Trent at The Simple Dollar has created a new ebook that he's giving away free. If you want a copy, simply go to the book's page on his site and download it. It's that simple.
The book is titled "Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page" and it's just that -- and more. The first page is really "everything you need to know" and then there are 48 extra pages of details. Over the next few days/couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some of my favorite parts of the book with you all, and today we'll focus on the "one page." Here's a summary of it:
1. Spend less than you earn, making the gap between what you make and what you spend as big as possible.
2. You do this by earning as much as you can and living frugally.
3. You then need to manage your money by doing things such as paying off debt, creating an emergency fund, saving for retirement, saving for college, and investing.
4. Once those things are achieved, you're in a position to control your own destiny.
As you might imagine, I LOVE this advice. It matches my thoughts exactly as I've detailed in How to Have a High Net Worth and How to Get Rich in Three Easy Steps. Good, solid, simple yet effective advice. Even if you already have your finances together, I'd suggest you get a copy. Why not? It's FREE, after all. Besides, you can share it with those in your life that are financially challenged.
For those of you who want a bit more information on the topics above and my take on each of them, see these posts:
BTW, the ebook contains some very nice thoughts on Free Money Finance as follows:
Free Money Finance succeeds for me because the author is very, very effective at combing through the mainstream media, finding the articles on personal money management that are really compelling, and commenting on them in a relatable fashion. The (slight) majority of the posts at FMF follow that general format and, for me, those are the ones that keep me coming back for more.
Given that endorsement, how could I not love the ebook? (Did I mention that it's FREE?) ;-)
I really enjoyed this e-book, as well. Strongly suggest everyone downloads it. Like you said... It's Free!
Posted by: Baker @ ManVsDebt | May 11, 2009 at 08:07 AM
"Earn more than you spend" is a better income-amassing strategy.
If you focus on increasing earnings, your earning-to-spending ratio can be increased far beyond what you could do if you were only reducing expenses.
For example, as a freelancer, it's far easier for me to earn $1,000 more than it is to cut $1,000 from my already pared-down expenses.
Am billing $20,000 to $30,000 a month with expenses of only about $1,500, so makes sense to maintain the focus on "earning more than you spend," not "spending less than you earn."
Posted by: Ché | May 11, 2009 at 10:31 AM
I just realized the flaw in my above comment. With the availability of easy credit, you can far outspend your earnings, even your lifetime earnings! (See the wipeouts of Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, etc.)
So perhaps it's: "Focus on earning more, but keep your spending under control"?"
Posted by: Ché | May 11, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Loved the post and agree completely with the simple steps that are listed for attaining wealth.
People are realizing in this economy that being in debt is SLAVERY and overspending leads to very BAD things. If you spend everything you earn, you will be broke. As they say, it is not so much what you MAKE, it's what you SAVE and INVEST that will make you wealthy.
It's pretty simple: Make more and save more! Do that for alot of years and you will be RICH!
The philosophy that has worked for us is Live Frugally, Get Rich, Be Free.
Posted by: Mary@FrugalToRich.com | May 11, 2009 at 11:52 AM