, so if anyone else drives a lot while listening to audiobooks, this one is great!

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audio version of this book. It was ok but I wasn’t a fan of all of the diet, shoe, and female brunch references. It felt like wishy washy tips from other books written in a way to try and catch the interest of women. I’d have preferred the tips without the ‘relatable’ analogies.

[Romany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-structured. Loved the stuff about conscious consumption and values. Very motivating.

[Tracy Footitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Bridget Jones was financially savvy and had written a book this would be it - highly recommend

[Hayley Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy this book and I’m not sure who is supposed to benefit from it. The endless comparisons between financial wellness and exercise/eating habits/sex are draining at best and irresponsible at worst. Another example of a book that needed a trigger warning for candidly discussing restrictive eating without considering the consequences. At the very least, I would’ve expected to see more structure and less repetition in a short book.

I did like the ‘Stop It’ anecdote at the end.

[Tricia Greig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read the reviews for this book and I thought I should add my two cents cause I can spare it.
I liked this book but I have not read the barefoot investor cause I could not get it at the library. I have just read Smashed Avocado - about real estate - and teamed together it worked very well for me to get my mind set on improving my finances and set myself up to buy a house.
It has been a good introduction book.

[looni · Rating 2 out of 5]

our grandparents are better off because they’re grateful for the small things and save money by taking home leftovers. girl be so fucking for real

[Any Length · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some good tips in this book, however the title and the continuous use of the "F" word became repetitive and not funny any more.
I didn't like the person calling herself an chocolate addict then saying she "used to have an eating disorder". If you can't control your chocolate intake you HAVE an eating disorder. Not USED to have. You HAVE one NOW. Get real.
I also didn't like her using "conscientious shopping" as an excuse to push "fair trade shopping". Some of us just haven't got the budget to pay $30 for something we can buy for $5 but we know some Chinese kid had to slave over it. And some of us don't even care. At least that Chinese kid had a job. Which it wouldn't have if we didn't have the money to buy the item in the first place. And some of us don't care much about expensive clothing. I take pride in being dressed from head to toe for under $100 including shoes and underwear.
Also, some of the what to do's were not followed up with the how to do it. People need to actually be told "in order to cut down your coffee spending you will have to stop drinking stupid designer coffee and start drinking instant again" - my message stop being so pretentious. Most of the "designer coffee drinkers" would fail in a blind study to pick a designer coffee from an instant anyway. And there is $45 per week in savings right there.
And Melissa, stop going on about shoes. They are just not that important and make you sound like one of those airheads on sex in the city.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book keeps getting compared to the Barefoot Investor. While they both offer simple financial advice to follow, i think this book is pretty different.

The author is going for a different market. The millennial female- although she did try and include males and females, I definitely thought there was a female slant.

I really enjoyed her thoughts on celebration vs rewards. I’d never thought about it that way. Celebrate your milestones, you don’t need to reward yourself. There’s a real difference between those two words that I’d never pondered on before.

She talked a lot about social media and how it truly does influence us and our spending habits. I don’t think many books are being written about that. It’s so, so true!

Lastly- and I love that I started off this review by talking about the comparison to the Barefoot Investor book and now I’m using it to close off this review- the one piece of advice that I would wholeheartedly disagree with from the BFI book is that he wants couples to only have one bank account. Melissa Browne strongly recommends each person have their own bank account, but share the intimate details of your bank account with one another. I think that’s the advice I would take. Don’t let someone else run your finances. Plus, im all sure we’ve read a million and one stories about husbands leaving their wives bankrupt and destitute.

[Karen Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about sooo much more than personal finance. It's got great mindset stuff that is applicable to all areas of life. Melissa Browne speaks in one chapter particularly to female entrepreneurs, and what she says really hits the nail on the head. Don't just start a business ladies, start an amazing, successful, kick-arse business!! Short, snappy and full of insights. It's Australian but the advice is universal.

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for the step by step, foundation to action approach towards coming to terms with personal finance. I really appreciated the candidness and honestly of the author in sharing her own personal stories, and also the clear willingness to help people see their money as a tool and not something to be wary or disgusted by.

Thanks again Melissa Browne, you’ve done a great service to me and to everyone you are helping to ‘unfuck’ their finances 🙏

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handy, inspiring and easy to follow.

I really enjoyed the audio version read by the author, who has a fabulous reading voice so it really felt like you were having a personal 1 on 1 conversation with her.

After listening to this, I did sit down to work on some of the activities. I still have a long way to go, but I found it easy to make some changes which wasn't as daunting as I'd expect.

[Alison McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things to note before reading: this book was published in 2017 and the author is Australian. So the advice is somewhat dated and/or specific to Australians (like the list of apps and superannuation information).

I’ve followed Melissa on Instagram for a few years now and while this book about money is mainly common sense, I realise that common sense is no longer that common 🤣

In the book, she relates money to sex and the analogy actually works. She explains it at the beginning and end.

Thank goodness this didn’t tell me to budget or I was going to chuck this book out the window.

I’m all for separate bank accounts but my new bank doesn’t allow it for free anymore sadly. Also, I’m all for having a fuck off fund if you need to get away from a bad situation. I’m going to teach my kids the same. “A women’s best protection is a little money of her own.”

Glad she mentioned that credit isn’t for everyone because credit cards and loans are dangerous.

The section on housing is a bit outdated because of how crazy the world has gotten in the last few years. But she does make an excellent pros and cons of renting/buying.

[Ulzhan Zhazylbekova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incredibly shallow writer and the book. The writer used the most basic language and technics trying to teach about financial literacy. She put in the book random information that you can find on dodgy forums nowadays. Blind leading the blind.

I really doubt that she is a financial advisor, and if she is, well I feel very sorry for her clients. Nothing new, nothing smart, waste of time and money.

I barely could finish this book, felt like slapping the writer for every non-literary word, that she clearly over used: “it’s like; I mean; bloody; fuck etc”. When did publishing business got so low?

I also feel she has a very annoying personally, and most probably the voice too. Do yourself a favor - skip this peace of crap.

[Maree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got a couple of good ideas in regards to finances from this book. I listened to the audio book & i felt like the tone was very sarcastic & not necessarily serious. Also find it odd to relate finances to sex in the way she did. I love dropping the f bomb alot actually, but I felt like it was dropped a little too much than was needed & not really used in context or when appropriate in this book. The tone of the author in the audiobook when swearing was loud & sharp which didn't make it easy listening when driving or with a toddler sitting in the back. The f bomb seemed to be louder than every other word said in the book & detracted from the real purpose & content of the book.

[Meg 🌞]

i have the issue with a lot of ‘self help’ books that they just seem too milennially-girlboss-cringe and this unfortunately was one. there was some useful financial advice in this book, but i do have big issues with the fact that a book about financial advice that is primarily targeted to women felt the need to fall back on analogies and examples about shopping and brunch and cocktails and dieting.

like have we not as a society been through the fact that women are more complex beings than merely “women be shopping”?

[Joeline ReadsWhileSippingCoffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this bit by bit over a couple of months, and found it funny, relatable and contains a couple of new ideas I haven't read before. I will be passing this over to a teen niece to read, and hope she learns some important steps to ensure she doesn't fall into the sad black hole of debt at a young age.
I am currently on day 2 of the 30 day detox challenge, and looking forward to breaking up with money.

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am financially clueless but still found this book difficult to finish (i started it 2 years ago and haven't quite finished tbh). The talk of shoes, dinners and cocktails didn't resonate with me, I'm too queer. I thought I was having trouble reading it because of my subconscious self sabotaging money values, but then realised it's just not a book for me and to focus my energy in another one. Thanks anyways.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read in one night. I liked the value analysis part, and the reassuring tone of the book. Reference to Seth Godwin’s idea about reduced by the size of the ‘bowl’ was a helpful concept. Female-focused content, but given the fact that financial narratives tend to be male-dominated it’s encouraging to have a strong female voice in the mix.

[Alyson Hewett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst this book had some helpful tips and ideas, I found that it wasn’t detailed enough and brushed over far too many topics. Whilst it’s okay to provide advice on meal prepping and repairing clothes (even though this is obvious for most people) it failed to provided step by step processes or useful resources

[Reggie Pun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very relatable and useful!

I love the way Melissa Browne talks about taking control on personal finances is more than just resilience but financial wellness. Many useful and relatable experiences and examples shared in there, highly recommend to everyone and especially youngster :)

[Yariet Peers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this. Aimed at woman but no reason men can’t read it and get heaps of information. I read it on holiday so I’m looking forward to actually working through all the exercise, I feel very inspired and cause results.

[Kass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Yes, the concepts weren’t entirely new to me but I found Mel’s voice far more relatable then other finance self help authors.
Mel explains the “why” we get ourselves in bad financial places clearly and encourages the reader to tackle those reasons head on.

[Emily Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a lot of comparisons between money and sex and money and eating chocolate.

I want to read a book about wealth building written by a woman / for women that doesn’t mention wanting more money to buy shoes.

Too much to ask?