I get a lot of questions for people about money, finance, spending, saving, etc. I occasionally write posts on ways to save money, what it means to save for retirement, financing a car (for which I went through my own blunders) and setting up emergency savings plans. I write these from experience – and I learn through reading, studying and living life.
There’s only so much you can learn from me, however. My blog is not about money and finance. If you want to learn an incredible amount, follow these two bloggers: JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly and Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich. What follows is a short review of Ramit Sethi’s best-selling book by the same name.
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Ramit Sethi throws tomatoes. He throws them at people and he yells at you when you’re being stupid.
He also writes one of the best books on money and personal finance of all books on money and personal finance.
Why? Because he talks to you like you’re sitting across the table from him. It’s not full of jargon and crazy money-speak, and you don’t have to be intimidated by all the numbers. Being overwhelmed by information (“paralysis by analysis”) – and being afraid of starting because we think we don’t know enough about what we are doing – are two of the biggest road blocks to achieving personal financial success.
First of all, it’s not that hard.
Stop lying to yourself and instead do something small and do something simple. Throw $50 in a bank account. Read a $10 book. Set up two automatic systems that save money for you – so you don’t have to think about it again. Give yourself enough credit that you can learn something new and try something new. You’re not an idiot.
You’re only an idiot if you don’t do anything about taking control of your own life. And your own money.
Second of all, most of what you’ve been taught is wrong.
Personal finance isn’t about saving money and keeping strict budgets and never being able to have what you want. Sethi blows many idiotic money assumptions out of the water by introducing the psychology behind personal finance and studying what people actually do and why they do what they do.
Instead of reading this post and walking away at the end of it, I am going to recommend that you buy this book as soon as humanly possible and study what Ramit says from start to finish. And then do what he says. And then forget about it.
It’s not about micromanaging your money. It’s not about becoming the smartest person on the block. It’s about tiny, actionable steps that make managing money automatic – and therefore painless – because you set up systems that work for you.
Because above all else, Ramit tells us to get started even if it’s just a small step today and a small step tomorrow. The worst sin is inaction. The most powerful thing you can do is take a small step towards being better with money.
In the book, he covers credit cars, banks, investing, conscious spending, automation, myths about finanical “expertise,” making money easy to maintain, and how to live a rich life. Basically a financial guru in your pocket – a chapter explaining everything you need to know about money.
If you’re lazy? Just read the first three chapters.
If you’re curious, he even covers how to finance your wedding, purchasing a car the smart way, and whether or not to buy a house. All of this, in simple terms. And do what he says – or else he may beat you with raw onions for being too stupid to do something about your own money.
A great example? Here are a few quotes from the book to get you started:
“Doing nothing is the worst choice you can make, especially in your twenties.”
“Too many of us are paralyzed by the thought that we have to get every single part of our personal finances in order before truly getting started managing our money.”
His counterpoint: “Do you need to be the Iron Chef to cook a grilled-cheese sandwich? No, and once you make your first meal, it’ll be easier to cook the next most complicated thing. The single most important factor to getting rich is getting started, not being the smartest person in the room.”
I’ll admit: I’m a subscriber to the fabulous IWTYTBR blog and I am a member of the Earn1K Club (not affiliate links) because I’ve found that the more I learn, the more I want to know. I’ve emailed Ramit before with questions and ideas – and he writes back.
Ramit speaks the truth, he’s funny, and he spurs you to action.