"It is estimated that the combined total of financial casualties since 2008 in the United States alone may exceed 3.5 million by the end of 2012. That means roughly one in every fifty families will be affected by this recession, which is staggering to consider. One thing is certain: if we are to individually and collectively survive, and in fact thrive again, we must confront this final frontier and take the money conversation out of the closet once and for all." So writes Deborah L. Price, a money coach and the founder and CEO of The Money Coaching Institute, which provides counsel to individuals, couples, and businesses.

Money issues — debt, hoarding, credit card overspending, etc. — are commonplace in American society, and it is high time that we tackle the challenge of breaking free of the taboo that keeps people from talking about money. Price contends that we inherit from our birth families' money patterns and behaviors which have been passed down through the generations. She wrote this book as "a road map for identifying and healing your relationship with money, individually and as a couple."

Through exercises and accounts of her own struggles with money, Price challenges us to write our money story looking for money patterns, beliefs, and related emotions. She moves on to a discussion of eight money types and the need for people to create a language of financial intimacy.

Couples can find help by learning to befriend money and by being more mindful of its power. The closing chapters seal the deal for the reader with cogent material on common money traps, overcoming financial challenges and setbacks, negotiating money conflicts and differences, and kids and money.