Money at 30: “Rich as F***” Audiobook Review

To cap off 2021, I decided to take one last dive into the Audible library to find a financial audiobook that might strike my fancy. What I came across was Rich as F***: More Money Than You Know What to Do With by Amanda Frances. While I’m unfamiliar with Frances, I’d be lying if I said the title and cover didn’t grab my attention. Additionally, while the printed version of this book was apparently released earlier this year, the audiobook is fairly fresh off the, uh, audio presses?

So, what did I think of Rich as F***? Well, it’s complicated.

I need to just get this out of the way at the top: this book is not for me. I mean that literally as Frances herself makes clear that her work is meant to empower women entrepreneurs, which is not me. But I also mean “this book is not for me” as in “I do not care for it.”

At the risk of inaccurately summing up Frances’ main conceit, it is her belief that, in order to increase wealth, individuals need to become a vibrational match for money and allow themselves to accept money. Throughout the book, you’ll hear about “energetic minimums” (the lowest amount of money you’ll bring in during a month), manifestation, and the aforementioned vibrations. In short, when you set aside your limiting beliefs and embrace this line of thinking, the money will flow. Again, I apologize if I’m getting any of this wrong, but I did only listen to the book the one time.

Now, I’ll go on record as stating that I, to some degree, do believe in the power of positive thinking. Similarly, there is something to the idea of manifestation as it keeps you focused on your goals. Furthermore, there are plenty of unexplainable coincidences and blessings that happen in this world every day. Still, I find Frances’ explanations a bit too simplistic, especially when we look at the opposite effect. In one chapter, she mentions that some people have a great earning month, spend it all, and then run out of money. Meanwhile, in her case, she can spend whatever and have it come back to her — and the difference between the two is vibrations? By the way, to her credit, Frances makes clear in her work that she would not mind my criticism or skepticism. Thus, I don’t feel badly sharing my honest interpretation and thoughts on her material.

Something else I feel compelled to mention is that, as you can tell from the title, this book is not for those who are offended by profanity. There are plenty of four-letter words peppered throughout this listen, occasionally even resembling punctuation more than prose. Personally, while I’m in no way offended by the language in this book, I will admit to rolling my eyes a couple of times as the added f-bombs were just unnecessary. Cynical me would also suspect that the book title, some of Frances’ course titles, and so on were seemingly trying to be shocking but just come off as corny at times.

Incidentally, one of the aspects I enjoyed most about the audiobook experience was also one of the aspects I liked the least. Let me explain. From time to time, Frances will go “off script” to offer additional thoughts, stories, etc. While some of these casual insights were a welcome addition, others proved to be more distracting than anything — or would just provide updates on how even more awesome she is now compared to a year ago. As a listener, it was clear when these insertions would arrive as the narration would be less coherent, plagued with filler words like “like.” Also, if you’re listening at an enhanced playback speed, you may need to slow them down for these sections if you want to clearly hear her thoughts.

Lest you think there was nothing about this book that I appreciated, I will say that Frances and I are definitely on the same (or at least quite similar) page when it comes to spending intentionally. As she shares, there have been times when she’s purchased less-expensive items that proved to be lower quality instead of buying what she actually wanted, which were items built to last. I’m totally on board with this train of thought and, in fact, my wife and I have strived to live under this mentality. Elsewhere, I will say that I do respect Frances’ overall beliefs that you don’t need to feel bad or unworthy about having money — nor should you feel lesser than for having debt or making “unnecessary” purchases. Coming from someone who’s written about money for several years now, I’m sensitive to the “shaming” aspect of personal finance advice. Thus, I can absolutely appreciate where Frances is coming from with these affirmations.

Ultimately, I do believe there are some lessons to be learned from Rich as F***: More Money Than You Know What to Do With. On that note, I hope that those who do consume it are able to positively impact their financial and personal lives accordingly. However, in my case, I just can’t get all the way on board with this book — although I will admit that I’m somewhat interested in revisiting it to see if I can gain anything else from it. With that, if you too are curious, it may be worth a listen (or read). However, if you’re looking for more straightforward financial advice, I’d look elsewhere.

Originally published at Dyer News.