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Deeper Than Money: Ditch Money Shame, Build Wealth, and Feel Confident AF
A guide for women to find financial confidence, say goodbye to guilt, and finally get ahead with money without sacrificing what they care about, from money expert, podcaster, and CEO Chloe Elise.
This is not your average finance book.
Like most people these days, Elise went to college not only with student loans, but also completely clueless as to how debt even worked. Instead of abiding by restrictive, guilt-filled advice, she set off on a new debt-payoff journey where she made the rules. Fast-forward eighteen months, and not only did she become completely debt-free, paying off more than $36,000 of debt, but she did it while traveling and enjoying life in her twenties. And now she’s sharing how you can do it, too.
In Deeper Than Money , Elise demystifies finance for anyone who feels stuck in cycles of guilt around spending. Part practical guide to finance and part motivational kick in the butt to set yourself up for success, this book is all about showing how to live your life, love your finances, and make money matter less. It’ll have you ready to talk about money at brunch with your friends, and finally allow you to get ahead with money—without skipping the mimosa.
Deeper Than Money will help you level up not only your finances, but also your life. Because in order to enjoy the wealth you’re building, you also need to enjoy the life you’re living.
This is not your average finance book.
Like most people these days, Elise went to college not only with student loans, but also completely clueless as to how debt even worked. Instead of abiding by restrictive, guilt-filled advice, she set off on a new debt-payoff journey where she made the rules. Fast-forward eighteen months, and not only did she become completely debt-free, paying off more than $36,000 of debt, but she did it while traveling and enjoying life in her twenties. And now she’s sharing how you can do it, too.
In Deeper Than Money , Elise demystifies finance for anyone who feels stuck in cycles of guilt around spending. Part practical guide to finance and part motivational kick in the butt to set yourself up for success, this book is all about showing how to live your life, love your finances, and make money matter less. It’ll have you ready to talk about money at brunch with your friends, and finally allow you to get ahead with money—without skipping the mimosa.
Deeper Than Money will help you level up not only your finances, but also your life. Because in order to enjoy the wealth you’re building, you also need to enjoy the life you’re living.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2023
331 people are currently reading
3676 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
September 19, 2023
Warning: NOT your average finance book!!!
However, after about hour six of the audiobook I found some of the info redundant. I can only handle so much "girl, claim your power. slay" speak, so it definitely got on my nerves at times.
This book's attention to the psychological framework that makes up most of our money beliefs is remarkable. Chloe Elise's approach of going "deeper than money" (the title literally says it all, people) is truly a revolutionary view on the financial literacy world. She does a great job explaining where shame might exist in our lives (especially in finances) and how to squash it.
I truly hope this approach takes off and becomes more widespread in the next few years (but if more people know about money, the less money institutions such as banks, credit companies, etc. make, so alas, probably not. However, that is a discussion for another day). It is hard to get ahead with money when you feel constantly stressed and behind in other areas of your life. Consequently, striving for alignment and knowing WHAT YOU REALLY WANT is such a crucial part of forming an identity built on self-confidence.
I loved the positive self-talk strategies and elements of CBT sprinkled in. Changing our view of money from "morally good" and "morally bad" to simply "neutral" helps eliminate a lot of financial stress around spending decisions. As soon as we can see money as the tool it is, things become much more simple.
However, after about hour six of the audiobook I found some of the info redundant. I can only handle so much "girl, claim your power. slay" speak, so it definitely got on my nerves at times.
This book's attention to the psychological framework that makes up most of our money beliefs is remarkable. Chloe Elise's approach of going "deeper than money" (the title literally says it all, people) is truly a revolutionary view on the financial literacy world. She does a great job explaining where shame might exist in our lives (especially in finances) and how to squash it.
I truly hope this approach takes off and becomes more widespread in the next few years (but if more people know about money, the less money institutions such as banks, credit companies, etc. make, so alas, probably not. However, that is a discussion for another day). It is hard to get ahead with money when you feel constantly stressed and behind in other areas of your life. Consequently, striving for alignment and knowing WHAT YOU REALLY WANT is such a crucial part of forming an identity built on self-confidence.
I loved the positive self-talk strategies and elements of CBT sprinkled in. Changing our view of money from "morally good" and "morally bad" to simply "neutral" helps eliminate a lot of financial stress around spending decisions. As soon as we can see money as the tool it is, things become much more simple.
January 28, 2024
Nothing really groundbreaking and info was a bit redundant. Would be a good book for young adults who are new to personal finance.
May 30, 2024
This is an excellent book that changed and improved my views & relationship with money, including earning, spending and saving, debt and future planning. I would give this book to ANYONE, especially millennials and younger, to help them find ways to improve or create their own new views and relationship with money.
There are a lot of swears, “girl talk” and there is a whole chapter titled “money condoms” or something like that (things you need to do to protect yourself). If those are deal breakers for you, just read the cliff notes. It didn’t bother me, but a lot of readers will find it excessive.
There are a lot of swears, “girl talk” and there is a whole chapter titled “money condoms” or something like that (things you need to do to protect yourself). If those are deal breakers for you, just read the cliff notes. It didn’t bother me, but a lot of readers will find it excessive.
January 23, 2024
Really loved her writing style and it felt so REAL. Not the average finance book. Really liked the tips and how she connects to old habits and emotions and trying to strip the negative away. Has already had a positive impact!
November 3, 2024
Audiobook read by the author who ends many of her sentences with an upward inflection so that they sound like a question even when it's not? 🎧 8 hours
Okay so I can't stand the author's voice or delivery. While this isn't your typical personal finance book - the author uses a lot of annoying "align your goals and purchases to elevate your vibes" and "slay girl" millennial brunch culture language - it is a great book under all the talk about bottomless mimosas.
This book is mostly geared towards young women just entering the world of personal finance to help them establish some understanding and confidence around money, but as someone who is a couple of decades past the club scene, I got a lot out of it, too.
Deeper Than Money really addresses the emotional relationship we have with money. If money makes you nervous, guilty or stressed, this book can help understand that money is neutral and is just a tool to help achieve our goals.
This is an easy and gentle approach to personal finance with a money mindset focus.
I'll revisit this book....in print
Okay so I can't stand the author's voice or delivery. While this isn't your typical personal finance book - the author uses a lot of annoying "align your goals and purchases to elevate your vibes" and "slay girl" millennial brunch culture language - it is a great book under all the talk about bottomless mimosas.
This book is mostly geared towards young women just entering the world of personal finance to help them establish some understanding and confidence around money, but as someone who is a couple of decades past the club scene, I got a lot out of it, too.
Deeper Than Money really addresses the emotional relationship we have with money. If money makes you nervous, guilty or stressed, this book can help understand that money is neutral and is just a tool to help achieve our goals.
This is an easy and gentle approach to personal finance with a money mindset focus.
I'll revisit this book....in print
November 14, 2024
I didn’t know I needed a money mental health book, or that the genre even existed! I grabbed this off the library shelf thinking it was going to be technical info on investing and such, but boy was I surprised when I started reading. This book truly helped me reflect on how I spend and why. I didn’t realize so much of it had been informed by elements besides my own desires. Thank you Chloe!
Highly recommend to anyone, especially young women, who want to be more confident. It flows well and I was always excited to read it. There’s some dated/generational jokes that felt wispy to me but they didn’t affect all my other takeaways.
Edit: taking away a star. The book is still valuable but the author is charging $2500+ for her online course teaching these same basic principles. CRUEL AND UNUSUAL. I don’t know how she sleeps at night saying she’s trying to help people with money then literally asking them to take on this kind of cost/debt for information already freely available. And yes, you can get human coaching for far less than that amount too.
Highly recommend to anyone, especially young women, who want to be more confident. It flows well and I was always excited to read it. There’s some dated/generational jokes that felt wispy to me but they didn’t affect all my other takeaways.
Edit: taking away a star. The book is still valuable but the author is charging $2500+ for her online course teaching these same basic principles. CRUEL AND UNUSUAL. I don’t know how she sleeps at night saying she’s trying to help people with money then literally asking them to take on this kind of cost/debt for information already freely available. And yes, you can get human coaching for far less than that amount too.
March 18, 2024
love her approach to finances, spending, budgeting. she also gives actionable tips
Read
January 29, 2025This was another audio book listen. Omg it was so good. It totally restructured my relationship with money and how I view my past, present, and future decisions surrounding money. I have some ~student loan debt~ I want to really tackle in 2025 and now feel I have the tools to do so. Also, this book really helped me dismantle the shame I had around having student loans in the first place which honestly was the first step I needed. This one is for the girlies!
October 25, 2024
***A Financial Advisor’s review of a personal finance book*** For reference: I was born in 1989 (age 35 in 2024, you can do the math on other years) and have been a CFP®️ pro since 2016. This book falls squarely in my world.
I would have given this a 3.5⭐️ if I could.
Pro: This is one of the most useful books I’ve read for actually getting your money right. I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of aligning your money with what’s important to you. We have to get intentional with our spending. It’s great that the book spends some time getting you to reflect on how you feel about money before diving into changing. She includes a lot of great re-frames for spending a saving. This is stuff I’ve been using with my own clients for years. It’s good stuff!
Con: while the content was great, the voice drove me bananas-pants crazy. I know a lot of money books are Death Valley-level dry dry dry, but this one swung too far in the other direction. I just can’t take the unironic use of the phrase “put on your money condom for protection” seriously.
TL;DR if you can get past the horrific millennial-coded writers voice, this is a great personal finance book for beginners.
I would have given this a 3.5⭐️ if I could.
Pro: This is one of the most useful books I’ve read for actually getting your money right. I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of aligning your money with what’s important to you. We have to get intentional with our spending. It’s great that the book spends some time getting you to reflect on how you feel about money before diving into changing. She includes a lot of great re-frames for spending a saving. This is stuff I’ve been using with my own clients for years. It’s good stuff!
Con: while the content was great, the voice drove me bananas-pants crazy. I know a lot of money books are Death Valley-level dry dry dry, but this one swung too far in the other direction. I just can’t take the unironic use of the phrase “put on your money condom for protection” seriously.
TL;DR if you can get past the horrific millennial-coded writers voice, this is a great personal finance book for beginners.
April 3, 2024
Surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. As many reviews have stated before me— this is NOT your average financial book… and THANK GAWD.
As someone who does marketing for wealth management institutions, I’m very familiar with the typical “tips and tricks” shared (by your standard middle-aged white man) to conquer wealth. The thing is— it’s 2024, not 1980, and things have changed. I’ve been dying to get my hands on a book or guide that walks young professionals through wealth building in a realistic way, without sacrificing your weekly coffee or luxury purchases.
I really enjoyed the audiobook, but I 100% will be purchasing a physical copy of this book to have on hand and use as a guide. I would highly recommend either or both for anyone looking to gain confidence in their financial future and also interested in digging deeper into the reasoning behind your opinions and beliefs built around money.
Super impressed and so happy I found this one. Bonus? The author is a fellow Midwest girlie.
🎧 Audiobook Listen
As someone who does marketing for wealth management institutions, I’m very familiar with the typical “tips and tricks” shared (by your standard middle-aged white man) to conquer wealth. The thing is— it’s 2024, not 1980, and things have changed. I’ve been dying to get my hands on a book or guide that walks young professionals through wealth building in a realistic way, without sacrificing your weekly coffee or luxury purchases.
I really enjoyed the audiobook, but I 100% will be purchasing a physical copy of this book to have on hand and use as a guide. I would highly recommend either or both for anyone looking to gain confidence in their financial future and also interested in digging deeper into the reasoning behind your opinions and beliefs built around money.
Super impressed and so happy I found this one. Bonus? The author is a fellow Midwest girlie.
🎧 Audiobook Listen
September 11, 2023
This book is a MUST read! This book is filled with modern financial literacy that applies to anyone in any financial situation with a hint of mental healing around money trauma you didn’t know you had. I was very surprised to see that my current money habits closely reflect Chloe’s spend plan method! I’m excited to take the new things I learned and apply them though my life, confidently and shame free!
January 17, 2024
I went into this book expecting to gain financial literacy. Instead, it was more a reflection/self-help book about your relationship with money. I went into it with the wrong expectations, which explains the lower review. She does make great analogies if you’re newer to setting financial goals, and I have learned great things from her on her social medias. Wish I could have just gotten a *little* more from this book.
March 10, 2024
A lot of the language/framing was very girl boss-y and cringe, but I really did learn some helpful things from this book, especially around spending in alignment vs. budgeting. I’ll carry a lot of this guidance forward and that’s exciting!
February 4, 2024
Love following Chloe on Instagram but couldn’t stop cringing at all the attempted pop culture references
March 21, 2024
Actually really wanted to hate this...most of it was pretty good. I've read a few finance books and this one really bridges the gap for beginners. I'd say start here if you know little-to-nothing. Elise offers a lot of great tips to getting control over your finances/life. Elise is relatable but she comes off as extremely annoying and spoiled in her personal stories (which she does admit). I really could do without the buzz words "generational trauma" and "limiting beliefs" and instead include more about finances rather than a book about "feelings", but I guess if you lack self confidence or have a lot of negative feelings towards money that might be beneficial to you.
November 13, 2024
I LOVE learning about personal finance, but I've noticed a lot of the same shame-based and restrictive advice surrounding money in most of the finance books I've read. This book reframed so many ideas in such a positive way for me. I'm not being dramatic in saying that this book changed my life! I especially enjoyed how she talked about spending "in alignment" with one's life, which I found to be applicable to many other areas as well. I would recommend this to all young adults trying to get their finances figured out.
January 2, 2025
I read a lot of financial/frugal living books and many of them are so similar that I feel like I didn't learn anything new at all. Not at all the case here! Many of her ideas were new to me, even if only in the sense of reframing ways to think of things. I feel like this is one of the most balanced ways of looking at personal finance I have ever read, and is 100% lacking in the shaming many authors seem to think will drive their readers to financial success. 5 stars, though I'd give more if I could!
September 2, 2023
The perfect intro to financial literacy. The Deeper Than Money approach laid out in this book leads with self compassion and non-judgement that is so countercultural to the shame that typically drives the financial industry. Chloe’s financial wisdom has been a game changer for me over the years, and this book was helpful in putting all of that info together. I highly recommend & would give it to all of my friends. I’m serious- go read it!!!
August 15, 2025
I’m not the target market for this book, but 20-somethings should definitely pick this up. I read a lot of personal finance and I do think Chloe was able to write with a really unique perspective not often found in this genre.
November 5, 2023
Writing style was very informal. Good info for beginners.
December 10, 2023
Loved every minute of reading this. Gave me a new perspective!
June 9, 2024
Perfect for her audience. Early 20’s, primarily female. Nailed the tone and made me laugh. Would love a second book on investing for the same audience 👀
July 8, 2024
Had some good principles in it, but it honestly could have been done in far less words. More about psychology, without the research.
February 7, 2024
If you’re a finance beginner, this is for you. Personally I really benefitted from the spending mindset content, but not from the content about the basic pillars of personal finance. Really well written and empowering book, would recommend to anyone starting out.
November 15, 2024
Everyone needs to listen/ read and re read or re listen to this book often. I can’t recommend DTM enough, it’s truly changed my entire life.
It really is deeper than money.
It really is deeper than money.
November 14, 2023
3.5 : this book kept me engaged. It was more about the psychological aspects of money rather than financial literacy. slightly cringey at times but a good read and had important messages about financial empowerment esp for women 🤑👯♂️
Read
February 12, 2024Textbook😴
May 28, 2024
Pop culture references aside, I ate this book up. I love the positive girl boss take on finances & the holistic view feels fresh to me. I hope to implement more of these strategies & hold down some of my friends long enough to force feed them this book.
October 2, 2023
I'm no newbie to personal finance. This caught my eye on my library's "New Arrivals" list, and I'm glad I read this - although I have some critiques.
The good: I found this refreshing. Chloe Elise is right that many of the prominent finance speakers advocate for restriction and considering a life with debt as an emergency to be fixed. This was ingrained into me, too, and it adds a level of stress and anxiety to everything. It can really control your life if you are an extreme level of strict (I'm sure those in poverty can relate). Chloe's approach is to reframe our beliefs about money and debt. The early chapters are about identifying negative beliefs and how to reframe; then you move into value-setting so that your future choices can be in alignment with yourself. The approach and the steps are great.
The not-so-good:
-I thought that Chloe dumbed herself down in an attempt to be more appealing to her 'target audience' of young women. I'm in Chloe's age range, and I was not impressed by most of her humor and pop culture references. She shuts herself off from a larger demographic by taking this approach. I understand that she is writing this as a way to channel what she wishes she had at that age, but in my opinion, it takes a certain amount of development to even pick up a book about finance. Even when you create tools suitable for young people, the lessons may not be as meaningful or sink in the way she imagines.
-I liked the step-by-step creation of the spending plan, accompanied by the visuals. Basically, the spending plan is a euphemism for budget. Or a flip of the plan, where you don't have a budget imposing your limits externally, but your spending plan is how you designate where to assign your money. The first step is examining your expenses and spending for the last three months, assigning each into a bucket. This is the financial audit. You then start building this spending plan with the fixed expenses (rent/mortgage, insurance, cable bill), adding in regular monthly expenses, and finally adding in irregular expenses that you expect for the month. Voila - a snapshot of your spending plan.
The spending plan is positive in doing a reveal: did you know you were spending $X on that bucket? Except I suppose my real issue boils down to it being for privileged people. I can make a nice calendar, but I personally have to be mindful of expenses you know, 5-6 months from now. I have to plan ahead, saving from each paycheck that far in advance. She doesn't mention this, but some of us really need to rebuild that spending plan with a sinking funds and/or a long-term goal category.
-I found it hilarious that if your financial audit revealed some overspending, then that's where you aim for a "most aligned amount" that is congruent with your goals. The example she gave was akin to, "oh you didn't know that you spent $350 on takeout last month. Maybe your most aligned amount is $200." Guess what I want my Wifi bill to be? Or insurance? Or groceries? I'd love to pay ZERO! But we live in this controlled, closed market that leaves us with little negotiation room. Obviously, I'm a little salty/highly critical. It's self-help for the unaware people who were leaking money anyway.
-Chloe spent a chunk of time to teach us not to be anxious and afraid of debt.... then she went right into the need to pay it off as part of goal-setting. I know it's her personal preference. (Alas, it's also MY personal preference!)
The good: I found this refreshing. Chloe Elise is right that many of the prominent finance speakers advocate for restriction and considering a life with debt as an emergency to be fixed. This was ingrained into me, too, and it adds a level of stress and anxiety to everything. It can really control your life if you are an extreme level of strict (I'm sure those in poverty can relate). Chloe's approach is to reframe our beliefs about money and debt. The early chapters are about identifying negative beliefs and how to reframe; then you move into value-setting so that your future choices can be in alignment with yourself. The approach and the steps are great.
The not-so-good:
-I thought that Chloe dumbed herself down in an attempt to be more appealing to her 'target audience' of young women. I'm in Chloe's age range, and I was not impressed by most of her humor and pop culture references. She shuts herself off from a larger demographic by taking this approach. I understand that she is writing this as a way to channel what she wishes she had at that age, but in my opinion, it takes a certain amount of development to even pick up a book about finance. Even when you create tools suitable for young people, the lessons may not be as meaningful or sink in the way she imagines.
-I liked the step-by-step creation of the spending plan, accompanied by the visuals. Basically, the spending plan is a euphemism for budget. Or a flip of the plan, where you don't have a budget imposing your limits externally, but your spending plan is how you designate where to assign your money. The first step is examining your expenses and spending for the last three months, assigning each into a bucket. This is the financial audit. You then start building this spending plan with the fixed expenses (rent/mortgage, insurance, cable bill), adding in regular monthly expenses, and finally adding in irregular expenses that you expect for the month. Voila - a snapshot of your spending plan.
The spending plan is positive in doing a reveal: did you know you were spending $X on that bucket? Except I suppose my real issue boils down to it being for privileged people. I can make a nice calendar, but I personally have to be mindful of expenses you know, 5-6 months from now. I have to plan ahead, saving from each paycheck that far in advance. She doesn't mention this, but some of us really need to rebuild that spending plan with a sinking funds and/or a long-term goal category.
-I found it hilarious that if your financial audit revealed some overspending, then that's where you aim for a "most aligned amount" that is congruent with your goals. The example she gave was akin to, "oh you didn't know that you spent $350 on takeout last month. Maybe your most aligned amount is $200." Guess what I want my Wifi bill to be? Or insurance? Or groceries? I'd love to pay ZERO! But we live in this controlled, closed market that leaves us with little negotiation room. Obviously, I'm a little salty/highly critical. It's self-help for the unaware people who were leaking money anyway.
-Chloe spent a chunk of time to teach us not to be anxious and afraid of debt.... then she went right into the need to pay it off as part of goal-setting. I know it's her personal preference. (Alas, it's also MY personal preference!)
May 2, 2024
Truly the best book I have ever read about finances. So educational BUT still so easy to read and understand. I learned more from this book than from any other resources. And I just love Chloe, I follow her on instagram and saw she wrote a book and am so glad I picked it up! This is one I borrowed from the library but will be purchasing to add to my collection!! 10/10 would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews