The Spender's Guide to Debt-Free Living: How a Spending Fast Helped Me Get from Broke to Badass in Record Time


Anna Newell Jones - 2016
    An inveterate “spender,” she was in way over her head, to the tune of almost $24,000. She knew her debt was only going to get worse if she didn’t take action, but she didn’t know where to look for help. On a whim, Anna decided to go on a spending fast—an idea she heard in passing but knew little about. Creating her own method, she learned what worked and what didn’t and wrote about it on her blog, AndThenWeSaved.com. Amazingly, Anna was able to eliminate all $23,605.10 of her debt in only 15 months! She was interviewed in Forbes, Self, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and the Chicago Tribune.Anna’s journey inspired people and showed them that they too could change the way they dealt with their own money woes. The Spender’s Guide To Debt-Free Living takes readers through a detailed step-by-step plan on how to do a Spending Fast and get out of debt, including:Creating a personalized Debt-Free Life Pledge.Understanding where your money is going when you’re in debt, and where it will come from to pay it off.Learning why putting money into a savings account before (or while) paying off debt may not be the best idea for you.Finding additional income sources and generating side gigs.Re-integrating spending into your life once you’re out of debt, so that you stay out of debt.Filled with do-it-yourself ideas, insight from experts, and tons of motivational tips and real-life practical advice, The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living proves that you don’t have to win the lottery or get a new job to change your life.

Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence


Chris Mamula - 2019
    And then, there are three suburban dads just trying to make the world a little bit better. Meet Brad Barrett and Jonathan Mendonsa of the award-winning Choose FI podcast and Chris Mamula of the popular blog “Can I Retire Yet?”. They have walked the talk and now want to share their knowledge with you. Together, these three regular guys will show you how they did something extraordinary. They are all financially independent and doing meaningful work that fulfills them. All three left their corporate 9 to 5 jobs and are reaping the benefits of extra time with their families. Mirroring the format of the popular Choose FI podcast, this book pulls from the collective knowledge of those who have decided to build a lifestyle around their passions instead of allowing their finances to dictate their future. These stories demonstrate universal principles, giving you the opportunity to pick the elements that are the most applicable to your financial situation and “choose your own adventure.”FI or Financial Independence is the new debt-free and getting back to 0 is just the beginning of a wonderful journey. Whether you have mountains of debt now or are recently debt free and wondering what to do next, Choose FI : Your Blueprint to Financial Independence will give you the information to guide your next move.

The Psychology of Money


Morgan Housel - 2020
    It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. How to manage money, invest it, and make business decisions are typically considered to involve a lot of mathematical calculations, where data and formulae tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world, people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In the psychology of money, the author shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important matters.

Living Debt-Free: The No-Shame, No-Blame Guide to Getting Rid of Your Debt


Shannon Lee Simmons - 2018
    But life happens and if you’ve got debt, life has happened to you. Whether you have a rolling balance of $2,000 on your credit card or an $80,000 line of credit you are positive you will carry to your grave, debt can be a huge cause of stress—affecting both your emotional and financial wellness.After working with thousands of financial planning clients, Shannon Lee Simmons knows that your only way out of the debt cycle is to truly understand all of your spending triggers so you can shut them down for good. In Living Debt-Free, she shows you that it is possible to have a life and pay down debt at the same time. In fact, that’s the only way your debt plan will work. You will learn to take control of your finances and pay down your debt in a realistic way that will keep you motivated long enough to see it through to the end. No shame. No blame. No scare tactics.In Living Debt-Free, Simmons focuses on creating a debt repayment plan that will motivate you for a long time, rather than an unrealistic one that’s strictly about paying the least amount of interest charges. (Collective gasp—how dare she!?) Listen, everyone knows that paying interest on debt is bad and to be avoided as much as possible, but human beings are complex. Life is complex. Debt is complex. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all plan, so Living Debt-Free will help you build your plan—the one that will help you finally put the debt behind you, start fresh and feel good about your money again.

Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want


Gregory Karp - 2008
    Now, award-winning Tribune Company personal finance columnist Gregory Karp shows how to do just that. This book isn't about depriving yourself: you don't have to become a financial anorexic, and you won't have to start dumpster diving! Instead, Gregory Karp shows how to build real, long-lasting wealth by plugging the money leaks you're barely even aware of, and making sure you spend with a purpose. Drawing on everything he's learned writing his prize-winning weekly column, Karp reveals surprisingly painless, little-known techniques for eliminating wasteful spending in every area of your financial life. Karp shows how to spend on what you really care about, not what you don't... understand the real value of comparison shopping...save money in giving gifts without becoming a cheapskate. Karp shows how to slash your phone bill... spend less on food without changing what you like to eat... eliminate spending leaks in insurance, education, entertainment and beyond. From the clothes you wear to the cars you drive, Living Rich by Spending Smart will help you build a life that's truly rich, because it's truly financially secure.

Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need


Grant Sabatier - 2019
    Time is not. Become financially independent as fast as possible.In 2010, 24-year old Grant Sabatier woke up to find he had $2.26 in his bank account. Five years later, he had a net worth of over $1.25 million, and CNBC began calling him "the Millennial Millionaire." By age 30, he had reached financial independence. Along the way he uncovered that most of the accepted wisdom about money, work, and retirement is either incorrect, incomplete, or so old-school it's obsolete.Financial Freedom is a step-by-step path to make more money in less time, so you have more time for the things you love. It challenges the accepted narrative of spending decades working a traditional 9 to 5 job, pinching pennies, and finally earning the right to retirement at age 65, and instead offers readers an alternative: forget everything you've ever learned about money so that you can actually live the life you want.Sabatier offers surprising, counter-intuitive advice on topics such as how to:*  Create profitable side hustles that you can turn into passive income streams or full-time businesses*  Save money without giving up what makes you happy*  Negotiate more out of your employer than you thought possible*  Travel the world for less*  Live for free--or better yet, make money on your living situation*  Create a simple, money-making portfolio that only needs minor adjustments*  Think creatively--there are so many ways to make money, but we don't see them.But most importantly, Sabatier highlights that, while one's ability to make money is limitless, one's time is not. There's also a limit to how much you can save, but not to how much money you can make. No one should spend precious years working at a job they dislike or worrying about how to make ends meet. Perhaps the biggest surprise: You need less money to "retire" at age 30 than you do at age 65.Financial Freedom is not merely a laundry list of advice to follow to get rich quick--it's a practical roadmap to living life on one's own terms, as soon as possible.

Money Secrets of the Amish: Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving


Lorilee Craker - 2011
     What she found was about a dozen tried and true financial habits the Amish have employed for generations that will make your cash last longer and help you build wealth.  Craker provides tips to...use it up, wear it out, make do, or do withoutrethink your gift givingrepurpose, recycle, and reuseeat like royalty for a peasant's pittanceEndorsements:Packed with practical, simple, and smart money saving ideas and teeming with great insight into the sensible Amish ways, Money Secrets of the Amishwill entertain you with stories and retrain your brain to be the savvy money saver you always dreamed you could be.  --Beth Wiseman, best-selling author of Plain Promise and Seek Me With All Your HeartSometimes touching, sometimes humorous and always helpful, author Lorilee Craker pulls us into the family rooms of the Amish and shows us how they make ends meet. Story after story illustrates savvy money management: trading for goods and services, shopping for bargains, living with less, avoiding debt, curbing the desire to impress others. And Craker’s journalistic bent provides plenty of takeaway value for the non-Amish. A very worthwhile read whether your bank account is bursting or busting.  --Suzanne Woods Fisher, author of Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World and Lancaster County Secrets (Revell)This book is like an Amish basement shelf loaded with Mason jars full of Plain money wisdom.  Self-confessed “Fancy” gal Lorilee Craker rolls up her sleeves and cracks them open one-by-one, figuring out how to fit Amish principles to a non-Amish life.  She succeeds, and so can you—read Money Secrets of the Amish and add weight to your wallet.  --Erik Wesner, amishamerica.com; author ofSuccess Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses ThriveMoney Secrets of the Amish is a practical, doable guide, and it's such fun to read.  Lorilee's voice is as engaging and lively as ever, and the wisdom she shares from the Amish community is both inspiring and instructive. I just finished the last page, and my mind is buzzing with all sorts of ways to waste less, want less, and spend less.  --Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines and BittersweetLorilee inspires and impacts your everyday life with this marvelous little read. From buttons to bakery you suddenly realize this conversation is not about just pinching a few pennies but about transforming how we view our everyday lives. I applaud Lorilee for asking the hard questions and pressing in to find honest answers. Forget the mall, kick back and soak up the delicious wisdom of a life well lived. Thank you Lorilee for shaping my everyday!  --Tracey Bianchi, author of Green MamaMoney Secrets of the Amish isn’t so much about making money; it’s about family, discipline, and redefining what wealthy means. This is a great read that helps us all to see more clearly what’s really valuable in our lives.  --Jeff McMahon, award-nominated musician and national director/runner with the Team McGraw endurance program

The 12% Solution


David Alan Carter - 2017
    A strategy that’s not pie-in-the-sky and not just a bunch of theory, but rather a systematic plan that is backed up with real numbers showing it clearly beating the S&P 500 over time. A trading strategy that’s understandable, repeatable, that works and works simply.Anyone can do this. In simple-to-understand language, you’ll discover---- The six ETFs that power the strategy, and why.-- The simple technique for identifying which of those ETFs to buy, and which to sell. And most importantly, when.-- How $5,000 can end up $1,000,000 in your retirement portfolio.-- How to protect your portfolio during market downturns with a simple cash trigger.-- In short, how to earn an average of 12% annually in the stock market with minimal trading, less volatility, and less risk.Beat "The Street" in just 20 minutes.If you have 20 minutes a month and a computer, you can turn any investment amount into a steadily growing compounding machine that will make you the envy of Mad Money’s Jim Cramer and 99% of all mutual fund managers.Make just 2-4 trades one day a month. The strategy tells you what ETFs to buy and what to sell. That’s it. Then turn off the computer and go live your life.

How to Get Rich


Felix Dennis - 2007
    And if someone like me can become rich, then so can you - no matter what your present circumstances. Here is how I did it and what I learned along the way.' So writes Felix Dennis, who believes that almost anyone of reasonable intelligence can become rich, given sufficient motivation and application. How To Get Rich is a distillation of his business wisdom. Primarily concerned with the step-by-step creation of wealth, it ruthlessly dissects the business failures and financial triumphs of 'a South London lad who became rich virtually by accident'. Part manual, part memoir, part primer, this book is a template for those who are willing to stare down failure and transform their lives.Canny, infuriating, cynical and generous by turns, How To Get Rich is an invaluable guide to 'the surprisingly simple art of collecting money which already has your name on it'.

The Smartest Money Book You'll Ever Read: Everything You Need to Know About Growing, Spending, and Enjoying Your Money


Daniel R. Solin - 2011
    Now Solin offers the smartest guide to money management and financial planning yet.From managing your debt, boosting your savings, and owning (or renting) a home to buying insurance, maximizing investment returns, and retiring when you want to, The Smartest Money Book You'll Ever Read is your road map to financial freedom-and to enjoying yourself along the way.

The Infographic Guide to Personal Finance: A Visual Reference for Everything You Need to Know


Michele Cagan - 2017
    Full of colorful descriptions organized in an easy-to-read format, this book contains infographics such as: -Choosing your bank -Building an emergency fund -Choosing a financial planner -Where your money is going -What not to buy -Health insurance -Property insurance -What federal taxes pay for With the help of this guide, you’ll learn how to make good investments, save for big things like a house or college tuition, budget, and more!

Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaire


Douglas R. Andrew - 2005
    A starter kit to becoming a millionaire - isn't it time you became wealthy? This explosive and controversial openly challenges the most basic and fundamental tenets of personal investing.

Job Free: Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom on Your Terms


Jake Desyllas - 2015
    A job-free life is possible, and you have options about how to achieve it. This book provides real-world examples of people who have successfully quit the rat race using four different strategies: extreme saving, unjobbing, lifestyle businesses, and startups. Whether you want to achieve financial independence and retire early, or simply never work for anyone else again, this book provides an essential guide to the different lifestyle-design strategies open to you. An inspiring and concise introduction to job freedom and financial independence, by someone who has achieved both.

How to Retire Early: Your Guide to Getting Rich Slowly and Retiring on Less


Robert Charlton - 2013
    We retired from full-time work at the age of 43 and have been living the good life ever since – and by good life we mean a life rich with travel and adventure rather than luxury and extravagance. In this book we share with you the roadmap we followed to get from full-time work to financial independence in less than 15 years. If we can do it, so can you! What makes this book different from all the other books out there on early retirement? We think it's the amount of personal financial detail we provide. We don’t hold back! You can use this information as a kind of financial yardstick to measure what you can achieve in your own life. If we can empower you to stop dreaming and start planning, to stop wishing and start willing your early retirement into existence, we’ll have done what we set out to do in this book.

How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle


Charles K. Long - 1986
    We work long hours at jobs we dislike or find unfulfilling so that we can buy a lot of stuff that never really seems to satisfy us. And when that paycheck turns out to be not so reliable, we panic. Unemployment terrifies us. Is there any way out of this dilemma? Charles Long reveals one possibility -- the Conserver Lifestyle. Since its first publication over twenty years ago, this book has helped many find the kind of life they've always dreamed of. If you want to leave the rat race behind, have been forced to leave it behind through unemployment, or simply long to take some time off to travel, study, or spend more time with the Conserver Lifestyle option may be just what you need. Charles Long's book offers a valuable combination of inspiration and practical steps to show how you can survive economically without compromising your values or happiness. What is the Conserver Lifestyle? It is about rethinking our consumerist approach to the world and focussing on what we really value in life. Long shows you how to reduce your cash needs to a level you can easily meet with casual income. This is not a dreary tome on budgetting, however -- Long draws on his own family's decade of experience living the Conserver Lifestyle for amusing anecdotes that confirm conserving as a joyful and liberating way to live. The key to security is not in trying to earn even more, but in learning to spend less. The fewer our material needs, the easier they are to satisfy. . . . Security doesn't come from having more but from needing less. -- from the Preface