So two years ago I came up with this bright idea of starting a Personal Finance Library where I’d mail books back and forth to whoever wants them (for free), but after further research and certain naysayers telling me it’ll never work, I’ve decided to table it for now until I can prove them all wrong ;)
I even had the perfect domain picked out for it and everything! –> MoneyLibrary.org // Which I still own, so the dream lives on!!
But alas, this currently leaves me with approximately 30 books sitting on my bookshelves not helping a damn person, so today I’d like to change that and put them into the world :)
For the next 5 days, I’ll be giving away a *package* of books each day, and the only rule is that if you win you have to PASS THEM FORWARD when you’re done reading them. Cool?
Each package will contain anywhere from 3-5 books around a certain theme, and all you have to do to enter is be signed up to our newsletter and answer that day’s question.
And it starts right now!!
Package Giveaway #1: Personal Finance Classics!
We’re going OG today and starting with some of the most popular books in the personal finance world over the past handful of decades. Here’s what this package contains:
Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin — “For more than twenty-five years, Your Money or Your Life has been considered the go-to book for taking back your life by changing your relationship with money. Hundreds of thousands of people have followed this nine-step program, learning to live more deliberately and meaningfully with Vicki Robin’s guidance… Whether you’re just beginning your financial life or heading towards retirement, this book will show you how to: get out of debt and develop savings, save money through mindfulness and good habits rather than strict budgeting, declutter your life and live well for less, invest your savings and begin creating wealth, save the planet while saving money, and so much more!”
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill — “In Think and Grow Rich, Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles. This book will teach you the secrets that could bring you a fortune. It will show you not only what to do but how to do it. Once you learn and apply the simple, basic techniques revealed here, you will have mastered the secret of true and lasting success.”
The Automatic Millionaire, by David Bach — “The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story of an average American couple whose joint income never exceeds $55,000 a year, yet who somehow manage to own two homes debt-free, put two kids through college, and retire at 55 with more than $1 million in savings. Through their story you’ll learn the surprising fact that you cannot get rich with a budget! You have to have a plan to pay yourself first that is totally automatic, a plan that will automatically secure your future and pay for your present.”
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki — “Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert’s story of growing up with two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.”
***Links and bios above are from Amazon, and point to the latest updated books – not the exact editions being given away which you can see in the pics. Also – links are affiliate links.***
Want these? Make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter,
and then answer the following question:
What’s the most classic financial tip you’ve ever been told? Or do yourself?
Share your answers in the comments below or by replying via email if you’re seeing this in your inbox, and we’ll randomly pick the winner and announce it at the start of tomorrow’s giveaway. You have until 5pm EST today! GO GO GO!
You can enter as many of these giveaways as you’d like this week, but you DO have to have a U.S. address or else it would cost more than the books are worth to ship them to ya ;( But maybe you know someone in the U.S. you could give them to if you win?!
Good luck!! And remember – you have to pass these forward after you’ve read them!
<< UPDATE: Giveaway now over! Winner announced here :) >>
Get blog posts automatically emailed to you!
Great idea J$, do you also have books on productivity that you would recommend? Thanks in advance :9
Paula Pant, over at AffordAnything.com, just recently put together a list of books she recommends, and part of that was a productivity section.
https://affordanything.com/whats-on-my-bookshelf/
There actually are a few books on that later this week we’ll be giving away!
My favorite though is “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown (not being given away – because I love it too much!! :). This book really shocked my system last year and put things in better perspective for me – both in terms of career and life. Highly recommend!
Awesome!! I think I heard of that one recently. Will try :)
The best financial tip I use is excessive spreadsheeting. That way because the spreadsheet takes up so much of my time, I don’t have time to go out and spend.
Okay, that is good – haha….
I would definitely say one of the tips which has done the most for me, money-wise, is increasing my automatic retirement contributions every time I get a pay increase. This way, I don’t notice the increased deposits since my paycheck is the same or slightly more than it was prior to the increase.
The best tip that I’ve ever been told is “Pay yourself first.” – George Clason, author of one of my favorite classics, The Richest Man in Babylon. Uncle Sam gets paid second. You get the opposite advice from Robert Kiyosaki :)
It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. Let your money trade ITS time for more money so you don’t have to trade YOUR time for money.
Hey J!
Love this idea – what a great way to share the wealth (pun partially intended)! I’m most interested in Robert Kiyosaki’s classic “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, so I’m all in for this!
The best advice I’ve received is along the lines of the “early to bed, early to rise” variety. I think it really sets you up for success in all you do, and personal finance is just one of the many benefits one can expect. Whether it’s increased productivity in the A.M. or putting to bed those bad financial decisions made late at night, I do my best to live by it!
Thanks!
Agreed!! I learned this from Benjamin Franklin myself – been waking up earlier almost every single day since – going on almost 3 years now :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/learned-working-like-benjamin-franklin/
“Pay yourself first” had been mentioned. The other one that’s been helping me break out of decades-old habits is “question everything.”
The best classic financial tip is just common sense words of wisdom of “spending less than you make” and “don’t borrow from tomorrow to pay for today“ its amazing how these 2 phrases will change your relationship with money.
Avoid lifestyle inflation, golden handcuffs!
Great advice! I’ve never saved more than when I got my first full time job and still lived the “poor student” lifestyle (note: I’m from a country/era of no student debt).
I definitely did *not* live the poor student lifestyle with my first full-time job but wish I had :)
The best advice I received is to dollar cost average into a low cost index mutual fund retirement account and keep investing even in down markets.
I really like the advice that “every dollar is equal”. It reminds me of the quit smoking course I did years ago where the instructor warned against “a cheeky fag” or “a social smoke” or “just one at the end of a long day”. A cigarette is a cigarette, no two ways about it! Well, the same can be said for a dollar. A dollar is a dollar whether it goes towards an airport Starbucks or a pension plan or dog food or the gas bill. Don’t ever think that a dollar towards a “treat” is any less than a dollar!
Very true! But man is it hard to keep in mind :) Very similar to dollars you get for free vs being earned as well (like for birthday presents, rebates, etc). Much more odds of being treated differently than had you earned it yourself!
The classic money tip I was thought was ‘To ignore what other people are doing and do what is best for you’. I’ve used this for me than money too.
My dad told me growing up “Always save 10%.” While there percentage is a little low, the principal underneath is sound. Now that I’m a parent, I’m constantly telling my kids “It’s easy to spend money, hard to save it.” To get them to question their spending habits. Have you ever thought of doing a post about what financial advice/nagging people tell their kids? I think it might be fun.
Haha no, but it’s going on the ideas list now, thanks! ;)
(I think you need to beat me to it though, ‘cuz it’s an excellent one!)
The most classic financial tip that I follow is to start saving for retirement early. I opened my Roth IRA at 23 and I have never stopped contributing to it, even when money is tight in other ways!
Best financial advice ever: Automate it. I read once that if you have x amount automatically transferred into savings or into a mutual find every month, saving will be painless. You don’t have to make a decision to save or to spend, and you adjust to doing without that money. So true. I have expanded that to include my big bills. My mortgage payment, my electric bill, and my credit card balance are automatically debited every month. Even if life circumstances make it inconvenient to write a check or transfer money, my house payment is always on time, my lights are never in danger of being cut off, and I never pay credit card interest.
P.S. Don’t put me in the drawing–I have too many books already. :)
haha okay :) love that you still participated though! and totally agree that taking the decision/action out of saving increases the odds dramatically.
Probably the most classic and best financial advice that I have every been given is
“Pay Yourself First”
Nothing has served me as well as this advice!
Wow cool! I’d love to have any of the books above and would make sure to pass it on to other people when I’m done.
Classic frugal tip: eat your leftovers! ;)
Best financial advice: start! Perfection is overrated start where you are at and and modify along the way.
Damn straight on that one…
I think that most important thing that I have learned on this journey is to “pay myself first”. I automatically have a certain dollar amount deducted from my checking account each pay period to go into a savings account. That way I do not have to “remember” to save money each month!
My greatest tip was save all $5 bills. Last year I effortlessly saved $3500.00 doing that.
Nice!!! You must use cash a lot!
The best financial advise I have received all my
Life has been from my father. His words of wisdom include pay yourself first, live within your means, develope a form of passive income and be your own boss. I have the first three covered and am working on the final one now.
I personally tell people “save half and spend half” when in regards to a windfall or some other sort of lump sum. I also live like I’m broke but really not :)
I think we should all try and do that with *ANY* money we get :) But much easier to do starting out than later in life when it’s much harder to cut back so drastically – hah.
The best advice I have gotten is to create a budget. It is the most simplest advice there is, but it works.
Well, I hate to say this one, but it really is classic – spend less than you earn. We do this, but I think the more important thing we follow right now is snowballing Dave Ramsey style. This has done more to produce results and motivated us to get all this darn student loan and vehicle debt paid off than anything! And the only credit card debt we have now is stuff we can pay off at the end of the month, because we wanted the points from the card instead of using savings first!
Spend less than you earn.
The most classic tip I have followed since getting out of college is pay yourself first. I started by putting 5% into our 401k and building up by 2% each year. Now years later there is over a million dollars in that account.
401K Millionaire!!! Love it!
You ever see our post on that before? You’ll like it :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/how-to-be-401k-millionaire/
My classic move is to have $$ moved from checking to savings automatically so I dont see it/ use it..but I REALLY should do the 52 week savings challenge…not quite ready to do that yet..have a tad bit of debt to still get rid of before I do that..
The lightbulb fibancial advice I received was well into adulthood when I discovered Mr. Money Mustache’s idea that “your time to reach retirement depends on only one factor: your savings rate, as a percentage of your take-home pay.”
Really revolutionary words, which have opened up so many creative possibilities for me and my husband. We want our lives to be meaningfully spent, not wasted in material pursuits, so realizing we could actually take charge of our spending and earning and thus change the course of our lives was a wonderful thing.
So the most classic tip I follow is:
Stay out of personal debt.
Also, I love the library idea. Thanks for doing what you do.
You’ll have to help me make it a reality one day!! :)
I am on board with that.
It’s all about thinking of opportunity cost. Before making any purchase, ask yourself what am I giving up by buying this? A $100 shopping trip at Target means one less dinner out with your family. A $2000 piece of furniture means no summer vacation this year. Etc, etc. It will get you thinking of trade-offs and whether a spending spree really is worth it.
Never buy a new car. Ever.
The one thing that I’ve learned over the years is to expand my knowledge about my finances. There are lots of things I didn’t know but I continue to learn through reading lots of books. This is one area of my life that I do need help in. I’ll be sure to pass these wonderful books on to someone else if I’m a winner.
Put iff paying large debt until the small debt is paid off.
Pay yourself first and for me this means my 401K plan – I max it out every year and hopefully one day it will be all worth it ***fingers crossed***
“What’s the most classic financial tip you’ve ever been told? Or do yourself?”
The most classic one I’ve been told and follow is “pay yourself self”. My wife and I follow it with the aid of YNAB and Betterment.
The most classic financial advice I have ever received is to “pay yourself first”. It may not be the best or most actionable advice for those who work a 9 to 5, but it got me to contributing to my 401K in my very first job I ever had and get to maxing it out as quickly as possible. This was a great first step and I was happy to have heard that advice before I started working instead of playing catchup with what I consider the minimum of what people should be doing if able.
How you spend your money reflects your values so before making a purchase ask yourself if it actually aligns with your values. You can value spending time with friends so a drink at happy hour is a good purchase…but if you’re grabbing a random coffee for yourself, what value is that representing for you?
Tithe at least 10% before you do anything else. It’s biblical, a way to worship, but also gives you the mindset that everything you have is a gift from God–you are only a steward of it. So, what should you do with God’s Blessings? Prevents the “I would give if I had anything left at the end of the month” excuse. Give of your first fruits. You don’t do it for this reason, but I have seen many families blessed abundantly and all their needs met once they started being obedient with a tithe first.
I like it :) And definitely need to be better about donating/charity myself.
When it comes to real estate, you make your money when you buy NOT when you sell. So choose a home wisely: Location, good bones, school district, etc all these matter at the time of purchase because they always pay off at the time of sale.
My classic financial tip is to use a budget. Not just develop one at the beginning of the year but use it regularly and understand where your money comes from, where it goes, and make reasoned decisions on how to adjust throughout the year. Each year I spend less than I planned overall, but in some categories I go way over and others I’m under plus I find ways to earn more money when I want to spend more. And most importantly is to always put more in savings than planned as those little (or big) windfalls come in throughout the year.
The best financial advice I received was from my dad when I first entered the workforce after college – save at least 10% in your 401k! Thankfully, I did. I’ve only recently started gaining in depth knowledge about retirement, but I’m so glad I have an 8 year established 401k now. Even having had that thing on autopilot, I’ve got a respectable amount. Just paid off the house too, so I’m flying high and ready to learn even more!
Long time reader first time commenting. The most classic financial tip I ever received was to use the envelope system when budgeting. It actually helped when my wife and I were first married. She was a spender, I was a saver, and our two lifestyles caused us to butt heads a little. The envelope system helped her to see visually what I was doing via spreadsheets and online banking and it made it easier for her to get behind it. That was 8 years ago. Since then, we’ve paid off two cars, my school debt, started 2 Roth IRA’s, a mutual fund, a 401k from her work, and bought a house last fall because all because of the envelope system. I’m always looking to learn more about saving, investing, and the like. Thanks for all the work you do, this site (and others like it) have been tremendously helpful.
What a beautiful story!!
From my Dad.
“Either make a lot, or be really smart with what you have.”
HAH! love it..
I think the best advice I’ve ever been given is when a good friend of mine pretty much told me to quit messing around and start saving.
(It’s taken her months but I’m slowly but surely getting into the PF scene!)
And thank you for paying this forward!
Spend less than you make & avoid credit card debt.
Classics!
Pay off the “easy wins” first.
For example, if you have 2 debts- a credit card and a student loan. Whichever is the smallest, pay it off first. That’s an easy win and gives the motivation that you’ve paid one down and one to go….
Best Financial Tip: “Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford.”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=steve+martin+snl+don%27t+buy+things+you+can%27t+afford&view=detail&mid=3C90E88AF17B389398383C90E88AF17B38939838&FORM=VIRE
Classic skit :)
I don’t know if it’s a classic. lol. But I heard somewhere once, many years ago, “the name of your watch doesn’t matter, if you don’t have enough saved for an emergency, such as a funeral across the country”. I know, a bi morbid, but very true. I’ve taught my girls that, and added to it, “the name of your car doesn’t mean much, if you can’t afford the tires”.
Great giveaway. I always recycle my books with friends or my weekly trip to Goodwill. Thanks.
Mine would have to be: “Pay Yourself First”
I didn’t understand this idea the first couple times I heard it. My thought was typical: “But I have bills! I have a mortgage! The government will get me!!!”.
Then eventually, when I started tracking my net worth (Thanks J$!), it became clear. I began to not only control exactly how much I save/invest and creep this number higher and higher over time, I could also utilize tax-free and tax-deferred options so effortlessly. Now almost everything is automated and I definitely get paid first (tips sunglasses, crosses arms with cool guy grin)…
My parents never gave me tips on savings. It was assumed. Like what else could you possibly do with the money after your basic needs were met?
Recently, my mom was complaining to me about a stingy relative. My parents completely support this person and, when prompted, he wouldn’t even buy my mom a $20 face cream. Exasperated she said, “You have to give to get!” Which is not literally true, because they’re going to support him whether he reciprocates or not. But to me, it was about appreciating that we get so much and we have to give back.
I love the classic advice of living like no one else now so you can live like no one else later.
My classic tip comes from my Grandfather who was in college and worked through the depression and fought in WWII.
While calculating the monthly budget on the back of a used envelope, he would tell me, “put money aside for a rainy day and hope you never have to use it.” This from a man who crossed the millionaire mark many decades ago ; )
Best advice I’ve had is before making any large purchase, which I categorize as $500 or more, sleep on it. I can be impulsive (though I can’t say I’ve gone so far as to buy a house on a whim! lol) and this has helped me think through my purchases more!
I caught that ;)
I tell everyone to invest at least what the company matches to begin with. Then increase at least half of your raise when you get one until maxed out. You won’t miss what’s not there.
unlike the modern adage “you only live once,” actually, you will have a future, so save for tomorrow, so you’re not working forever !
The most classic financial tip that I’ve heard is courtesy of Suze Orman, “Live below your means, but within your needs.”
My favorite tip is from Warren Buffet – to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.
Pay yourself first. Amazing how I can always make things work if I pay myself first but can’t find the money to do so if I don’t do it right away. Love the question!
Spend less than you earn and avoid lifestyle inflation.
Pay yourself first! I split my paycheck by direct deposit/401k contributions so I never forget to save!
My fave cla$$is money tip is: Start your Roth IRA~EARLY. As in, before you turn 18. Only wish I had.
Manage your dollars, manage your life. Spend less than you make, invest the rest. There’s more to life than money.
My husband and I arrived late in life to learning and applying financial wisdom but we are on the FI path now and seeing great things happening in our finances…yippee!
Since I was about 15 years old, my dad started telling me to put 15% of my first paycheck towards my 401k, that way I’ll never get used to seeing that 15% from the very first day. Fast forward to age 24 when I started my first real job, I did what he said and have bumped it up to 23% over the course of 5 years so I now max out my contributions. I’m trying to beat his early retirement age of 55. Thanks Dad!
I want to see you do that too!! :)
Maybe this blog will help you speed it up even more:
https://www.retirebeforedad.com/
The tip I didnt follow was to start my ROTH IRA when I was young. Now im still young, I turn 22 in a month. But I didnt start my roth until I was 21. I wish I had 3 years more of investments into it. Still, a happy experience i’ve began!
It’s okay to *have* money – you don’t have to spend it.
never spend more than you make
My favourite tip is relatively simple – ‘what gets measured gets managed’. If you start tracking your monthly income and expenses you’ll begin to notice both numbers going in the right direction because you’ll begin to notice your bad habits.
My favorite classic tip: you need a budget.
Even better was the first time I read/understood that a budget doesnt have to be restrictive but allows you to prioritize things you actually care about/value.
Yup! It’s not just full of boring stuff – but the stuff that you love/moves you too! And budgets can be just as big as they are small too – even millionaires have budgets!
It’s not how much you make but how much you save that matters.
The best financial tip I was told and I use on a daily basis is DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging) Each week $100 bucks get deducted automatically from my Checking account and it goes into my Betterment app which then gets invested automatically into the Stock Market via ETFs. This way all is done automatically and it pushes me to save/invest regularly regardless of how the market does.
Mine is a combination of what’s already been said. Step 1: create a budget! Step 2: pay yourself first. Step 3: don’t spend more than you have coming in/left over after step 2.
“Buy used and save the difference” – a classic that still holds true today! Whenever I am in need of anything, if I can’t borrow it, I search used first!
Start saving for retirement early to maximize the magic of compounding.
My mother told me to NEVER put anything on a credit card that I couldn’t pay off at the end of the month. She said this rule enabled our family to weather the storm quite well when the company my father worked for went through lay-offs and he was out of a job for a period of time. I follow this rule quite strictly! I’ve always been able to keep my head above water!
The one idea that stuck with me even when I was making poor money decisions in my early 20s was of money compounding over time, specifically related to retirement accounts. Although I was only able to contribute the minimum necessary amount for a while, I started my Roth at 22. Now that I’m older and can contribute more, I’m happy I followed that advice so that I’m not playing catch up!
Mine is “pay yourself first”. Emergency Fund/Savings is the first line in my expenses category and my investment account is the second line. Then it’s on to house bills and other such novelty items like groceries!
Classic dad wisdom: if you can’t pay cash for it, you can’t afford it.
We do leverage a bit of debt for real estate investments but for the most part we try to live a cash-based lifestyle. Credit cards are used for convenience only and paid off (several times) each month.
Always have an emergency fund of 3-6 months living expenses saved up.
My favorite 2 tips (rules) come from Warren Buffett, rule 1 Don’t lose money, and rule 2 remember rule #1! You gotta love Warren Buffett, I recently read his biography “Snowball” and recomend it. This guy followed his own rule (s) consistently and it often meant leaving some money on the table in deals but never more than he made.
I tried reading that book but was SO BIG!!! Haha… I’ve def. heard good things about it though :)
My favorite tip is ‘ Invest like a Millionaire but Consume like an average person’. This is something I have lived with and followed since I was in my early 20’s
I see the opposite with most people around me, which is always something that has bewildered me. Most people will not blink to buy a new $1,500 phone but they will resist & mourn about paying professional fees for say a Real estate investment transaction. I really feel that consumerism has been a growing disease in society generally & does no good for society or planet earth as a whole.
You’ll have to watch this when you get a chance :(
“The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=9GorqroigqM
Personal finance is personal, live on less than you make, and… trust the spreadsheets!
***GIVEAWAY NOW OVER***
Winner announced tomorrow morning – and then on to Book Bundle #2! :)
Hi J $!
First time, long time.
All these classics are phenomenal! Currently reading Richest Man in Babylon. These books share a lot of great themes and lessons, but always good to freshen up and see what new wisdom and guidance is out there.
Thank you for your posts and bringing people together :D
-James
Another excellent classic! One of my faves :)
I have a sheet on the fridge that has my budget for credit cards for that month. Every purchase I subtract and when it hits zero I’m done for the month! We use cards for gas and groceries, so there is an incentive to not splurge or that last week we’ll be pretty hungry!
Haha – I like that idea :)
This is a good idea!
Oh man, I love this! You should definitely start the library!
The best tip I’ve used over the years is to not let lifestyle inflation creep in. I still spend as much money now earning £43,000 as I did when earning £14,000.
Good luck everyone!
Use the grocery flyer to plan your meals. Buy items on sale saves money and helps you vary your menu.
I would love them, and I think lending library is great idea!
Thanks! Hoping to have more time freed up later to make it a reality! :)
The most classic money tip I do, is every time I get a 1$ bill, I store it away in savings. I also do this every time every time my bank account ends in a 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9.
I like it :)
I have a frustrating habit of buying lots of books and online courses. Frustrating because I wish I could be saving that money instead yet I LOVE learning beyond measure. This month I finally decided that I would finalize both libraries and I did. I have essentially saved my future self thousands of dollars as I am known to buy several books and courses and dabble across them all throughout the year and years. This year so far, I have spent $1875.68 on these. I am excited that you are giving away this particular set of book as I am realizing that in my decision to finalize my library yesterday I don’t have any of them. Thanks!
Excellent new habit to get into! Cuz you def. can’t stop learning and enjoying!! :)
Stay away from credit cards if you can’t pay them off right away (they can be evil if you aren’t disciplined like I am), start saving into a 401k/Roth at work or independently as soon as you can and steadily increase your investment percentage as much as possible, start out atleast putting in the “matching” % that your company offers or you are leaving money on the table, direct deposit into your 401K or retirement account is your best friend as you won’t have to be disciplined to send money in or remember to make a contribution, read finance related books, meet regularly with financial experts to review your portfolio and to make adjustments as needed to meet your financial and retirement goals. And one of my favorites is to use various websites like RetailMeNot, etc. to find Promo codes to enter when ordering various products online; there’s nothing like free money. These are just a few tips that I have gathered over the years.
Live below your means.
What’s the most classic financial tip you’ve ever been told? First you must believe that you can be financial fit or savvy. When you learn what this means to you, then you can accomplish what ever you set your mind to with work. This may include budgeting, reading, and changing your old habits about money.