I am an avid reader and lover of books. So when I get curious about a topic, I dive in full force, reading almost everything I can get my hands on about the topic. Money is no exception.
I began my debt-free journey almost ten years ago. It started with a book. From there, I picked up many books about money.
Some bored me out of my mind, some helped me set new goals, and some changed how I viewed money.
Here are the five books that completely changed how I looked at money.
Total Money Makeover
Total Money Makeover was the first book on money I ever bought that changed the trajectory of my life. I came across Dave Ramsey on a radio station and was intrigued by the people screaming they were debt-free.
This seemed out of place. Why were they so happy to be debt-free? Weren’t we all supposed to have some debt? These people were shouting about being consumer debt-free and free of student loans and their mortgages (insert gasp).
I wanted that for my life because I was a newly proclaimed stay-at-home mom living paycheck to paycheck.
This book was the first book that helped change the way I viewed debt.
I started working myself through the Baby Steps found in the book. As a result, my husband and I managed to pay off 105K in debt over four years and have never looked back.
Quit Like a Millionaire
I read most of this book on a flight across the US at the beginning of the New Year. I was newly debt-free and was looking at how I would proceed on my Financial journey.
This book shares the story of an immigrant woman whose family had made their way to Canada after living an impoverished life in China. After moving to Canada, this woman goes to college, bypassing her passion for creative writing for a life of computer engineering.
Her belief, instilled in her by her parents, is that you make good money first and follow your passion later.
She also breaks down the theory that a primary residence is NOT an investment due to costs to sell, buy, maintain, finance, insures, and pay taxes.
I enjoyed the breakdown of fees involved in buying a home and their reasoning behind renting until they feel the need to buy.
This was the first book that changed how I viewed college career options and the “need” to purchase a home as an investment.
All The Money In The World
This book asks, What would you do if you had all the money in the world? While sifting through the answers, the author Laura Vanderkam found that most people wanted simple things like more date nights or I would only fly business class or cancel all reality shows.
Laura talks about how most of the population would still consider all the money in the world insufficient for the things they wanted to do.
Her goal is to change the scarcity mindset and ask what she can do to make these simple things come to fruition.
This book was the first book that changed how I thought about doing the things I would like to do. Instead of thinking, we don’t make enough money or I’ll never be able to do that, I began to change my mindset.
If you struggle with a scarcity mindset, this book is for you.
Your Money Or Your Life
This book is one of the first books, if not the first book, that looks into the idea of Financial Independence.
Written by Vicki Robbin and her late husband, this couple decided to look at life differently by saving and investing 80 percent of their income in living a work-optional lifestyle.
The bulk of the book inspires you to look at how you spend your money. How much time and energy we spend working to buy things and how much time and energy we put into caring for those things.
For instance, if you buy a new iPhone, how much time do you need to work to buy it, the time searching for a phone case and screen protector, how long I researched the phone, etc. All of this equals a certain amount of time and energy that won’t be recouped.
Your Money Or Your Life was the book that made me question my spending habits. I asked if my spending habits aligned with my values.
Whether or not you are thinking about becoming financially independent, this book changes the idea that you have to work till you are 70 and then live afterward. But most importantly, you began to evaluate your life and how you spend your money.
Simple Path to Wealth
When we think about most millionaires, we assume they are born into wealth, are famous, or are lottery winners. There are very few self-made millionaires, but they seem to be local legends if we find them.
This book shows you how to build wealth simply on whatever salary you might live on. However, anyone can be wealthy by changing a few habits. This particular book focuses on becoming financially independent.
Just as The Total Money Makeover was a step-by-step guide to getting out of debt, this is a guide to simply building wealth step by step.
Simple Path to Wealth was the first book that made me think we could live a financially free lifestyle.
From here, we have begun the process of quickly becoming financially independent.
Final Thoughts
If you want to be inspired on your financial journey, I would implore you to check out one or all of these books, depending on your stage. What books on money have changed the way you think about money?
