I wish I were ready for this book years ago! Lee and Larry start by describing the workplace and how it is changing (surprisingly accurate for being published in 1993). Next they define what work is and help us understand why so many people are in the situations they are in. Then comes the fun part...identifying your skills, interests, personality and applying them to a career that fits you. Lastly they teach you how to conduct a job search, prepare your resume and how to manage you finances.

The book is an excellent resource in itself. However, the companion workbook is a must in order to get the full benefit of the program.

This book is written from a Biblical perspective and non believers will find it hard to follow Larry Burkett's advice to tithe (give away 10% of your income to church or charity), one of the most important secrets for achieving financial independence. It also has a wealth (!) of information for people who are close to caling it quits before deciding on bankruptcy. And to the reviewers who found the stories corny, I can only say that any of these scenarios could easily happen to anybody who is less than savvy about their finances (80% of the general population?). I didn't give this book 5* because I wished there had been more information on how to whittle away at credit debt, and some of the optimal housing costs recommended totally ignore the reality for people living on the Northeast coast of the US (The West Coast proably, too!).

This book is a masterpiece that should be required reading. It is written simply and makes its point clearly. If this book doesn't motivate you to get out of debt, nothing ever will. But more importanly, this book will get you started toward that goal.

This is a great book on how to handle the debt you've accumulated and avoid falling into the same traps that led you there in the first place. It is great for those experiencing the marital stress that can be caused by "not making enough money." The solution is clear. More money will not solve the problem, only self-discipline and wise money management can help.

It is a good book to scare you into using the principles and guidlines Burkett offers in "The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples" which despite it's name is great for the single and the married, and it is certainly not only for the young.

I knew I had to leave work after my 2nd child was approching her 1st birthday but struggled with how it could work. Reading this book gave me the tools I needed to leave work. Larry Burkett suggests that it takes at least a year to adjust to being home and I couldn't agree more. I have just past my first anniversary and I have kept realistic expectations of being home and it has been a wonderful year!!!

Opposed to others who view Larry Burkett in negative terms, I believe he has a lot to offer those who are "teachable" and willing to learn. That his is the only solution is not the point, but he speaks from a biblical viewpoint, and it is worth listening to.

In this book, he observes how outside influences are wreaking havoc on family values, and now is the time for mothers to find a way to spend more time with their children. Two-income families outweight single-income families, he says, three to one, although it might be higher at this writing. Home-based business are becoming the trend, and even so much more now, and Burkett gives insightful, practical counsel on how to survive the cutback from two incomes to one. This is "counsel," mind you, and if you are interested in counsel, this is the place to go.

Larry also discusses the four personality types, and whether or not you agree with this mode of character types, he explores how they relate to the home environment and includes personality tests in the Appendix for both husbands and wives.

This is a valuable resource guide for women who have made the transition from the marketplace to home, and they share honest, personal accounts of victories, setbacks, fears, and joys. If it is your desire to be a stay-at-home mother, but fear financial disaster, this book will help guide you in the right direction.

My family has taken counsel from Larry Burkett, and my wife did make the transition from marketplace to a "stay-at-home Mom," and she is enjoying every minute of it. Yes, she did have some of the same issues he explores, but now with our children, she can spend her every moment with them, instead of listening to others tell her how our children are growing.

A great book, and highly recommended!...

After having my 3rd child at age 38, I wanted more than anything to stay home with that baby. Although it seemed unthinkable for the family to be able to get along without my paycheck, I read this book looking for some hope (I was still on maternity leave).

Larry Burkett offered very practical advice on preparing to leave your job, and avoid having to return more in-debt a year or so later. He also polled several women that had done it, and the book is sprinkled with their heartwarming stories. It gave me the courage to follow his step-by-step instructions, and leave my full-time management job within a year of reading the book.

At the back of the book, you will find 6 charts for budgeting (all related) that are of minimal use.The remainder of the book is strong on Chrisitian preaching and bible quoting! I wasn't looking for a lecture on how a Christian family should budget, tithe or keep their family close---I was looking for a meaty and helpful budget guide.I found nothing I didn't already know from general budgeting information except that my checkbook was down a little!If you have strong Christian beliefs this may be for you, but if you want a simple no-bull guide for budgeting---save your money and pass this one by.

I was discouraged and ready to throw in the towel on the familly budget. After reading this quick little book I gained a new vitality to get my finances back in order...Thanks for your wisdom Larry...

C'mon Amazon. Let's be rational about reviews. Does one review from one individual constitute a review? I think not. Let's not blow the opportunity for others like myself that have no clue as to how to start budgeting or how to get control of finances. This book is written in a Chritian context from a Christian Author. It places the focus of stewardship/finances where they belongs. A book this small reads to the large part of the problem: If one does not have a budget by now, chances are they don't want to get bogged down in pages. This is a great place to start and an insight regarding the real source of all that we have! Let's make the rating on this book "not rated" until we hear from more readers.

This was obviously a first-time fiction author's book, and if I were the editor, I would have sent it back for revision. It had very common first-time author problems, such as pacing issues as well as the problem of not really knowing how to effectively write dialogue. Even when I was supposed to feel something in the dialogue, I didn't. I knew what I was supposed to feel, but I didn't feel it. In addition, there are problems that I have with the writing style. For example, the author shows a panoply of personal biases against anything liberal. Granted, legalization of drugs isn't necessarily a good idea, but that doesn't mean that all homosexuals or all liberals use them, which is implied by the story. All liberals don't agree with abortion, either, but that generalization is made too. It's all right to put things like that in and to let your voice show through, but the condemnation that the characters receive from the AUTHOR is rather harsh. In addition to that, the author cites, several times, the taxation of churches as being unconstitutional. I can only assume that he means the Separation Clause of the First Amendment, but it never guarantees the freedom of churches from taxation. Realistically, they should face property and income taxes like any other institution, and be held to the same laws requiring proof of tax exemption status. However, he is correct when he cites the banning of Christian television shows from being aired as being unconstitutional.

Another problem that I had was that characters would make revelations, completely without cause, simply to move the story along. An informant to give them that information may have been more plausible. With experience, the author may correct that problem.

One side note, I have read several Christian "End of The World" fiction pieces, and I think that it is quite humorous that all of them have a Democratic, Liberal president taking away the rights of the people, when the closest things in history to these activities were performed by Abraham Lincoln's signing of a law suspending posse comitatus, and President Bush's lovely "Patriot" Acts.

Anyway, the only other real problem with the story was one that is common to Christian fiction, and it comes from their viewpoint. In the end of the story, it is a foregone conclusion that all of the good characters are or will be Christians. I understand that they believe that God provides morals, but some morals are provided by society. I don't think that I would standby and allow my neighbors to be rounded up as terrorists for what they believed. No matter how much I disagree with what others believe, I refuse to take their right to believe it away.

If you have some free time and want to read an easy novel, pick it up, just get it cheap. You probably won't enjoy it too much.
Harkius

I'm half way through this book and I'm pondering putting it down. The story line is okay. The writing is good considering Burkett is a Non-Fiction writer. The plot of course is recycled, but that's to be expected. The Characters though are horrible. The antagonist(The Leader, a middle eastern mad man/Hitler reincarnation/Super-Power in himself) is a complete moron. It's like he never read an history book in his life. The Society/Illuminati is controlled by this ONE man and he's totally bent on completing his own personal vendettas before completing the Illuminati's Goal. You would expect the Illuminati to be smarter and less religous than Burkett portrays them as. They've only been at this "Control the World" plot for seval centuries. The protagonist is almost as bad. He's the stereotypical computer genius that figures out the whole plot with his girlfriend whom he is just too shy to consider his girlfriend. Of course, this chick is completly in love with him because of his intelligence and the fact that he respects her because of her abilities and not the fact that her did is this super physicist. The plot after a good build is slowly degrading to predictable. It belongs more in a ""What If" Nazi Germany had occured in America" comic book then in a full fledged novel. The title of the this book should seriously been changed to Nazi America, or Hitler's America. The only thing that stops it from becoming one of those is that it includes this secret (stupid) society that has enginered the fall of the American Economy and rise of the World Economy. I'm just hoping that there is no happy ending and this computer hack protagonist falls flat on his face so I can truly see this "Satan's kingdom on Earth" being strived for by the antagonist. Illuminati Fans Do Not Read This Book. Everyone else: Enjoy a frightning "What If" of America's future manipulated by a secret society bent on world domination

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did not read it to find out more about the "Illuminati" but to read a fiction thriller.
What I came away with is a scenario of what could happen to freedom when we allow the media, government, social and political groups to shape our morals and our convictions.
It is always said, "History repeats itself." and this book shows situations that could happen with society's moral decay so personally I found most of it believable.
There were quite a few characters to keep up with but I didn't feel that it detracted from the story.
It also is an example of a good fiction book can be written without curse words and sex scenes.

I get pretty bored sometimes at school, but I've had more excitement staring at my feet than I did reading parts of this book. Some of us were required to read it during a unit on the solar system,but we should have stuck to the textbook. I found it poorly written, and my English education so far only extends to the eighth grade!I thought the author repeated a lot of conversations almost word-for-word, but in other places contradicted himself. The plot was far-fetched and didn't move at all smoothly. Also, it focused too much on the author's political views. Where did he get this deep resentment of liberals and the media?The opinions were entirely too one-sided and the religious ones shallow and sketchy. And how many gang stories can you tell before it starts getting monotonous? Some of the characters seemed to be introduced just so they could be killed off. I didn't like the book's plot or its style, and couldn't really reccomend it. I have read worse books, but not voluntarily.

It is so nice to read a novel full of excitement and global crisis without bad language, unnecessarily graphic violence, and gratuitous sex. This is the third novel by Christian author Larry Burkett. It was not as good as his first two, The Illuminati and The Thor Consiracy (basically a two book set), but very well worth the read. Mr. Burkett sets up the situations to allow either the best or the worst to surface in his characters. His subject matter is well researched and believable. Even the worst character, although well described, is not given to filthy language. I don't need to read or hear that language to know that is how the character would talk. Mr. Burkett writes his heroes to always take the high moral ground -- which is as it should be -- and leaves the low ground to the bad guys. Ordinary people are portrayed as thoughtful individuals who, given the choice, will choose the high road. The author betrays his love of God's people with his gentle depic! tion of our struggles to do "the right thing" and the difficulty in knowing which leader to follow when the choices are not always clear. Solar Flare leaves you feeling good, uplifted, and hopeful. I'm eagerly looking forward to Mr. Burkett's next novel.

I love this book! yes it is easy to read, but it shows how some people must make descisions fast to survive. It shows how a solar flare hits earth and everything electrical dies. How people all over the USA have to move to camps and we can relate this to our time now and how we must be thankful for what we have and should not waste it. It is good for a non-beliver just getting to know Jesus Christ and how others deal with it too. And tells some really cool fight scenes and how people in our world can be so vile. Hope this was helpful!Good book!

This was a helpful book with lots of good questions and financially sound answers.

This book is filled with sound pratical financial advice!!

I was a little dissapointed that some of the sections were a little to broad. There is so many topics covered that I am sure that it was hard to put in all the information that they wanted to.

My second complaint is that it is not christian enough. There are not as many references to the bible of wanted. Larry burkett has another book, How to manage your money that is more along that line.

Overall, this is a solid book, and provided me with lots of great info ranging from budgeting, buying a car, investing, retiring, and more.

This book has very little to do with money a very much to do with sending money to the church. I bought a copy for each of my girls, 16 and 18 years old, each of them very spiritual, and they were both very turned off by the "preachy" context of the book. In fact, the 18-year-old told me she felt like she learned nothing about money, and as for the spiritual side, there are better books for that as well. She was especially turned off by one passage that recommended one way of making more money is giving more to the church.

We bought this book to help teach our 7 year old how to manage her money. Where the book met expectations were the areas of values and healthy ways to think of money : Money isn't ours. We're stewards of God's money and therefore, we should spend it wisely, etc.

Where it didn't meet expectations, is that it didn't really provide a sample plan for how to allocate resources. While certainly, the greatest issue in dealing with money is mental -- getting your head around the idea that you have to live within your means and that you don't have to have everything NOW or just because someone else has it -- there is also a need for concrete examples....Given the above problem, I would still recommend this book as something to work through with a child because those psychological issues about spending are significant enough that they can make the difference between a someday adult with healthy attitudes about money and someone who is in debt, unhappy yet still wanting MORE! In that respect, this book is aces.

The back jacket of this book notes that it is "a series of outstanding articles taken from [the author's] newsletters." Leaving aside the issue of whether the individual articles are outstanding (the quality is uneven), the book suffers from a lack of continuity. Worse, it lacks a unifying vision. Saying that one is presenting a Christian Biblical point of view about finances isn't enough. The ideas are all over the place and do not develop from chapter to chapter. The book as a consequence gives the impression of being unfinished.

This is unfortunate. Although there are other, equally Christian, views of finances that do not rest on the author's premises (women are to be submissive financially, e.g.), he had some things to say that made me think, though I ultimately disagreed with many of his conclusions (this is _not_ the reason for the low rating).

For a much deeper look at the wise use of money, I recommend the classic _Your Money or Your Life_ by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robins. It does not have a specifically Christian orientation but it certainly cannot be said to be anti-Christian.

A not-so-well-written book with lots of sound, practical advice about managing and using money wisely. Also gives advice about prioritizing one's life to secure contentment. Aimed at Christians interested in following biblical standards for living, including money management.