Saving Karyn by Karyn Bosnak: Book Report

Do you only pay the minimum balance on your credit cards? Do you know what your interest rate is? Do you have spending amnesia? Do you charge it now and conjure a way to pay later? Do you make excuses why you need, deserve, require a thing? This book might give you some hope, some direction, some peace. It's time to get off the merry-go-round, woman!

While on my sickbed the past 3 days (called off again so I wouldn't backslide), I managed to get in some reading. I picked up some cheap paperbacks at the corner Salvation Army. For this post, I'm reviewing Saving Karyn by Karyn Bosnak purchased for $.59, not bad. You can get it for a penny on Amazon but the shipping costs would put it at almost $3.

This is an actual account of Karyn's experience with out-of-control revolving debt (credit card with interest charges's, we all got em). Sound familiar? Midwestern girl moves to NYC to find herself. Gets in over her head trying to keep up in a status driven world, ends up slumming in Brooklyn with rats and roaches, subsisting on tortilla chips and pickles at one point, while trying to maintain employment during the 9/11 tumult.

You may have heard of her story a while back. She made headlines around the world for launching a website asking people to send money to help pay off her debt. And would you believe, it worked! If only it were that easy! You come to see that it totally sucked and gave her mad stress. As I read, I couldn't help but feel sick as you followed her into a chasm of careless spending. She feels the all to real consequences in less than 1 year in town. Karyn is so ashamed of herself she keeps it hidden under her "chipper attitude". An attitude that, although, allows her to keep a job and the book interesting, eats away at her self-respect and confidence that all those shoes and purses could never replace. Which she, ironically, hawks on ebay.

At first, her voice is a little gosh, shucks. Also, she comes off as gullible and non-confrontational, all very midwesterny traits I must say;) I mean the makeup counter guy totally sized her up. He subtly digs into her insecurities to heap endless products upon her under 30 skin, that she diligently protects. When the final tally hits $600 she doesn't have the guts much less incredulence to pull out. Meanwhile her debt is at a staggering $15,000 within 4 months! I'd break out in hives if I paid more than $5 for a mascara.

Before each chapter, we get a peek at her unrelenting credit card bills. She buys a couch with store credit. If you look closely within the 5th month, 1 month after the no-interest falls off, her late first payment only covers the interest and late fees. Aurgghhh! She makes complex calculations while trying to stay ahead of her American Express card debt, even giving it an acronym worthy only of the financial sector. She could just as easily applied her mathematical wizardry to saving money under no duress whatsoever.

Her accounts of people's charity and goodwill is a welcome testament to the humanity of people, of which, she humbly points out. Luckily, it takes the edge off the death threats and mean-spirited copycats! There is a happy ending, but this is a cautionary tale. Her website SaveKaryn.com is still up and running. Make sure to check out the original website for her greatest hits.

It was a quick and breezy read. I wish I could say I can't relate. I've seen it happen to people close to me and in my own life when a business went bust. It is no fun and unnecessary! As we watch our economic system capitulate, we see the absolute folly of spending more than we earn - on a global level! In an intoxicating race to live some imaginary lifestyle, as seen on tv, we cashed out the future. By some accounts, we are earning just as much as we ever did, but our value system has morphed.

Cheers to the simple life!

*I'm offering this book, free-of-charge and free shipping, to my first subscriber!