REVIEW: Zombie Economics: A Guide to Personal Finance by: Lisa Desjardins and Rick Emerson

PLOT

There is a plague sweeping the land, and you must prepare yourself. Are you ready for the creeping dread of unpaid bills? The sheer, unrelenting horror of bankruptcy? The non-stop terror that are creditors? Will you live to survive another day, or will you succumb to the apocalypse of Zombie Economics?

REVIEW

Right off the bat, I just have to get something off my chest. I was not expecting to like Zombie Economics. I wasn’t sure if the book’s co-authors, CNN correspondent Lisa Desjardins and Portland radio broadcaster Rick Emerson, could adequately pull off a personal finance guide and tie it together with a nice zombie motif. To me, personal finance is akin to watching grass grow or watching golf. Boring as hell with a capital B. I went into this book expecting dry, drawn-out explanations of terms, procedures and practices that only an accountant could love.

Boy, was I wrong.

Zombie Economics is a personal finance guide written specifically with idiots like me in mind. Simple, straightforward, and without a trace of pretentious BS anywhere. The authors compare the idea of a zombie apocalypse to financial Armageddon, with each chapter dealing with a particular subject, like the best and easiest way to save money, dealing with creditors and even making the best when you’re unemployed, and framing it in the apocalypse context. Chapter five, for example, is titled “They’ll eat the fat ones first”, and the section deals with the idea of fitness and exercise being a key to reducing expenses. Every chapter begins with a short prologue, which reads like excerpts from any number of zombie novels on the market, with the financial stuff coming at the end. And the funny thing is, it all works wonderfully. One chapter compares having enough bullets stored away to knowing how to save money. One of the last chapters uses the idea of setting your house on fire in order to kill a few zombies to talk about bankruptcy. There are simple worksheets provided to assist you tracks your assets, income and expenditures. The book never takes a condescending tone or talks to you. The language is honest, upfront, and very helpful.

Don’t read this expecting anything graphic. This isn’t your typical zombie story. No gore-filled bloodbaths here, folks. This is a book about saving your sorry butt from financial ruin, pure and simple. The zombie segments are subtle and sublime. Each section segues nicely into the vital information that follows. I hate to admit this, but using the zombie apocalypse as a metaphor for the shape of my finances really helps me see how messy things have gotten. This is a good read, and if you feel like your finances are getting ready to rise from the dead and start feeding on you, then this very well might help you survive.

Available at Amazon