I just finished reading Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. I am nearly finished with Fight for Your Money by David Bach. Even though I am not finished with the latter, I feel that I've read enough to write what I think of it.
First of all, I would definitely say that I recommend both of these books over Rich Dad Poor Dad. I found that the overall principles, particularly in Your Money or Your Life meshed much better with my overall philosophy on life.
Your Money or Your Life is a self-help book. It takes you through a series of steps (which, admittedly, I did not actually do) to help you get a grip on your relationship with money. It really gets you to think about why you spend your money. It also gets you to think about how much time it takes you to actually earn money, which is something I think a lot of people fail to do. Sure you know what your net and gross incomes are, but how much money are you really making? What if you factor in commuting? What if you factor in your work attire? What if you factor in the shopping sprees to make you feel better about your work?
From there, your are asked to look at each of your purchases and really consider whether they are helping you meet your life-long goals and ambitions. That might sound silly, but I think it is a worthwhile to ask yourself whether or not your purchases are really bringing you fulfillment. That was really the overall take-away for me - are my spending habits aligned with my goals, and are my financial habits making me happy?
There are many suggestions for people to find work they enjoy and to find ways to cut spending. One of the examples he uses is of a woman who bought a piece of land and bought a mobile home to live on. That was enough for her. It would not be enough for me, and that's okay. The point is for me to figure out what is enough and to get there without going overboard.
The book also talks about long-term investment options, and frankly I didn't agree with all of what he said in that regard. I do, however, agree with him on becoming educated about money.
Which is a great lead-in to Fight For Your Money. This book is a different kind of book altogether. I've been listening to it on audio. Ultimately, it's about how to not get ripped off. He talks about health insurance, life insurance, home insurance, car insurance, buying a house, buying a new car, buying a used car, leasing a car, renting a car, paying for college, saving for retirement, and virtually every other aspect of finances that you can think of. To be honest, I wish that I had read a paper copy of this book so that I could have skipped to the parts that were really applicable to me. Unfortunately, the CDs do not list the names of the chapters or sub-chapters, so it was hard to skip around and listen to the sections that were most pertinent to me. It is so useful, though, that I may consider buying an e-version of the book so that I can have it handy to reference when I am looking to save money in a particular area.
First of all, I would definitely say that I recommend both of these books over Rich Dad Poor Dad. I found that the overall principles, particularly in Your Money or Your Life meshed much better with my overall philosophy on life.
Your Money or Your Life is a self-help book. It takes you through a series of steps (which, admittedly, I did not actually do) to help you get a grip on your relationship with money. It really gets you to think about why you spend your money. It also gets you to think about how much time it takes you to actually earn money, which is something I think a lot of people fail to do. Sure you know what your net and gross incomes are, but how much money are you really making? What if you factor in commuting? What if you factor in your work attire? What if you factor in the shopping sprees to make you feel better about your work?
From there, your are asked to look at each of your purchases and really consider whether they are helping you meet your life-long goals and ambitions. That might sound silly, but I think it is a worthwhile to ask yourself whether or not your purchases are really bringing you fulfillment. That was really the overall take-away for me - are my spending habits aligned with my goals, and are my financial habits making me happy?
There are many suggestions for people to find work they enjoy and to find ways to cut spending. One of the examples he uses is of a woman who bought a piece of land and bought a mobile home to live on. That was enough for her. It would not be enough for me, and that's okay. The point is for me to figure out what is enough and to get there without going overboard.
The book also talks about long-term investment options, and frankly I didn't agree with all of what he said in that regard. I do, however, agree with him on becoming educated about money.
Which is a great lead-in to Fight For Your Money. This book is a different kind of book altogether. I've been listening to it on audio. Ultimately, it's about how to not get ripped off. He talks about health insurance, life insurance, home insurance, car insurance, buying a house, buying a new car, buying a used car, leasing a car, renting a car, paying for college, saving for retirement, and virtually every other aspect of finances that you can think of. To be honest, I wish that I had read a paper copy of this book so that I could have skipped to the parts that were really applicable to me. Unfortunately, the CDs do not list the names of the chapters or sub-chapters, so it was hard to skip around and listen to the sections that were most pertinent to me. It is so useful, though, that I may consider buying an e-version of the book so that I can have it handy to reference when I am looking to save money in a particular area.
1 comment:
Just reserved Fight for your Money. I read Your Money or Your Life before and enjoyed it. I liked the philosophy of valuing paid work and unpaid work. It's so easy to crowd out the unpaid work that we really enjoy for paid work...and feel very unsatisfied at the end of the day.
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