There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith

Rafe Esquith has a tremendous passion for teaching. He works harder at teaching and nurturing his students, than any two teachers, including the exceptional ones that I have had the honor to meet in my life.

Rafe puts in 12 hour days of a day teaching, in the class room teaching, not just punching the clock.  Far more hours than he is required to teach.  He provides any of his students who want it many additional hours of class, in addition to the 12 hour days, he also holds class on Saturdays and holidays.  These additional hours are purely voluntary, the students are not required to attend.  It is voluntary for Rafe as well, since he is not paid for all this extra time he puts in for his students.


In There Are No Shortcuts Rafe shares his tremendous passion passion for teaching.  He shows us the joys and sorrows of the path he has chosen.  He is also sharing more than a few lesson about life that he learned the hard painful way.

Personally, I think Rafe is more than a little obsessive, he obsesses over his students, sacrificing his time, energy, and money to give his students every opportunity to succeed that he can.  He wants them to have as good a chance to succeed in life as anyone else.

He doesn't just teach academic skills.  He also teaches real life skills, he teaches his students personal finance.  His students have to "pay" for their desks! 

Rafe is a real hero in my opinion.  Sir Ian Mckellen, whom you may know as Gandalf, Magneto, or as some other character from one of his many other roles in Cinema and Theatre, shares my opinion about Rafe Esquith.  Sir Ian Mckellen has said,  "Rafe Esquith is my only hero."

I recommend There Are No Shortcuts to everyone, but it is especially valuable to parents, teachers, students, athletes, parents that Home School, or anyone else that is striving for excellence.

Get out of Money Trouble: "America's Cheapest Family"

5 out of 5 stars!  I don't give those out often, but this book deserves it!

America's Cheapest Family:  Gets You Right on the Money
is one of the best starting places I have found for dealing with money trouble.  Clear, easy to read book with very well laid out chapters.

One thing they do that I haven't seen anywhere else, for money books, is they provide three different actions you can take at the end of each chapter.  They are actually three different levels: beginner, intermediate, & advanced.   Though they use cute names and picture to help you remember. 

Easy to read format, bare minimum of tables or charts, so you don't have to understand the topic material before you read it.

They also clearly believe in helping others, something I believe in myself and respect in others.

My only complaint about their book is their section on food & groceries.  It makes sense from pure dollar perspective.  But they seem to totally ignore health & nutrition concerns.

Which will actually cost more in the long run, which medical and other health related expenses.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 starts rating though.  I haven't found a better book for beginning & intermediate level of personal finance.