"The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough: How Five Young Women Got Smart, Formed a Money Group and Took Control of Their Finances," by The Smart Cookies with Jennifer Barrett; Delacorte Press, 230 pages

Before the five women who now call themselves The Smart Cookies formed a money club in 2006, their fiscal know-how was half-baked at best. Not only did they not have savings, most were in debt.

Two years later, the quintet has written a personal-finance guide for young women and has its own money-makeover television show in its native Canada.

How they moved from being inept to experts started when a "debt diet" episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" inspired them to begin a money group. "Kind of like a book club," they write, "but instead of reading and discussing books, we'd be reading our bank statements and discussing ways to pay down our debt and make more money."

Despite having careers, all were in crumbling financial situations at the time:

• Andrea Baxter, 28, was a marketing manager who was crippled with $18,000 in debt, including a credit card that had gone to collections.

• Katie Dunsworth, 23, was a public-relations manager and compulsive spender who had no savings, a $3,000 credit card debt and an upcoming wedding to pay for.

• Robyn Gunn, 31, was a social worker who had gone through $16,000 worth of savings and run up $12,000 in debt in the two years since her divorce.

• Sandra Hanna, 24, was a public-relations coordinator and shopaholic who had recently moved out of her parents' home but had already spent her savings and owed $2,000 on her credit cards.

• Angela Self, 26, earned $10 an hour and had just cashed in her retirement fund to buy a condo. Her boyfriend controlled their finances, and they were on the verge of breaking up.

Eighteen months after forming their club, they'd collectively paid off nearly all their credit card debt, added to their retirement accounts, saved $25,000, and Dunsworth and her then- fiance paid for their $22,000 wedding in cash. All this, they write, without sacrificing their social lives and wardrobes, since they budgeted themselves $100 a week in fun money. Side note: The Cookies generally prefer the term "spending plan" to the more restrictive-sounding "budget."

The Smart Cookies say that forcing themselves to be unflinchingly honest with each other and own up to their economic mistakes was a crucial part of mending their ways. They plowed through personal finance books, set goals for saving, spending and careers, and searched for mentors, all bolstered by mutual support.

Their guide details how to create and run a money club, but the bulk of the book's advice stands alone for readers who want the expertise but not a Weight Watchers-style group experience.

Though some tips are fairly rudimentary — yes, we know lattes add up — the Cookies target the major plot points any self-respecting personal finance book should: reduce spending, cut debt, maximize income, and save and invest. The categories are renamed to suit the woman-around-town vibe:

• Living Large on Less. Here, the Cookies dish up ways to curb spending. When socializing, for example, meet friends for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner, or have a Girls Night IN instead of OUT, with each person spending $6 on food to share. The Cookies estimate they've collectively saved $3,600 a year doing this once a week ($20 they would have spent going out, minus the $6 they spent, times 52 weeks, times the five of them).

Buy cosmetics at the drugstore and not the mall, the Cookies say, and color your own hair. At home, consider losing your land line, and make sure you are being energy-efficient. Hanna gave up cable and estimates she's saving $900 a year.

As for shopping, one Cookie tip is to give yourself time to consider the purchase. Walk out of the store, and think about whether you can live without the item. Another back-up plan is to call a designated "spending emergency" friend, who will remind you why you'd rather save your money.

• Deflate Your Debt. Here, the Cookies translate the fine print on credit card agreements and highlight the evils of "Universal Default" — where a late payment on a loan or a decline in your credit score allows a card issuer to raise the interest rate to the default rate (which can be 29.99 percent or more) — and "Payment Allocation" — when issuers apply your monthly payment first to the portion of your debt that's subject to the lowest interest rate, while higher interest continues to accrue on the balance.

• Make More Dough. A lengthy section on how to ask for a raise is worthwhile reading. Other tips cover ways to earn extra cash, such as selling personal belongings, taking part in a paid research project or taking on freelance work.