Free: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most

Scandrette (Soul Graffiti) and his wife Lisa do more than repeat a compelling story familiar to adherents of the simplicity movement of a family living on astonishingly little money in an expensive city, in their case, San Francisco. Woven closely into this life narrative are a series of questionnaires and exercises to help readers find their own location on the scale of consumption, debt, and living according to one’s deepest values. Undergirding this interest in probing the finances of simplicity lies the conviction that generous giving is at the heart of Christian living—a generosity at odds with a wider culture that insists that resources are scarce and people can never have enough. In contrast, the Scandrettes argue that a world of abundance and freedom is available to those who think intentionally about the use of time and resources. The book’s strengths include a lack of judgment that allows it to engage readers wherever they are financially and a willingness to enter into the nitty-gritty of how to achieve a simpler life. (Aug.)