If you are like most people, you probably had a spending spree during the holiday season. Even people who started out with a budget seem to have wavered and become carried away buying food and gifts.

Soon enough, January comes and reality sets in. Credit card bills arrive and the hard truth must be faced. In some cases, panic results because the amounts that are now owed are way beyond the resources available to pay them.

Steve Bucci offers a way out of this financial mess in Credit Repair Kit for Dummies (332.743 Bucci). In this practical book, he shows how to deal with bill collectors and offers tools and tips for fixing bad credit and cleaning up a messy credit history. Although it is geared towards people that are having financial difficulties, the book is also a great tutorial for young adults. It explains how to use credit wisely and gives illustrations of what happens when credit is abused.

Another notable book on money management is Jean Chatzky’s Make Money, Not Excuses: Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever (NEW 332.024 Chatzky). She emphasizes the importance of saving regularly, how small changes in spending patterns make a huge difference when it comes to getting on top of debt, especially credit card debt.

The whole family needs to practice money management and the Economides family has to be one of the best examples.

Steve and Annette Economides’ book, America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams (NEW 332.024 Economides) offers many options on budgeting. Although this family really likes to save every spare penny, they recognize that not everyone is alike. The book has several options and levels of being thrifty. No matter which level you choose to follow, there will still be savings.

Young adults will appreciate the valuable money advice in Sheryl Garrett’s Starting Out (332.024). Money management basics such as creating a budget, how to deal with credit, managing debt, saving, investing and buying a car or house are just a sampling of the topics offered.

If you are near retirement, then you are more interested in focusing on the savings that you already have. Ed Slott’s book, Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: the Leave-Nothing-to-Chance, Worry-Free, All-Systems Go Guide (NEW 332.024 Slott) is the best retirement tutoring guide by an acknowledged IRA expert. Major parts of his book are the different checklists that help focus where and how you should be investing your life’s savings.

Whether you are just starting out or nearing retirement, Beebe Library offers a variety of money management and personal finance resources to help simplify the process. Stop by the library’s “Financial Fitness” display and explore the many resources that are available on this topic.

Book Group to Meet

Books by the Lake, Beebe Library’s book discussion group for adults, will meet next Wednesday, January 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. The group will discuss The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards.

William Martin Speaks

William Martin, the bestselling author of “Back Bay,” “Harvard Yard” and six other novels, will speak at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, at Beebe Library, 345 Main St. Martin will be discussing his latest book, “The Lost Constitution.” The event is free and open to the public. For more information go online to www.wakefieldlibrary.org. To reserve seats, contact the Reference Desk at 781-246-6334 x2, or email@wakefieldlibrary.org.

Categories: Book Discussion Groups,Library News,Reference Collection
Tags: author, Authors, Book Discussion Groups, book groups, credit, Economides, Ed Slott, finance, financial advice, IRA, Jean Chatzky, library, Lost Constitution, Personal Finance, retirement, Sheryl Garrett, Steve Bucci, William Martin