Vacation your way to financial freedom!
/It's summer time, folks! Time to trade that office chair for a lawn chair and stale coffee for your favourite beverage and hit up a week or two at the nearest beach for a whole lot of rest and relaxation. With all this time on your hands why not use some of it to boost your personal finance fortitude and turn your downtime into some GO time!
As a CPA, CMA and MBA candidate, who blogged his way through debt elimination a few years back (check my story out at http://plans2prosperyou.blogspot.ca/) I often get asked a lot of questions about personal finance, and to be honest I don’t mind at all. I love chatting personal finance and I have a passion to see people achieve success in all areas of their life. Personal finance is a key success factor of life which so many people find challenging and so I am always happy to share what knowledge I have.
Truth be told, most of my personal knowledge has been gained through the school of hard knocks and my personal hunger for knowledge so any chance I have to share the little tidbits I have come across I am happy to oblige. The three major resources I always point others to are:
These 3 books cover a multitude of financial knowledge and each one has been instrumental in how I look at my finances.
First, The Wealthy Barber – I first read this one when I was about 13 years old. A gift from my parents, I remember devouring this book. (Yup, I was that kid) I only wish I had fully grasped the importance of it as it could have saved me from a lot of trouble down the road. The keep it simple concepts of Pay Yourself First and the Ten Percent Solution are foundational concepts to financial security.
Next, Total Money Make Over – I didn’t discover this gem till I was already swimming in debt and facing personal bankruptcy. You see I knew great financial concepts and understood how it all worked but I never really internalized them until I read this one. Ideas such as Dave’s Debt Snowball method of debt reduction never made sense to me until I actually applied it a few weeks in and I was sold, numbers are one thing but motivation is a complete other and between Total Money Make Over and Dave’s podcast consistently promoting a rice and beans life style, living like no one else so that you can LIVE like no one else was the push I needed to keep focused on my goals.
Finally, Rich Dad Poor Dad – This one changed how I looked at money, specifically assets and liabilities. Maybe I’m just lazy but the concept of using income to buy assets that pay your expenses seems like a far better plan than just using income to pay expenses. The second is how it shaped my verbiage around money, it sounds simple but training my thoughts to “I’m broke.” from “I’m poor.” and to “How can I afford it?” rather than “I can’t afford it.” has impacted my perspective instrumentally.
These are only a few of the many nuggets of knowledge I gained through each of these awesome books. Check them out for yourself. No matter where you are in your financial journey, each one offers a great workout for your financial fitness.
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