Book Review: "The Smart Money Woman" ~ by Arese Ugwu

_{Long Read Alert: This post is approximately 1500+ words, but not a boring one, I promise. It's worth it, too.}

If you are looking for a simple explanation on financial terms with relatable stories and practical tips to get yourself on the journey of financial freedom, you should consider reading this beautiful financial book, packed with lots of amazing tips and insights from a financial expert who will walk you through the journey.

Of course, this book wouldn't be effective if you don't apply it. Why do we want to have money? Why do we want to stay afloat in our financial security? Why do we not want to stay dependent on anyone but be able to afford the stuff we need? Here is one book that clarifies every question and more in your mind.

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The Smart Money Woman is a book written by a Nigerian woman - Arese Ugwu. She is the founder of smartmoneyafrica.org which is a financial platform for the African millennial. Aside from pushing this book out to be an inspiration for many ladies (also, men, too), this book was for her daughter, whom she wants to encourage and let her be inspired to live life fearlessly.

Who wouldn't want to live their lives fearlessly when it comes to money and wealth? I don't know about you, but for me, I want to be able to take control of my financial life, to be able to afford things and most importantly, give my life a peaceful comfort in the future, especially when that time comes for me where all strength would be gone.

This book contains 12 chapters. Each chapter has loads of relatable stories that would guide us into checking our lives and to evaluate where we need to work on as regards our relationship with money.

It took me less than a week to finish this book, and I wrote down every lesson in each chapter, which I will put here as a summary of the book and what you'd find, too, when you read it. It's a beautiful book with lessons packed in it to forge us ahead into becoming the smart woman we want to be.

If there's one thing I pick from this interesting book, this is it: being smart isn't about what you wear, the house you live in, the kind of Gucci bags or Lamborghini you have. But the ability to make money work for you and how you are working towards building your financial journey.

So, let's move on to each chapter and what I took away from the book.

Chapter One - Broke.

This chapter opens with the story of a Nigerian lady called Zuri. She woke up one morning and realised she was broke and the small amount in her bank account wasn't enough to sustain her, including her rent, which would be due soon, her car had a fault and was at the mechanic, and she needed money to fix it.

Zuri, a 28-year-old lady, had a good job that paid well. She earned six hundred thousand naira every month - this is after removing tax, and she had been working for over 8 years, and now, she only had eighty thousand naira left after her bills are rolling in for her to settle.

She narrated this situation to her friend who advised her to get a man. That made me ask: Is getting a man the answer to a woman's financial problem?

This chapter explains what being broke means. Broke means, if you lose your primary source of income today, you wouldn't be able to maintain the lifestyle you are used to. Zuri was someone who loved to travel, go to parties, go to eateries, buy different kinds of bags but she wasn't able to apply wisdom for over 8 years of working and didn't have any assets she could lay hold of.

Developing a wealthy mindset requires the understanding that how you spend, invest and manage one dollar is the same way you will spend, invest and manage one million dollars. Building wealth is more about how much you keep and not how much you spend.

So if you don't want to be broke, you have to either make more money or cut back on your spending.

Chapter Two: Money Fears.

This chapter talks about the fear African women feel when it comes to their relationship with money. When it comes to money within families, businesses, friendships and society, they worry about not having enough to meet up or survive.

They worry that they wouldn't be able to measure up to the lifestyle of their friends and families. They fear their businesses failing and in the end, having to depend on others.

So, this chapter is encouraging us that the way we behave with money is rooted in how we think about money and when fear comes, we only need to confront it. This is the first step to solving money fears (problems).

When we are in debt, rather than panicking, what we need is to take control of the situation, then come up with a plan.

Also, we should not be careless about money and not have the assumption that as long as we have a great job, we will never be hungry. Being broke sometimes is not having a job or being a low-income earner, but being bad with money.

Chapter Three: Where is your money going?

If we don't treat the money we earn with respect, it will leave us with no respect. How do we treat money with respect?

• Value it as a tool for achieving financial goals and well-being
• Through budgeting, saving and managing debt.
• Avoid careless spending and wasteful habits and more like that.

Chapter Four: Dealing with debt.

Debt can be a useful tool to attain financial success but how you use it matters. You don't borrow to enjoy your life or buy the latest car in town.

The difference between a wealthy person and a poor person is that when it comes to debt, the former uses it as a tool to leverage their investments while growing their assets, but the latter squanders it on things that aren't necessary.

In this way, they only make the rich people richer. The focus is to borrow to acquire assets that will appreciate in value.

Chapter Five: Surviving Emergencies.

This story is about how some staff at Zuri's workplace were laid off without prior notice. She got lucky and saw it as being given a second chance to be smart with money. Imagine being laid off with others and there's no emergency money to survive on?

We live in a superstitious society where we think God forbid bad things and such things shouldn't happen to us. If not us, who else?

Things are happening, and before you know it, a job might be taken from you unexpectedly, but if you are able to save for emergencies, you will survive until you get another job.

Instead of worrying without action, we need a plan to keep us going and that's an emergency fund. It's expected that we save up at least six to nine months of living expenses for emergencies. The two elements of an emergency fund are liquidity and safety.

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Chapter Six: Money Goals.

This chapter is all about setting our money goals and articulating the vision we want for our lives.

Chapter Seven: The Spending Plan.

This is talking about our budget and how it's important to develop a sustainable budget. Budget doesn't mean scarcity or a reduction in standard of living, but something that will guide us on how to allocate our resources.

Chapter Eight: The Power of Networking.

In summary, having networks is important. People who would help us achieve our financial goals and guide us in building long-term investments and relationships with money. Your network is your net worth.

Chapter Nine: Life Happens.

When money is involved, greed brings out the worst monsters in us. This chapter is about couples with different ideas about money and how we must find partners who have the same money goals and how money works.

It's unhealthy for a couple with two different ideas about money to have a joint account for everything. It advises that even if couples need to create a joint account together, they should have separate accounts, too and not everything should be moved to a joint account.

Chapter Ten: The Long Game - Investing.

This talks about the investment tips which are;

• Having a patient attitude
• The point of any investment is compound interest
• Start early and stay consistent
• Know your assets and types of investment
• Establish your investment goals
• Determine your risk profile
• Pick an investment firm

Before you invest, ask yourself: Why do I want to invest? That will set you up whether it's for the long or short term.

Chapter Eleven: Earning More.

The lesson here is to maximise your earning potential by focusing on finding your purpose, your skill sets and passion.

Chapter Twelve: Becoming a Smart Money Woman.

Qualities of a smart woman are;

• Having an entrepreneurial mind
• A pioneer of industry and the ability to create jobs
• Being fearless
• A woman of hustling purpose
• A master of her craft
• Considers improving her net worth
• She buys designer bags only as a reward for reaching long-term financial goals and not just because there's money in her account., etc.

I hope you enjoy the summaries from the book. I recommend this valuable book.