Excerpt from The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer by Leon Forte

The author of The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer, Leon Forte was trained as a mortgage banker and has worked as a mortgage broker. He has also owned several businesses. He has turned his years of experience with how people handle their money into a straightforward, helpful book about personal finance and living comfortably without overspending.

Learn more on AuthorsDen, and visit the Amazon page for The Secrets of An Intelligent Consumer to read the first ten chapters of the book for free. The excerpt on Amazon provides the general premise of the book; to understand the full details of this useful approach to wiser spending, you can buy the complete e-book for Kindle for $4.99. A shorter excerpt of the book appears below.

Take Back Control of Your Wallet and Your Life

Many of your financial problems are thrust upon you by greed. I believe in the system, but corporate greed is always on the lookout for more ways to reach into your pocket, leaving as little as possible in exchange. The greed of banks sucks the money from your pockets. Wall Street's greed never gives the working stiff a chance. It is as though having more is not enough for them. They want even more than that.

Government's greed, or should I say politicians' greed, tilts the game against you. Then, they take a big chunk of the money you earn and give some of it back to the banks and Wall Street. They waste much more of it leaving the public in the lurch and pat themselves on the back for doing such a great job. It shouldn't be a big surprise that somehow they get richer and you become poorer. Welfare for the poor is minuscule compared to corporate welfare which goes right into the pockets of the greediest and wealthiest among us.

Let's be honest with ourselves as well. Our own greed plays a major part in destroying our financial well-being too. You were influenced by all the lies that were forced upon you without your knowledge, but in the back of your mind you knew that it couldn't be right and something was out to get you. You paid no attention because it felt good and were caught up on some level of the game.

You can't have it all. You can't have it any time you want it, but you sure tried.

Many tried hard even though they probably knew that they really couldn't afford it. You just wanted to feel good about yourself. Much of that was thrust upon you by greed, ploys, cons and gimmicks to get you to spend an enormous amount of money when you didn't have to and couldn't afford to. You just felt that you had to so you would be happy or at least be happier. What then happens is that it takes the chance you have of attaining happiness and diminishes it so that it can seem out of your reach. That's how it works. You bought into it. You're a member of a big club. I was right there with you.

Some of us didn't even have the opportunity to try to feel good by overspending. That made many miserable simply by always wanting and never believing we could have even a little. That's a lie too. You just need to know how to manage money and your limitations. You also need to be An Intelligent Consumer so you can feel like you're in the game by having more spending power.

Defend yourself against all that you are up against. Knowledge is the key. Why wasn't this taught in high school? Put in the time and effort to become An Intelligent Consumer and forget living above your means. Use money very wisely to get the most that you want. Then, you have done something to help yourself by protecting yourself from the forces of greed. Then, you have actually taken matters truly into your own hands and stopped that "blame game." Then, you'll have at least a chance of becoming happy. It is our basic right to pursue happiness.

As An Intelligent Consumer, you'll live far better than someone with the same income that hasn't a clue. Those that wish to usurp your financial well-being while enriching themselves will have a harder time trying. The forces of greed have little power against free will guided by knowledge. Remember, you're the boss. If the general public at large were all to use the recommendations in this book, they would literally change the way stores do business. They would change the way advertisers advertise. They would put banks on alert. Most large corporations would need to regroup. They are all nothing without you. This would all be to the public's financial benefit. However, you must be aware and forever vigilant. Madison Avenue, banks, and retail board rooms will not let having your guard down go unnoticed.