Give A Book That Has Changed Your Life
As an adult, one my biggest accomplishments is changing how I view money (realizing that acquiring more money just to buy more things does not lead to happiness) and how I manage my money (actively saving for retirement and future goals while remaining debt free).
Now I feel in control of my finances instead of ignoring my finances or feeling my finances are controlling me.
Two people have helped me get to this point in my life. My husband, Kevin Jaeger, and Trent Hamm, the brains behind the blog TheSimpleDollar.com.
If I’m ever in a conversation related to money or finances, I always bring up TheSimpleDollar.com so more people can benefit from the website’s advice. A lot of his stuff is not just great financial advice, it’s great advice for living life in general.
Trent’s #1 book recommendation is Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin which talks about gaining control of your money so you can create the life that you want to live. The book happens to be a New York Times bestseller.
This book differs from the other money-related self-improvement books out there because this one gets to the core of your relationship with money. It makes you closely examine and deconstruct your goals, fears, values and beliefs that relate to money. At least it did for me.
The book teaches you things like, “Money is something we choose to trade our life energy for.”
Once I realized I “pay” for money with my time, I think very differently about the purchases I make.
Let’s say a person makes $20 per hour and they go on a $300 shopping spree. They will have to spend 15 hours working to earn that money. That’s almost two full days of work!!! Ask yourself, are the “things” you just bought worth it?
Other books will teach you about budgeting and saving, but Your Money or Your Life will change your life – like it did mine.
Giving a book that has changed your life always makes a thoughtful gift to someone who might benefit from the book.
I purchased this book for my friend Jody’s son as a graduation gift. The better he understands money at his young age, the better life he can create for himself now and in the future.
When giving a book that’s meaningful to you, make sure to share exactly how the book changed your life. Tell the person, write it in a card, or write in on an inside page of the book itself. Your gift will have the biggest impact that way!
Although we are largely unconscious of our financial belief system, our blindness condemns us to prisons of our own making. – Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life
What book has changed your life? Have you ever given it as a gift? Please post in the Comments section!
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