Say Goodbye To Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies To Stress Less, Sleep More, And Restore Your Passion For Life (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
I got a few nice tips from this (especially around prioritizing) but many times I felt like she contradicted herself. I also couldn't get past all the blogging and religion references. Why must she keep referring to god? I though the point of the book was to suggest strategies for reducing stress and streamlining your life. Once I was done reading it I felt more like she was trying to covert me to follow Jesus. I have enjoyed author Crystal Paine's blog Money Saving Moms so naturally I was eager to read her new book but, sadly, was very disappointed in it. The advice she gives is just so pedestrian, previously chewed up and spit out by hundreds of different writers. Ms. Paine apparently needed some guidance herself before when she was barely making ends meet, married a man who had to go through college and then law school and barely scrape by while she stayed knocked up and had 3 kids in 5 years. Why would any woman who did not have a secure career and was just trying to get a blog going and who had married a man years away from being ready to earn money and indeed was having to spend money on college and law school stay knocked up like this? Surely she has heard of the pill, a nifty little medicine that comes in a cute little package that prevents children from being born into poverty. And with all the expenses that come with childbearing and childrearing, she just kept on doing it like some bitch dog in heat. While it is so charming to read her tale of idiotic behavior on her own part, her ideas about saying goodbye to survival mode is not something that appeals to me. She doesn't believe in having "things" so just doesn't shop except for groceries. She doesn't save money by taking a few minutes to pack her husband a lunch but instead has him eat out each day. They go eat with others one night and then eat out on other nights, neither of which saves any money. These are the real areas where people can save.She refuses to get involved with any professional activities and went in and defriended all of her Facebook friends, just keeping a ghost account so to run a page for her blog. You can help her but forget her helping you. She is so weird about not having things, she once threw her two pairs of winter jeans out that she wears with boots then found herself with none come winter. She pretty much doesn't buy things for the kids. Yet she sends her husband's clothes to the dry cleaners so she won't have to run the washer/dryer or iron. Her Christian hoo-hah was also tiresome. Her number one priority is not her very real husband and children but is having a relationship with her imaginary friend in the sky- Jesus. She tries to get readers to have one too but at 55, this lifelong Atheist is too damned old to go back to her toddler days and talk to imaginary friends. If you are looking for something practical and workable, look elsewhere.
What do You think about Say Goodbye To Survival Mode: 9 Simple Strategies To Stress Less, Sleep More, And Restore Your Passion For Life (2014)?
The god framework wasn't my thing, but there were a lot of gems in here. Definitely worth reading.
—mrlynum
