Michelle Singletary - Spend Well, Live Rich (previously published as 7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life): How to Get What You Want with the Money You Have

Michelle Singletary has been writing the Color of Money column inThe Washington Postsince 1997. Over the years she has received hundreds of letters, telephone calls, and e-mails from readers all around the country and abroad praising the advice she dispenses each week. Here are just a few examples of some of those comments.

Although there are many good columns out there, I find The Color of Money so reader-friendly. It isnt over the heads of people without an MBA and isnt so pedestrian that you think you are back in elementary school. Michelles advice is consistentlive within your means, dont try to keep up with the neighbors, educate yourself regarding your finances, and have a meaningful purpose for saving and living! Thanks for providing useful, appropriate, and entertaining financial advice for many levels of readers.

Janis Allen, Carmarillo, California

Your approach is a refreshing voice of reason in a world inundated with messages to buy, buy. Your work really does make a difference.

Betsy Anderson, Stockholm, Sweden

Youve made an enormous difference in my financial life. Your writing style makes reading about finances bearable.

Krista Pacion, Casa Grande, Arizona

I always read and enjoy your regular business articles in The Washington Post. I also like your articles that refer to your grandmother Big Mama. I save most of your articles and routinely send them to my grown children. One of the things that I like about Big Mamas wisdom is her attitude. Attitude is the most important quality that a person can have. I will take it over money or good looks all the time. Thanks again for all your help over the many years.

Michael Tasevoli, Columbia, Maryland

Michelle Singletary tackles personal finance from the trenches. By relating her own experiences and the lessons shes learned in life, she makes personal finance both approachable and humansomething few other writers can manage.

Ric Edelman, Fairfax, Virginia, author of the national bestseller The Truth About Money

I just had to let you know youve educated me about a lot of things that are extremely foreign to me, Im a money virgin. I dont know squat about money. Its like another language. But your columns are really easy to understand, and I feel that theyve been a great educational tool for me. As a thirty-something African American female, I feel youve made an impressive impact on how I look at money.

Adriene Harris, Seattle, Washington

Thank you for writing your column Saving and Giving (August 24, 2003). It is a message that often gets neglected when people are talking about money. I think its important for people to be reminded of the perspective that life isnt just supposed to be about accumulating more and more for oneself. I believe, as you do, that charitable giving should be an innate part of the family budget, not an afterthought; not something discretionary, but an essential. If we are lucky enough to have enough, I think its our obligation to share. So thank you for talking about money in a way that isnt just a yuppie me-me-me kind of way!

M. D. Manning, northern Virginia

I love your column. You are the one who got me to look at the business page. Your advice and insight is so timely. I also appreciate your humanness and ability to share personal situations.

Kriss DeBaca, Pittsburg, California

As a regular reader of Michelle Singletarys column, I find her advice to be thoroughly researched, excellently written, and extremely practical for anyone seeking sound financial advice.

Michael LeBoeuf, Paradise Valley, Arizona, author of The Millionaire in You

I always look immediately for your column when I get to the business section! I have been a reader of your articles for several years. Often I cut them out and toy with sending them to my adult children. Your advice and philosophy are common sense personified!

Jeannette Kidd, Harrisonburg, Virginia

I started reading your column and now Im on a debt-reduction plan.

Gail Amen, Greenwich, Connecticut

Your column is the friend we take to coffee when we have a financial question. Your no-nonsense, down-to-earth advice is a breath of fresh air when facing the complicated (and, occasionally, intimidating) financial concerns of the twenty-first-century family.

Patrick Schultz and Robin Adler, Seattle, Washington

I never fail to read The Color of Money. Keep up your sensible, enjoyable column, and I will continue to read it, quote it, and, sometimes, snip it and hand it out to those who could use the advice.

Rose Drew, Norwalk, Connecticut

Spend Well, Live Rich is a commonsense guide to personal finance. In practical advice books, as in life, there are no guarantees, and readers are cautioned to rely on their own judgments or seek advice from legal or financial professionals about their individual circumstances and act accordingly. In addition, please note that certain information, products, telephone numbers as well as postal and e-mail addresses will change by the time you read this book.

A Ballantine Books eBook Edition

Copyright 2003 by Michelle Singletary