by George Marshall

Plan A. Work hard at school, secure a good job, set your sights on promotion, climb the corporate ladder, live happily ever after.

Reality check for Plan A. Work longer and longer hours just to make ends meet, condemned to a life of wage slavery, drowning in a sea of debt, poverty of mind and spirit, existing only to work.

Plan B. A simple yet revolutionary idea…

GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN

The premise of this book is that Plan B is the better option and the book guides you through the process, step by step, of making Plan B a reality for you.

I identified very strongly with this book as indeed I am a Plan B person already. I had also made a little progress towards writing such a book myself. However, I was still at the stage of outlining the chapters of my proposed book and George has pipped me at the post by publishing his. I guess that’s me off the hook for writing the book now as Get Out While You Can is very much the book I would have written, had I been quicker off the mark to do it.

This is not a get-rich-quick plan, nor does George recommend that you recklessly give up your day job today, especially if your household depends on the income. Instead, he plots a course where you can start small and grow your financial independence. You don’t need vast sums to invest – it’s possible to get started with as little as £50.

The idea is to create multiple revenue streams of automated income which lead to your making money while you sleep. Literally! Perhaps some of you are sceptical about this. Does it sound too good to be true?  No, actually, I can vouch that it’s possible. I get up every day and check to see how much I earned while I slept, so does George, so can you.

How is it possible? The trick is that you make the same piece of work earn over and over again. Say you spend an hour today working for someone else. You will be paid for that one hour of your time. And that’s it. The time is gone now and you can never get it back. You can’t get paid for that hour again either. Now, think what if you had spent that hour working for yourself creating something that can generate revenue day after day, month after month, year after year even. Wouldn’t that be nice?  It’s not so hard to do.

Think about the magic of numbers and compounding. If you did enough work every day to generate £1, then after one year (or 365 days) the accumulated earnings would amount to £66,795. Where did that figure come from? Well, it’s £1 on Day One, £2 on Day Two, £3 on Day Three etc. Because on any given day, you still have the work you did on all the previous days behind you. Obviously life isn’t that predictable, but the figures are believable and achievable. So, how do you go about this?  The book spells it out for you.

Need a website? The book explains domains, hosting and website build for total beginners. Want to make money with the website? The book explains various methods of monetisation. It even tells you how to get more visitors to your website – the more visitors you get, the more chances you have of making money from your website traffic.

The good thing about this book is that it holds your hand all the way. It really is a blueprint which shows you how to get out while you can. If you follow the advice and work through the process of making Plan B a reality, then this book could well be the best investment you’ll ever make.

Get out while you can

George Marshall
Paperback, 440 pages
Geronimo! Books
Publication date: 16 May 2011
(advance copies now available from Amazon.co.uk)
ISBN-13 978-0-9535932-1-7
RRP: £14.99

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

by Rosy Thornton

This book appealed to me because of its expat theme and its vaguely foodie nature.  I don’t usually read books in the romance genre, but I made an exception for this one – and I’m glad I did!  It was a cracking good read!

Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

A rural idyll: that’s what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cévennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and her dream is to set up in business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you’re no longer just here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol. And that’s before the arrival of Catherine’s sister, Bryony…

The main character, Catherine Parkstone, sets off to make a new life for herself in a tiny French hamlet. Naturally it takes time to fit in, but the neighbours are mostly welcoming and supportive. She goes on to make good friends with them, and when her business plans get snarled up by French bureaucratic red tape, the villagers stand side by side with her in the “us against them” situation which develops.

I feel sure that many of you will also have encountered the Catch-22 situation which Catherine found herself in when trying to establish her business overseas in a country such as France. You can’t submit your business accounts without a seal. OK, so apply for a seal. Nope, it’s not that easy. Almost every document you’re required to submit during that process isn’t valid unless it carries… your business seal. You get the picture.

Mostly the neighbours are kind and fairly elderly, but there is also the enigmatic Patrick Castagnol, a Frenchman who speaks perfect English and lives in a secluded house in the mountainside woods. Naturally Catherine and Patrick become friends and Patrick, who is an excellent cook, teaches Catherine about the food of the area – wild boar, chestnuts, mushrooms, and all manner of things freely available to the hunter or forager.

Despite the difficulties, life is laid back and relatively idyllic for the independent Catherine. And then Bryony comes to stay. Bryony is Catherine’s city-slicker sister, beautiful, outgoing, clever, successful, thoroughly selfish and mostly a complete pain in the bum. But, as is the case everywhere she goes, everyone loves her. And she has her sights set on snaring Patrick.

In the background of the story the French neighbours become like real people to the reader and you feel real sorrow when there is a death in the hamlet. There are also Catherine’s two grown-up children who make the occasional appearance in the novel – the very likeable Tom, and Lexie, who is a bit of an air-head.

All in all the characters seem very real and the plot unfolds at a good pace. It’s a fairly gentle novel but is packed with excellent descriptions of life in rural France as seen by an English woman on her own. This is the sort of book that would make ideal holiday reading – especially if you’re visiting France, though that’s by no means essential to enjoy the read.

One thing I particularly liked about this book was that it wasn’t swamped with French phrases which I couldn’t understand.  Some authors seem to spend a little time in France and then assume that every reader is also expanding their French vocabulary every day, which in my opinion can be annoying for the non-French-speaking reader.

I also enjoyed the obvious love of food of the rural French people, who were mostly self-sufficient and producing everything from honey to goat’s cheese. I almost felt I knew the characters well enough to call them friends and felt that I would love to go and stay in their community for a while but, alas, they and their community are fiction and a product of Rosy Thornton’s inventive mind.

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story and who has any interest in France and/or cooking.

By the way, if you would like a free recipe booklet which contains recipes based on food cooked and served by characters in the novel, then pop over to our sister site Not Delia where you are welcome to download the recipes in PDF format.

The Tapestry of Love

Rosy Thornton
Paperback, 406 pages
2010, Headline Review
ISBN 978-0-7553-4557-1
RRP: £7.99

Win a copy of The Tapestry of Love!

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning a copy of this highly readable novel is to comment on either this book review, or on Rosy’s recipe booklet (available on Not Delia). You can even comment on both if you feel like it – why not double your winning chances?!

But the competition closes at 2359 GMT on Tuesday 30 November, so don’t delay – do it now!

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

by Muhammad Yunus with Alan Jolis

Banker to the Poor is the story of Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi university lecturer, and the Grameen Bank, the micro-credit organisation he set up as a means of allowing the poorest of the poor access to the tiny sums of money they need to set up their own businesses and work their way out of poverty. The remarkable success of the concept was recognised in 2006 when the Nobel Peace Prize was conferred on both Yunus and the Grameen Bank.

Originally published in 1999 and updated in 2003, the book charts both Grameen’s and Yunus’s own progress from the very earliest days, starting with Yunus’s birth and childhood as the third of fourteen children in a fairly well-to-do Chittagong family, his time as a student in both Chittagong and (as a Fulbright Scholar) in the US, and his part in mobilising support for the fledgling nation of Bangladesh in the 1971 war against (West) Pakistan. But even in these early chapters, Yunus’s interest in entrepreneurship and his ability to identify the root causes of a situation are evident.

Having set the scene, it’s with the third chapter that the story really kicks off, with Yunus a lecturer at his alma mater, Chittagong University. Confronted with the appalling realities of the 1974 famine in Bangladesh, he realised that elegant socioeconomic theories were doing nothing to address the everyday problems faced by the poorest of the poor. Banker to the Poor tells how he dropped the “bird’s eye view” of academia and adopted the “worm’s eye view” of seeing what was going on in rural Bangladeshi communities – and how he challenged the convenient conventional wisdom of the political and banking elites, the vested interests and ignorance of the local bigwigs, and the fear and suspicions of the poor themselves.

All this might suggest that Yunus is using his book to blow his own trumpet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly he praises his organisation’s workers, their enthusiasm and their resourcefulness, just as he pays tribute to the efforts of the poor themselves to lift themselves out of abject poverty and into a better life. And he advocates his ideas strongly. But he continually stresses – as he had to in the days when he was getting Grameen off the ground – that personalities are irrelevant and that the enthusiasm, resourcefulness and industry are available anywhere in the world.

It’s an enthralling story and, for a book that’s about a world-changing idea, it’s a surprisingly easy read. Not just because the concept itself is intrinsically easy to understand – although it is, and that’s part of the beauty of it – but because it’s written in clear, straightforward language, peppered with anecdotes from Yunus’s own story and examples of how the Grameen Bank and the micro-credit concept have helped people in Bangladesh, across the developing world and, increasingly, in developed countries too. And you don’t need a degree in economics or management-speak to read it and understand it.

Banker to the Poor is a little over 260 pages long (in its US edition, which is the one we bought), and it’s evident from virtually every one of those pages that Yunus is deeply committed to working to improve the lot of the poorest. Yet for all that, the book’s free of sanctimony – although Yunus doesn’t shrink from sharp criticism of the people and organisations who have obstructed the Grameen concept’s development over the years, from Bangladeshi government officials to the bosses of the World Bank. This is not a patronising “lord of poverty” (to borrow the title of Graham Hancock’s 1989 work), determined to give the poor what he thinks they ought to have whether they like it or not. Yunus respects the people below the poverty line as human beings who could change their own lives for the better if only they were given the chance – and his life’s work has been about giving them that chance.

In short, it’s a thoroughly inspiring book. If you have any concern at all for the future of human society, and you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to. You’ll not be disappointed.

Banker to the Poor

Muhammad Yunus with Alan Jolis
Paperback, 338 pages
2003, Aurum Press
ISBN 978-1-85410-924-8
RRP: £8.99

Author: Dave McMahon

Dave left school at the age of 30 with the odd O-level (like Ancient Icelandic) and a doctorate in something so obscure even he can't remember what it's about. He then joined the FCO. Dave has travelled to most European countries (including several that don't exist any more, though he denies responsibility), as well as Bangladesh, Barbados, Thailand, St Vincent, UAE, Laos, and many more. Having managed to escape from London in 2001, Dave's now resorted to taking unpaid leave to stave off the evil day of his return.

I received the South East Asia edition of this book, which primarily talks about Thailand, but the vast majority of the content is applicable elsewhere. I was looking forward to reading this one, especially since the subject matter is right up my street. Who wouldn’t want to make a living in Paradise?

The author is well qualified to write such a book, having already published How to Establish A Successful Business In Thailand. Philip Wylie also has an extensive amount of professional experience as a company director, business manager, and several other senior positions, in various countries around the world. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA) and has an MBA (London).

The book consists of seven chapters plus some extras such as an introduction, a South East Asia directory, and a glossary. There’s lots in this informative and well-written book, so let’s have a closer look.

Chapter 1 Preparation

This covers the general basics such as passports, visas, insurance and money matters in general. In a nutshell this is the “look before you leap” part of the book and aims to help you hit the ground running when you embark on your new life in Paradise.

Chapter 2 Keys to survival

This is the “survive and thrive” chapter.  Much of it will seem like common sense to those of us who are old hands at the expat life.  But every seasoned expat will have tales to tell about newcomers who show up and do the daftest things. As well as some practical information about bank accounts, money transfers and support groups, there’s lots of good advice in here to help avoid the common pitfalls that newbies often fall into.

Chapter 3 Running an independent business

Now we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.  The book is about how to make a living in Paradise, remember?  This chapter is as good as a one-to-one session with a business consultant. Philip Wylie knows his stuff!  He talks the reader through the pros and cons of buying an established business or starting up a new one. He discusses lots of issues that any potential business owner should be aware of, including examples of how to value a business, how to handle negotiations, carry out due diligence, etc. But it’s not dull theory, it’s a very practical, hands-on kind of approach. There’s even a checklist which you can use to make sure you’re ready to put an offer in for any business.

Chapter 4  Buying a franchise

Are you a suitable franchisee? Regardless of how good a franchise might be, you need to have the right personality to run such a business. Having established that, Philip then explores the advantages and disadvantages of the franchise business model and provides a franchise evaluation checklist.

Chapter 5 Working freelance

This chapter discusses portable skills which enable you to work from anywhere in the world. These skills include teaching, website programming, writing and many others. Philip suggests ways to network and advertise to help people become aware of your services.

Chapter 6 Alternative approaches

This is a brief chapter encouraging people to think outside the box. “There is no limit on the number of ways of earning a living overseas.”  You can do it if you hold on to your vision and dream.

Chapter 7  Popular ways to earn a living abroad

This, in some ways, is my favourite part of the book and covers several of the popular ways to earn a living abroad, such as teaching, property development, writing, website development, owning a tourist-related business, and much more.  I’d thought I was quite au fait with the subject but even so, I still gleaned some good ideas and knowledge from here. My only slight criticism is that I felt that the author didn’t go far enough into some of the subjects covered in this chapter but, to be fair, you could write a book on its own about any of them! It would have been pointless for Philip to go into great depth about how to make a living abroad as, say, a writer or a webmaster, when perhaps the majority of readers wouldn’t be interested in doing that.

I see this chapter as being more of a taster of what can be done and a terrific starting point for more in-depth books on some of the specific subjects covered. Even so, it still contained lots of useful contact addresses, ideas, case studies and practical advice which would benefit anyone wanting to earn a living abroad.

In summary

This is a well-written and informative book which is very easy to read. Despite the subject matter, how to run a business or otherwise make money abroad, the use of examples and case studies make it all a breeze to understand. This is no heavy business tome. It does what it says on the tin. It tells you how to make a living in Paradise.

Of course, it would be foolish to think that all you have to do is to read this book and you’ve got it made. Success requires hard work, determination, stamina, and an aptitude for what you’re doing. There’s no magic wand to change your life – only you can do that. But if you are planning on embarking on such a major change you’d be well advised to buy this book and pay heed to its contents. Don’t leave home (or your day job) without it!

How to make a living in Paradise

Philip Wylie with Andrew Bond
Paperback, 264 pages
2010, Fast Track Publishing
ISBN 978-616-90336-1-5

Author: Kay McMahon

Kay has been an expat for over 20 years. She set up the British Expat website more than 10 years ago, whilst living in London and missing the expat life. These days she spends much of her time lugging computers and cameras around the world. (Dave gets to deal with all the really heavy stuff.)

by Ginnie Bedggood

It’s perhaps inevitable that when you think about books by Britons about their own experiences in settling abroad, they tend to be about Europe – books like A Year In Provence or Driving Over Lemons, or even It’s All Greek To Me. Excellent though these books are, it makes a refreshing change when you get the chance to read a book penned by someone who’s decided to be a little more intrepid.

Ginnie Bedggood and her lively, forthright style are no strangers to this website; she’s singlehandedly responsible for our Dominican Republic section. She brings the same style to Quisqueya, the story of how she and her partner Grahame decided to settle in Puerto Plata on the DR’s northern coast in 1992, and the following eight years living in rented accommodation until they built and moved into their own home in December 2000. (The word Quisqueya itself is the original Taino Indian name – literally, “Mother of the Earth” – given to the land now known as the Dominican Republic.)

It would be very easy to write the book from the narrow point of view of a Briton abroad and to dismiss the differences of life in the DR as shortcomings or oddities on the part of the Dominicans. Ginnie steers well clear of this trap and, indeed, gently chides the naivety of some of the many foreigners who’ve visited Puerto Plata with a view to settling.

This is not to say that she glosses over the hard facts of DR life; anything but that. Indeed, she relates the many ups and downs of her eight years with relish and with a great deal of humorous self-deprecation. The book’s rich in anecdotes about the ins and outs of daily domestic life – by no means a straightforward routine – as well as the efforts of Ginnie and Grahame to find jobs and keep them. In the process Ginnie comes up with several shrewd observations about what makes DR society tick – the government, the economy, utilities, shopping, work – and how the Dominicans deal with the influx of foreigners, both tourists and more permanent settlers. Anyone who’s lived in a developing country for any length of time will, I think, see a lot of parallels with their own situation. And to add a bit of light relief, there’s the continuous presence in the background of Ginnie and Grahame’s beloved dogs.

The point Ginnie makes time and again is that neither culture is necessarily “wrong”; they’re just different, and the sooner the would-be immigrant grasps that fact and accepts it, the sooner he or she is likely to truly settle in. Anyone dreaming of moving to a developing country on the basis of a couple of weeks’ holiday in the sun would be well-advised to read this book, then take a good hard look at their own plans and check whether they really hold water.

Quisqueya: Mad dogs and English couple

Ginnie Bedggood
Paperback, 270 pages
2007, Mediaworld/Best Books
ISBN 978-1-904502-52-4
RRP: £9.99

Author: Dave McMahon

Dave left school at the age of 30 with the odd O-level (like Ancient Icelandic) and a doctorate in something so obscure even he can't remember what it's about. He then joined the FCO. Dave has travelled to most European countries (including several that don't exist any more, though he denies responsibility), as well as Bangladesh, Barbados, Thailand, St Vincent, UAE, Laos, and many more. Having managed to escape from London in 2001, Dave's now resorted to taking unpaid leave to stave off the evil day of his return.