Save Karyn

by Karyn Bosnak. Bantam, 2003 (Non-fiction).
Cover design: Robin Bilardello. Cover illustration: Greg Paprocki.

This is a fantastic read! If you’ve ever tested the limits of your credit card, indulged in a spontaneous shopping spree, or simply turned to the shops as a form of retail-therapy, then you are sure to love this book.

Save Karyn is the true story of a self-confessed shopaholic, who bought her way into almost $20 000 worth of credit card debt. To get herself out of debt, Karyn started her own website on which she asked for donations. Amazingly, she received e-mails from people all over the world, either confessing their own debt-ridden lives, or criticising hers. But after only four months of Internet panhandling and selling her prized possessions on eBay, her debt was gone!

I devoured this book in two days and identified with every single purchase. Some episodes are laugh-out-loud funny, as are her money-saving tips and responses to critics. For me, the book rates as highly as Gucci and Prada!