Book Review #86: Zero Debt

Name of the book: Zero Debt: Break the Debt Cycle and Reclaim Your Life

Author: Neeraj Deginal

Genre: Non-Fiction, Self Help

No. of Pages:  112 pages

Zero Debt – Break the Debt Cycle and Reclaim Your Life, is about the author’s ten-year long journey from going neck deep into debt to being absolutely debt-free. In this book you will learn:

1. How the author got into debt (circumstances)

2. How being in debt paralysed cognitive decision making

3. How even simple day to day life became complicated

4. The thought process applied by the author to analyse his situation rationally

5. Systematic steps taken by the author to become and stay debt-free and the dilemmas faced during execution

6. Further actions taken to simplify life and plan for a better life

REVIEW: When I received this book, I thought it must be boring and based on accounts and finances, which honestly I have least interest in! My father handles and advises me on money related matters, with me being clueless! This book exactly highlights how both the schools and families fail to impart any sort of financial education, and how as earning adults we have to pay the price for it. I could so relate to it after a few pages!

This book seeks to inspire the reader to become debt-free, which eventually leads them to total freedom - financial freedom, emotional freedom or freedom from stress. As the author states, this is based on his experiences and the problems he faced. The steps he took may not work for everyone, but he wants to inspire people to rethink their situations.

Zero Debt, Break the debt cycle and reclaim your life is wonderfully useful book by Neeraj Deginal. This is the real life story of a man who was crushed under endless EMIs. It narrates us how he was neck deep in debts and how he came out of it to become cent percent debt free. I am sure most of us, who bought a home to save tax, bought second home as an investment, purchased a car because it was on EMIs and are left with meagre salary after all the deductions, will be able to relate to him.

Neeraj in his book has precisely articulated on the various phases of life in relevance with the financial preparations required, backed up with real-world experiences connecting both parts of life. The book certainly highlights the Dos & Don'ts of the practical life with emphasis on planning for the future and making educated decisions on even small money matters.

The book is extremely well written. The language is simple, yet riveting. The editing is superb. The book is divided into several short chapters which make it super easy to read. The book is interspersed with wonderful quotes.

Another interesting fact about this book is that it is a copyright free book. Though the book is based on the personal experiences of the author, according to him the ideas are not original. The objective of this book is to offer help and hence the readers are free to copy or reprint any content from it. So cool, isn't it?!

His journey through and out of debt using a systematic approach has been inspiring. I have already started working on my personal finances based on Neeraj's insights. It is a great and practical addition to anyone's personal finance library, articulated to convey the real life experiences of a growing professional in the corporate.

It contains invaluable lessons for those who are starting off their career or in the mid life and definitely there are lot of takeaways that would help one incorporate in their life to become debt-free for good.

NEGATIVES : The writing style the author prefers often omits articles such as "the" or "a" or "of," has some odd comma and semicolon placement. It becomes distracting in few places. Some topics are covered in depth more than once.

OVERALL VERDICT: The tips offered are not unique, really. They are common enough to have been tried and tested. So the author is sharing useful information, without being preachy. Truly inspiring and how everything is related (money, health). Must read for some great financial awareness. If are struggling on the financial front, this book could be your ultimate saviour.

Rating : ****/5

Disclaimer: I received a copy of book in return for my honest review.