Save Karyn: One Shopaholic's Journey to Debt and Back by Karyn Bosnak

Save Karyn: One Shopaholic's Journey to Debt and Back
Karyn Bosnak
441 pages

Karyn is 27 when she decides to move from Chicago to New York City to "find herself".  Instead she "finds herself" in $20,000 credit card debt.  In order to keep up with New Yorkers, this Midwestern girl is charging everything from hair cuts and clothes to moving expenses and groceries.

A TV producer, Karyn is let go from her job when she decides not to extend her contract.  It takes her awhile to find a new job, and in the meantime she is still drowning in debt.  So she decides to do something.

First: Karyn moves from her luxe studio apartment with a chandelier (that she charged) to a 2 bedroom in Brooklyn.
Second: After her roommate makes a joke about asking people to help her pay her debt, Karyn decides that maybe her roommate is on to something.  So she decides to make a website.
Third: Savekaryn.com is formed.  On the website, Karyn asks random strangers to donate $1 to help her get out of debt. She figures if 20,000 people donate $1,  she will then be debt free.  Karyn also has on her website tips on how to save money & she sells some of her stuff on Ebay (this includes lots of shoes & purses that she charged).

In the end, people from around the world donate about $15,000 via donations & purchasing Karyn's Ebay items.  Karyn is able to pay the rest off herself. Happy ending, yay!

Karyn is now a successful writer, having written "Save Karyn" & "20 Times A Lady", with the latter having been turned into the movie "What's Your Number" starring Anna Farris & Chris Evans.

I really liked this book because, being a 20-something, I can relate to the urge (and occasional habit) of wanting to spend, spend, spend! But, having watched how my parents handle money, I am trying *really* hard to be debt free by the time I'm 30.  So reading about Karyn charge everything made me want to cringe. Like, why? Why are you doing that??!! Stop it! You don't need that Gucci bag!

Anyway, this book (and Karyn) is very easy to relate to, and that's why I liked it. Reading it will make you rethink that last purchase you charged that *maybe* you didn't need.