Over the course of my life, I’ve read a fair number of books about money management. I became interested in it at some point, although not necessarily interested enough to do anything about it… Part of the reason for that wasn’t just my own personal laziness, although there is that, but many of the books I’ve read get bogged down in the weeds of different investment strategies, how to look for banks and investments that pay the highest amount of interest, or how to make it rich with alternative investments like Bitcoin, fancy real estate investment techniques that are described only with numbers and letters, or – God forbid – day trading. I’ve got only one thing to say about that stuff: “Ain’t nobody got time for that $h**!”
Seriously now folks, I’m a fairly intelligent person, but I prefer a simple, easy to follow plan that doesn’t require me to learn a whole new language to implement. Honestly, I don’t care if online banks pay a higher interest rate if I’m just trying to get enough in my savings account to float me in case of an emergency. I don’t expect to get rich off my small savings account, but I’m certainly hoping it’ll keep me from going deeper into debt. I think it will.
Unlike some people, I’m a voracious reader. I always have at least one book going, and sometimes more than one. I have hardbacks, paperbacks, and e-books on my kindle app that I can read whenever I find myself standing around waiting somewhere, something I otherwise hate to do. Mostly, I read nonfiction, although right now I’m reading banned books with a small group of people in town and some of those are nonfiction. Anyway, my reading, as with many other things I do, goes in cycles. So, I’ve gone through cycles of reading money management books, health improvement books, spiritual leaning books, psychology books, and a few old classics here and there. I realize there are some people who haven’t cracked open a book since they graduated from high school. I think those people are worse off for their aversion, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe those people came into this life knowing everything already. I consider myself a life-long learner though, and picking other people’s brains through reading books is a cheap road to self-education.
After I got settled into my own apartment in Colorado, one of the first books I ever bought was a paperback version of Tony Robbins’ book Awaken the Giant Within. It’s a very thick book that I bought at the local bookshop because – I know you’re going to find this hard to believe – I was feeling down at the time and felt I needed a kick in the pants. I still have that same book I purchased in late 1992 or early 1993. I bought a version that – unbeknownst to me – had about 30 pages missing in the middle. I still have no idea what those missing pages cover, but I got a lot out of the rest of it. It did in fact, pick me up when I really needed a pick-me-up. One fun thing he suggested that I implement when I got paid, was getting a small trampoline I could put in my apartment and jump on. I lived on the ground floor, and I did get one, and the kids and I loved that thing, even though it took up a lot of space in the living room (where I also slept at the time).
Some of my favorite money management books that I’ve read include The Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad Poor Dad and of course, my favorite, which is Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. His steps to financial freedom are what I followed to become debt free. This is the book I would like to do a group study on starting in October.
Soon – maybe even later today – I’ll post a couple of links on my blog page. One will be so that you can sign up for the book study. The cost of this study will be in the $15 a month range, and I’m expecting the study to last weekly for about 3 months. It’ll start the first of October and end probably some time just before Christmas. I know, I know, nobody wants to think about money management just before Christmas, but Christmas doesn’t need to be about spending more than you’ve got to make people think you love them more. Honestly, there’s no better time to think about your own personal financial situation than just before Christmas. It’s better than cleaning up the mess afterwards.
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