As a bookworm, I’m always on the look-out for new books to read.
Personal finance books are no exception!
Honestly, I love them. Books, that is!
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You could probably blame books for my love of writing, and in the grand scheme of things, my love for books is part of what turned me into a blogger. (Book lovers are often writers, too!)
I honestly don’t discriminate when it comes to books. While I do sometimes go through phases where I’m more into one genre than another, I don’t care if the books I’m reading are fictional or not! From self-help to autobiographies, and fantasy to romance!
I read, collect, and re-read them all!
(I even just joinedBook of The Month, which is a book club that sends you a new best-selling book each month! It’s amazing!)
Books= Food for Thought
Lately,as a blogger focused on frugal-living, entrepreneurship, and financial freedom, I have been interested in learning more about investing, saving, and budgeting.
So today I thought that I would pull out some of the books I have read in the past that really inspired me or taught me a lot about those things.
Now that I’m well into my 20’s and my childish instincts are slowly wearing away (ha!), I’m more ready than ever to buckle down and learn to live a life free of financial instability.
I feel more capable (and stingy!) than ever when it comes to money, and I feel the need to take advantage of the current attitude I have so that I can help prepare my family financially and learn as much as possible.
I plan to re-read a few of these personal finance books and invest in a few new ones as I continue on my journey to financial freedom.
I’d love to share those books with you, but first, let me give you a little bit of background about our financial journey.
As a recently married person (almost 4 years now!), I feel as though I have learned a lot about budgeting for a family and having real financial responsibilities. Although I have much to learn, before I was married, I was single, living with my parents, and in college.
I wasn’t concerned about having a big savings account, and I was certainly not focused on my long-term financial situation.
Unfortunately for me, college was more of an obligation for me than something that I wanted to do to prepare me for a career. When I was all done with my college career, I was about $19,000 in debt and had no great career prospects. To this day, I haven’t really used my college experience for any “real” job. I studied Elementary Education and as it turns out, it just wasn’t for me.
Anyway, at the time that I married my husband, we had a combination of about $30,000 in debt, including those student loans. My husband had been on his own financially for some time before that, and he had a vehicle loan. I also had a student credit card, and, needless to say, we weren’t very money-savvy.
But we were newlyweds determined to make things work, and we were able to move into our own place within a short amount of time after being married. However, every single month we were desperately trying to scrap and were really barely making it.
A shortyear and a half after getting married, our daughter was born. Between a house paymentof about $1000, utilities, and payments on our loans, we were quite literally hurting for money. We struggled to keep a gallon of milk in the house at times.
Forget about paying down debt and most definitely forget aboutsavings.
Big Financial Changes
Our debt continued to mount until we were lucky enough tofind a cheaper living situation and make some great investments to later sell off. At the same time, my husband’s wages climbed as he made his way through school and worked his way up at work.
Our new house was significantly cheaper than our first, and we had a wood stove. We cut wood to keep our electricity bill low during the winter (even though we had the option of heat). We spent each weekend of the winter up in the forest cutting and stacking wood to bring home or sell to others.
A cord of wood could mean the difference of “making it” from one month to the next for us.
It was still uncomfortable, to say the least.
But this past year, we were able to make some significant financial gains by paying off major debt and consolidatingthe rest. We were able to purchase a home and currently own all (three!) of our vehicles without a loan. And I’m happy to say that my student loans areGONE.
Our debt went from a high of about $60,000 to a current low of $6,000 within about a year. We were lucky enough to catch a break, and now we’re focusing on eradicating all debt while building wealth, too.
Because we’re feeling pretty good about our current financial situation, we’re taking advantage of our hopeful attitudes and learning more and more about personal finances and investing.
Our favorite way to educate ourselves (other than experience) is a good book, and that brings me to my list of great personal finance books.
Many of these personal finance books have helped us educate ourselves, stay motivated, and make informed decisions as we move into the future. If you’re ready to set yourself up for financial success, stop by your local library or check these books out on Amazon!
(Note: I have read many of these personal finance books and learned from several of these authors, but haven’t read them all. I can’t wait to read them! Links in this list will take you there!)
- Total Money Makeoverby Dave Ramsey.Dave is arguably the biggest name in the personal finance world, and it’s with good reason!
- Financial Peaceby Dave Ramsey. This is the book I have at home and every time I read it, I am motivated by Dave all over again!
- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Brokeby Suze Orman. This celebrity money-guru ispopular for a reason. I’ve seen a few of her shows and Suze knows what she’s talking about when it comes to personal finance!
- Money: Master the Gameby Tony Robbins. This book gets a big fat, 5-star rating on Amazon from over 2,000 readers. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
- Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School?by Cary Siegel. If you’re a fan of lists and actionable steps, you’ll want to read this one!
- The Science of Getting Richby Wallace Wattles. A cheap investment and good, quick read!
- How to Manage Your Money When You Don’t Have Anyby Eric Wecks. Starting from nothing? This book is a great place to start!
- I Will Teach You to be Richby Ramit Sethi. This book contains a 6-week program to follow and is specifically geared to millennials. Perfect!
- A Beginner’s Guide to Investingby Alex Frey. A must-read if you’re completely clueless about howget startedinvesting!
- The Compound Effectby Darren Hardy. This no-fuss book promises to set you up with the right attitude to start living your life (both financially and personally) to the fullest.
That’s it!
Remember, YOU have the power to change your life. Educating yourself is the best way toget started!
Good luck!
