Goin' Solo...at 20 and 30
Adina Kalish Neufeld
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2004 Creative Minds Press
ISBN: 096795911X

The girl's guide to starting life on her own in a place she can't afford.

For those who are just starting out in life & haven't a clue what to do Adina Kalish Neufeld's Goin' Solo...at 20 and 30 is the next best thing to having your own personal manager!

I sure could have done with this slim & well-researched guide, even if I landed in Chicago & not New York City, because it covers just about everything I should have been told about by the international placement bureau under whose auspices I immigrated. Except, of course, when I set foot in the Windy City, credit cards were still things only rich people used, & portfolios were the cases in which I carried my artwork around.

What Goin' Solo...at 20 and 30 covers is:
Keeping House: saying goodbye to your parents; choosing a city; finding your first place. Do you share? Then living there.
Moolah: making money work for you or learning to live below your means ... really! Think 5 years in the future.
So You Wanna Be a Doorman? Jobs you hadn't thought about until the Right One comes along.
Opening the Door: the smartest way to getting anything you need is networking, & here's a slew of ways to do that.
Entrepreneurs Take a Back Seat to Nobody. So you wanna start your own business? Consider the risks & the payoffs!
Take it to the Couch: You clean your teeth, don't you? When you're feeling “down & out”, get some mental health help & do the work.
Dating Yourself: being mateless doesn't mean moping around in your little nest wishing ... get out there & explore!
Party Recipes
Useful Websites
City Specific Solo Dates & an Index.

Moolah was the one chapter that made me realize how unprepared I was for goin' solo. Oh sure, I could make money, & certainly knew how to spend it, however, I'd really never been taught how to use it to my advantage or for my future.

There's so much about living on your own in each chapter, told quickly & articulately, with city specific resource guides included, & sharing both the terrors & the excitements you are feeling. Each time you pull it out as you plan the next move in your life, you'll not feel so alone!

All in all this slim volume, which fits quite nicely in your purse, pack or pocket, is no dry, eye-glazing guide: it's like having a wiser, older sister at your side. She's been there, done that, & here's how to save yourself some grief.

Highly recommended as the best thing you can give a girl as she sets out on her first solo adventure. Oh, & by the way, just because Goin' Solo...at 20 and 30 says it's for girls, doesn't mean it isn't useful for boys too!

Definitely a keeper ... until you meet a bright-eyed & bushy-tailed newbie & then give it to her ... or him!
(08/15/04)

Rebecca