“It was noon on a Sunday, and I was volunteering at our local homeless shelter with friends. We were preparing and serving lunch. My job was to serve in the chapel – the room was reserved for those who needed extra help. It had been a busy day, and just as we were about to close down, two young people walked in. I went over to ask if they would like some water to drink, and there sat two of my college students. Our eyes locked, and they quickly looked away…”
This story was the inspiration for Cara MacMillan’s book, “It Is Only Money and It Grows on Trees”*. Cara is an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada. She began writing this book the same evening she sat down to tea with her two college students taking refuge at the homeless shelter. Her hope is to teach students like her own how to use money as a resource for building a “rich” life today and beyond, while focusing on balancing money and environmental concerns at the same time.
The book is written as a fictional story taking place in a college classroom setting and is told via the interaction between the teacher and students. The topic is “Money”, but goes much deeper than how we typically think about money.
It Is Only Money covers many aspects of money in a dialogue between the teacher and students. Money topics range from our attitudes of abundance and scarcity, religious and cultural influences, as well as the issue of living simply and according to one’s own values.
Additionally, methods for building wealth, including the basics of investing, spending less than you make, balancing needs and wants, avoiding unnecessary debt, and diversifying income are discussion points among students and teacher.
A workbook with questions on each individual chapter is included in the back of the book. Additional learning and teaching resources are available on the website at ItIsOnlyMoney.com.
My Take on It Is Only Money**
In my opinion, this book would be a great piece to include in a high school or college course as a teaching tool on money and personal finance. It’s aimed at opening students’ eyes to viewing money differently than much of society today. The book focuses on taking control, making good financial choices and building wealth instead of going into debt – great lessons for any student to learn!
If you are looking for a way to teach young adults about all aspects of money in a simple, understandable way, this book is a great start. It Is Only Money provides guidance and examples of the many influences money has in our lives. It shows how thinking differently about money can help us take control of our future.
However, if you are looking for a personal finance book with practical tools and tips for getting started with your financial goals, this is not the book for you. The book is intended as a teaching tool on money as a whole, not specific information for “how to” get your finances in order.
How do you think financial literacy should be taught? Do you teach financial literacy? If so, what tools and resources do you use?
*Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of this book is given to the Development and Peace organization (devp.org)
**I was not compensated for this review, though I was provided a copy of the book to read. All opinions expressed are my own.
Coming face to face with some of your students at a homeless shelter must be very sobering. Glad Cara used it as a spur to write her book. It sounds like a worthwhile read. How-to books are important, but fixing-your-attitude books are important too. Young people need both. Thanks for pointing this book out, Amanda.
I know! Her situation at the homeless shelter must have been shocking. What really stood out about the book is it encourages thinking about money differently and not taking on a scarcity mentality.
The classroom setting and the use of fictional discussions between teacher and students to teach non-fiction lessons is an interesting throwback to Greek philosophy. I don’t know that I have seen that format used outside of the ancient world.
Glad that someone is working on making money lessons accessible to younger folks. It’ll be interesting to see if this gets picked up as a part of any curricula.
Thanks for the review, Amanda!
That’s so true, Matt! I didn’t even think about the format. Now that you mention it, though, it’s so true (and I’m taken back to my college Philosophy class!).
Agreed, it’s great to have a resource such as this book. It communicates a great message of developing a responsible, yet realistic mindset about money.
Thanks for sharing Amanda, I was looking for books like this when my kids were a little younger. I already have them brainwashed now! 😉
It’s nice to see that people are coming out with tools to help educate people on money matters and how to approach your financial life. So many people are ignorant about these topics, it really is a shame.
Thanks, Jon! This book is probably most appropriate for young adults (late high school/college), in my opinion. It would make a good classroom tool, for sure.
I try to brainwash my kids about money too 🙂 ! Sometimes I think they’ve got it, but other times I’m not so sure. Teenagers are such a fickle bunch.
Great post Amanda!
I absolutely think financial literacy should be taught from a young age!
I don’t really teach financial literacy but it should be something that is developed early on. I’ve even thought that the method student loans are distributed is wrong. They give a kid all the money to last a semester at once. I personally believe they should pay out the student loan in biweekly segments to get students use to managing money in the real world. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Graham! I agree with you on the student loans. I don’t know how they are all distributed, but giving the student money at the beginning of the semester and expecting it to last seems a bit unrealistic. I don’t remember ever seeing my student loan money – I believe it was sent directly to the university I attended since I didn’t use any of it for living expenses. It’s been 20 years, though, so my memory may fail me. Either way, having a basic financial knowledge is so important before a person is handed thousands of dollars in loans.
This sounds like a great book, Amanda! I agree rhat this sounds like it would be a great addition to any high school or college curriculum. Its important to know the why’s to really conquer one’s finances.
Exactly, Latoya! Before we can get a good handle on the how-to’s, it’s important to understand the influences and perceptions we have about money.
Wow what an incredible story to spur the book. I think there needs to be a lot more focus on financial literacy for high school and college students. It gets tough in college because there is so much demand on your time that adding ONE MORE requirement might make it less effective. I think in high school people would be interested because it has a clear application to their life.
Agreed, DC! I think it would be beneficial to have it in high school too, especially if it’s presented in a way that really peaks their interest. Explaining how investing early can lead to early FI through the magic of compound interest might get their attention. 🙂
Love that she took an experience like that and turned it to an attention grabbing story that does some good (both educational and charitable)!
Will check it out – thanks for putting the review together.
Thanks, A.E.!
I loved your review Amanda and the explanation of the best uses of the book. It’s important for young adults to learn about money and not just the tools and tips. Understanding and shifting mindset before using those tools and tips is more likely to lead to success! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Vicki! I know as a young adult, I never considered all of the influences that affected my money mindset. I wish I had understood many of these things when I was younger! A book, such as this one, could have helped.
It’s so important to reach kids before they get mega loans and credit cards. I know that schools can’t and shouldn’t replace parents, but financial education is too important to ignore.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Julie! Financial education is an often overlooked part of raising and educating our kids. But, just like any other part of their education, this knowledge has a huge affect on their future.