Money Talks: When to Say Yes and How to Say No

Take on your toughest money problem: the people you love.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade gets hundreds of letters every month from people who can’t figure out how to get their sister off their couch, their mother to stop hitting them up for money, or their mates to recognize that saving is part of having a solid financial foundation. The letters have a common theme: Gail, how do I get through to them?

Money Talks is Gail’s answer to that toughest—and most common—problem that sits at the heart of money and relationships: how to tell your mate, your father, your best friend or your grandmother it’s time for a change. Whether it’s sisters fighting over the decision for Mom and Dad to sell the family home and downsize, life partners arguing over whose shopping is really messing with the budget, or parents wondering when their adult child will ever leave home, the “money” gets blamed for what is actually an inability to figure out the real problem and deal with it objectively—and that’s where Gail steps in.

With over seventy-five different scenarios drawn from years of working with real Canadians, Gail helps readers see their own situations through stories that reflect what they’re experiencing. Then she gives readers the language to negotiate effectively, showing them that for each problem there are steps they can take to find a solution.

Gail has long believed that so many money issues have more to do with behaviour than with the money itself. People can be delusional, selfish, inconsistent, fearful, lazy, bullying and entitled, and those traits are reflected in how they deal with money. Relationships seldom disintegrate just because people are ‘bad with money’. But how each person responds to the other—and to the real issues—can make or break a relationship.

Have a bully in your life? Wish your brother would grow the hell up and stop counting on you to save his butt? Want to tell your BFF that dreaming is only the first step in making a better life? Gail will show you how.

Gail bets that there many people you will recognize as you read Money Talks—and one of them just might be yourself.