Good Advice for a Bad Economy

238 Pages·2002·24.7 MB·English

by  John Ventura

GOOD ADVICE
FOR A BAD ECONOMY

GOOD ADVICE
FOR A BAD ECONOMY
JOHN VENTURA
MARY REED
AND
b
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are
used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is
entirely coincidental.
GOOD ADVICE FOR A BAD ECONOMY
A BERKLEY Book / published by arrangement with the author
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2001 by The Berkley Publishing Group.
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A BERKLEY BOOK®
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Electronic edition: May 2004
To Mary Ellen, my wife,
who loves me just the way I am.
—John
To Stacy, my “fourth sister,” who has shown me
what grace under pressure is all about.
—Mary

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Getting It Together
1. Feeling Safe Again 3
2. Take Control 17
3. Tighten Your Financial Belt 47
4. Make More Money 73
SOS
5. Dig Yourself Out of Debt 105
6. How to Keep Your Wheels on the
Road and the Roof over Your Head 145
7. Bankruptcy: Your Option of Last Resort 163
Looking Toward a Brighter Future
8. Credit Record Basics 181
9. Looking to the Future:
How to Rebuild Your Credit 199
Appendix 213

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to acknowledge my writing partner, Mary Reed, who
also happens to be my best friend. She cares about the work and
she cares about us. I also want to acknowledge the wind chimes
I hear in the background when I talk to her on the phone. They
catch the breeze on her porch as she works and it reminds me
that someone has found a way to live sanely in this world, and
I’m glad it’s her.