Money, A Memoir

As women, we tend to be more emotional – especially about money. Liz Perle explores those emotions in her book Money, A Memoir: Women, Emotions, and Cash.

It’s an interesting journey, allowing Perle to exorcise many of her own demons about money and what she expects of it. I imagine that many of us have the same – or similar – emotional issues with cash. Perle does too – and proves it by an impressive array of interviews with women across the economic scale.

It’s amazing to me that no matter the socio-economic scale, the emotions were basically the same: fear, anxiety, longing for security and comfort we think money can bring us.

In her prologue, Perle writes, “for the most part, it was maturity and experience that created harmony and acceptance. … The women I found who had the healthiest relationships possessed an honesty and a clarity about what money could, and couldn’t do for their lives. They’d managed to unpack their emotions from their finances, and they took care of themselves with confidence.”

The rest of the book recounts her journey to understanding why some women have a healthy relationship with money, what precipitated her own unhealthy relationship, and in the end what she learns she can and cannot expect from money.

I found Money, A Memoir somewhat uncomfortable to read personally – I don’t have the emotional attachment to money Perle does/did. Instead of putting my trust in money, I'd rather put my trust in God – the personal, loving God of the Bible whom I know through Jesus.

Bottom line, it’s worth the read. It prompted me to examine my thoughts and feelings about money.