5 BOOKS TO READ TO BE DEBT FREE

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“Five percent of the people think;  ten percent of the people think they think,  and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.” Thomas A. Edison

 

I don’t know about you but ever since I realized I had an issue with money, I started finding ways to get myself out of my jam and started getting my hands on books, audio books, blogs, podcasts and anything to help me learn or better yet undo wrong ideas about money that had me and my family stuck financially.

 

I quickly read these 5 books in a month’s time and it really helped me get on track and feel confident that financial freedom is not only attainable but a reality and all it takes is a change of heart, mind and positive steps taken in the right direction.

 

 

Here are the 5 books to read if you want to get out of financial mediocrity into abundance.

 

 

 

TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER

 

If you’re new to personal finance and are sick and tired of not being able to get a handle on it, then this book is a good start.

 

This is an in your face, gut wrenching, reality check that is supposed to shock and challenge you.

 

This book literally opened my eyes regarding a lot of the misinformation surrounding debt.

 

The author, Dave Ramsey, unapologetically goes into great detail busting myths about debt and the credit card industry, including how so called experts portray it as a “tool” to be used with a ‘sophisticated’ financial plan; when In reality all that these companies do is aggressively target the poor, uninformed and ‘unsophisticated’ public, offering the use of ‘easy money’, and getting them burdened into paying loans that have ridiculous interest rates, that most end up being trapped and hopeless. I know, I was and still am one of them L

 

The author points out that digging oneself out of debt is a reality, with hard work, a sound plan, persistence and perseverance; paying off debt and living debt free could be a reality if wanted bad enough.

 

The book begins with a warning that part of the issue of being financially dumb lies with ‘us’; and  our broken habits and attitudes about money.  It goes on and lays out a step by step plan, called baby steps, that when followed in sequence can put us back in the driver’s seat financially and enable us to realize our hopes and dreams in life. I’m currently in baby step two and working the plan and can really recommend this plan to anyone who’s serious in wanting to be ‘debt free’.

 

If you haven’t read anything else yet, this is the best book to start with.

 

I can assure you that it will bring new ideas and break old idiotic ones that you won’t help but ‘wake up’, get mad, and do something about your situation.

 

 

FINANCIAL PEACE: REVISITED

 

Written by the same author as the Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey, this is his prior book before the “TTMM”.

 

He simplifies the issue that ‘Debt is Dumb’ and that it’s the single most destructive force that’s keeping most of America and literally the world stuck in financial ruin.

 

The book is a thesis about common myths about money and people’s approach to debt; “normal is broke” so to be successful financially, we must think counter culture and not be suckered into what mainstream is telling everyone, that is “to buy stuff with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t know”.

 

The author introduces the ‘baby steps’ here and details the simple plans like sorting out the marriage relationship first, since money fights is one of the contributing factors of divorce; and be united as a couple to be able to handle the workload, first by creating and sticking to a ‘budget’, then in tackling the debt payoff using the ‘snowball’ method, that is paying the smallest debt first and with the momentum paying off everything but the house, if there is one.

 

I also love that there’s an eventual purpose to being debt free and that is to having significance by not allowing stuff own you but instead, once financially able, to be able to “give like no one else”, which is really a practice that is aligned with the divine.

 

This book will not only give you hope but will also help you realize that there’s a bigger purpose other than being  wealthy, and once you discover it, you’ll be able to  ‘live like no one else so later on you can live like no one else’.

 

 

 

START

 

I’m so glad I read this book.  Our dear friends gifted me this book for my birthday about 5 years ago and it sat through 3 house moves already, I should have read this a long time ago 🙂

 

The main point of this book is that we aren’t ordinary people, we have a gift inside of us, something ‘AWESOME’ inside of us and the only way it can come out, and be discovered, is if we ‘START’, that is to discover what we’re good at, take initiative and use our gifts and turn it into a vehicle that can help us and others, and be good at it.

 

I love the author’s personal conversational tone and as I read through the book, felt like I was just having an honest conversation.

 

I had so many great gotcha moments like figuring out my ‘DREAM’ future and what I would do to get there; but while on the journey, there will be negative voices that will hound me, and the only way to counter them is to confront and challenge them; I also have lots of potential waiting to be discovered, and in fact, there are people that would benefit from my message, wow, really?

I believed it enough that I started this blog and really glad I did.

 

Finally, the best thing about this book is that it inevitably tackles the fear in everyone trying to start their AWESOME journey, whatever it is.

 

By being honest, teachable, flexible and open minded, we can all discover our AWESOME and share it with everyone, in the end, finding significance and purpose in life.

 

 

 

 

DAVID AND GOLIATH

 

I read one of Malcolm Gladwell’s’ books before this,  entitled ‘Outliers’ and boy was I blown away by the stories the author told about ordinary folks overcoming adversity and being successful, so naturally, I had to read this one since the title also suggested  a  familiar theme, I’m glad I did.

 

This book will make you feel empowered, especially since if you’re like me, feeling like underdogs, trying to battle our way out of debt.

 

The story begins with the familiar narrative about David battling and defeating the giant Goliath.

 

Although the subject is familiar, the author approaches it on a different angle, one that suggest David, a shepherd boy, enduring difficulty in the fields, that ultimately prepared him to handle the pressures of being in hard situations as well as the stamina and training to be able to master the slingshot which during ancient times was considered one of the most lethal weapons available, but difficult to master.

 

The story suggests that David having been trained in hard conditions and having time to practice and master his weapon of choice, made it easy for him to step up when faced with the ultimate battle, that is overcoming the most significant giant of his time.

 

In the same way, we too face extraordinary adversity, it may be financial, professional, personal, or whatever it may be; we face or will go through difficulties as we journey through life.

 

But these adversities are not meant to defeat us or weaken us, but instead they are meant to grow us, if we have a healthy perspective, we will see that the times that are hardest for us, could be the times that our inner muscles get flexed so that we can use them later on when we get to the most significant battles of our lives.

 

I love that the author presents stories of ordinary people, having what seemed to be disadvantaged beginnings, but ending up being successful due to toughing it out, coping and even thriving through the difficulty, to be able to not only overcome but be successful in their chosen field.

 

Tying this to personal finance was easy for me, I know that these hard times of going through budgets, financial plans, and paying off debt will be difficult, but it is good training for me and my family to give us the determination to keep going, and eventually prepare us for bigger hurdles to slay ahead.

 

 

 

CHANGE YOUR HABITS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

 

I read this book out of a need to figure out what habits I had that needed changing or what habits did successful people have that might help me in my pursuit of financial independence.

 

I’m so glad I took the time to delve into this powerful thesis by Tom Corley.

 

In this book, he outlines the habits of successful people and compares them to those of poor people, and then he finds that there are common themes that rich people do that contribute to their success that can be duplicated and applied to everyone’s psyche in order to also be successful.

 

Success habits include reading and self-improvement, time management, positive thinking, healthy lifestyle, and dream casting to name a few.

 

I know my wife and I practice some of these already but was also surprised that we still had some ‘poor’ habits that contribute to our mediocrity which included unhealthy eating habits, time mismanagement, and not thinking enough 🙁 who knew that it was a bad habit 🙂

 

At any rate, I came out positively charged and empowered to know that by simple tweaking and being mindful, we can alter our ingrained habits and transform into success magnets that will ultimately cause us to be successful at every endeavor we choose.

 

I think personally, having good habits is a no brainer, yet due to the culture we are in, it sometimes fogs up the positive messages we should be paying attention to, and discourages us from doing the right things.

 

I so appreciate this book and the perspective it brought me and that by being mindful of simple positive changes in habit and actions, anyone can escape being mediocre and be on their way to awesomeness.

 

Do you have other books that can help us change our attitudes and situations for the better? Do you have experiences or anecdotes you can share? Please do so by commenting below or emailing at thedebtfreejourney@gmail.com.

 

Peace and Blessings to you All.