I recently asked ChatGPT about the best books to become wealthy, and Your Money or Your Life was suggested. I went to check it out and then realized that I already had it on my Kindle, having bought it years ago. I had read most of the book but not all, and I hadn't used the tools suggested. Looking back now, it feels crazy that I had the simple solution for my financial chaos right in front of me - but instead, I was busy chasing quick fixes in other places ("success" retreats, woo-woo books, therapy, you name it).

I have now finally finished Your Money or Your Life and had a huge aha-moment that this is the approach I want and need for sound money management moving forward. I know that the book's method works because although I haven't used all of its steps, I've been tracking my income and expenses every day for eight months (using a Japanese money journal, a "Kakeibo"). After having struggled with money my whole adult life, I'm now FINALLY living within my means and I'm set up to start creating wealth. It would never have happened without getting conscious about my actions with money through tracking how I use it.

I think I probably dismissed Your Money or Your Life when I first bought it years ago because I wanted a shortcut to abundance, so those were the "solutions" I bought into. The problem is that none of the other methods really worked. Your Money or Your Life may not come in a sexy package, but it WORKS. The tools are simple too, and anyone can use them. If you're tired of financial chaos and feeling like you never have enough, read this book and USE THE TOOLS! Although a very practical and no-nonsense book, I think its results in one's life can still be magical.

I love that this book really breaks it all DOWN and makes you critically think about your beliefs and feelings around money. The transformation is real with this one because not only does it provide strategies and steps to follow but it also provides enough information to really set you up for success in a complete financial transformation but also LIFE transformation. I feel so much more financially intelligent after reading this. Thank you!

Financial independence became a passion of mine about 15 years ago. Growing up, I wasn't taught to save my money, so I had no concept of frugality or self-discipline around money. I worked and I consumed. I thought that's just how life works.

Eventually I realized I was strapped to the treadmill of constantly working jobs I hated and living paycheck to paycheck. I became frustrated by the fact that I wasn't actually living life on my terms. I sought out several books on the subject and even took a life-changing personal finance course at my local college. decided to change my career (I started a business), and I dug myself out of debt and started saving my money. I became more frugal and really paid attention to my purchases. Life was good.

It's been a few years since I have read a book on the subject of money. In recent years, I have developed a few poor financial habits and I'm not as disciplined as I once was. Running a successful business and living a cushy life can weaken you, if you're not careful.

"Your Money or your Life" is just the reality check I needed to get back into the right headspace. It reminded me of the early days of running my business where I was on a shoestring budget and loved every minute of it. The book is dense, sometimes repetitive and I found the case study examples boring after awhile. That said, this is a great book, probably one of the best I've read on the subject, and it's one I will recommend to everyone and re-read once a year.

Just finished this book. Have already recommended it to three or four friends. I don’t frequently tell my wife she needs to read something, but this book has so many thought-provoking ideas and questions, and such potential to shape our future financial life that I felt it was was critical reading.

I recommend reading through quickly, then deciding how much detail to go into on some of the “assignments.” If you want the short short version, see the appendix, but i gained a lot through the extended, deliberate dive into each topic, the illustrations of real world people, and the time spent with my mind wandering and weaving Vicki’s recommendations into my own mental schema.

Some of it is a bit overboard in my opinion—I personally see little value in tracking down old W2’s, for instance. But I did find spending 30 minutes or so estimating what I made each year of my life revealing in multiple ways.

The process of methodically accounting for all you income and expenses can require a level of fastidiousness that I don’t have. Fortunately in this tech age online tools can help. I use Mint and love it. I began using Mint about a year ago, so some of the categorization tasks were already done for me. It has its quirks, but if you work past them it is a powerful, free budget analysis tool that pairs nicely with this book.

The book left me invigorated, and inspired to live more simply so that I can spend more of my life “ working for a living instead of working for a dying,” financially independent, and content with “enough.”

Your Money or Your Life has been an empowering and transformative read. The nine steps outlined in this book have helped me reframe how I view and manage money. This book’s practical advice has been invaluable in simplifying and prioritizing my expenses. The insights are clear and relatable, and quite easy to apply to everyday life. I have assembled quite a library on achieving greater financial literacy that I am passing on to my children and grandchildren. Highly recommend for anyone seeking financial clarity and freedom!

This book has a core of good, basic advice to help readers be more intentional with money.

It is terrible as an investment guide.

It is too long.

Seriously, this book could have been a pamphlet, but it's jam-packed with anecdotes, repetition of earlier points, and general clutter that makes me wish for a Cliff's Notes version with every fiber of my being!

So here's the overview I wish I'd had before buying it:

The core principal of the book is:

your money = your time = your life

So a job is a way of trading a portion of your life for money, and spending money is trading part of your life for what you buy. This can be a useful way to think about money, and now you know it and can skip the first chapters.

Thinking this way could cause you to reconsider some of your priorities, so the book then tackles a few related questions in the next chapters:

Where is my money going?

How can I align my spending with my values?

How much money is "enough"?

These are good questions for anyone to think through, and it's hard to overstate the value of having a solid understanding of where your money goes. They even have specific steps, worksheets, etc. to get you through this process. If you are willing to invest time and effort (or in the authors' words, some of your "life energy") into following the letter of their instructions, then you might get a lot out of these chapters.

Most of the rest of the book deals with your net worth, visualizing it, and maximizing it by spending less and earning more. The visualization piece is likely to be useful for many, as it shows where you've been, where you're going, and let's you clearly see the impacts of your past decisions (and circumstances).

But the last two chapters of the book are problematic. The authors attempt to tackle the whole field of investing by devoting a paragraph or two to each of a huge array of complex topics. You know, there's a reason that we have a bajillion books on investing, and it's not because successful investing is simple! So instead of reading these chapters, go and find an investing book that's highly rated and referenced (like "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton Malkiel), and read that instead.

Overall, if you're just beginning to think critically about your money, this is a fine place to start. Just be ready to skim a lot of surplus paragraphs, be willing to find all your financial statements and do a little math, and be sure to ignore the last two chapters.

When I first read this book back in the 90's, It just didn't sink in. I probably wasn't ready for it. Years later, after reading a really in depth review and glowing commentary from Trent at (...) I decided to read it again, and this time it sunk in. It has done more to help me be at peace with money and finances than any other book I have ever read.

This is not a get rich book, in fact I don't think there is a single "do this" statement in the book. There are some things others have done in the back, but they are more inspirational than anything. What it attempts to do is change your mindset, let you step outside of yourself and reexamine your own truths about money and finances. Kind of like a guide book to Paris, we could both take the book to Paris and select the restaurants we wanted to eat in, the sites we wanted to see, and while they may be completely different and we may never cross paths, we both had a wonderful time. It helps you to define your relationship with money, not mine or anyone else's, just yours.

Other commenters have reflected negatively on the authors investment choices of treasury bills. I think they are missing the point, if your relationship with money allows more risk, then take it, theirs did not. I will agree that the "save the planet" speechs do tend to be overly done, I chose to skip them instead of missing the larger message of the book.

In the last 2 years, I have purchased 20 copies of this book and given them all away except the one I keep to read. I can't say that about any other book I've ever read.

This is one of the top five classic books in the world of life planning and finance. Hard to believe but if you adhere to the basic principles within this book, you can reach financial freedom with peace of mind. I only wish that I had seen a book such as this when I was in my 20's. One of the key points is investing monthly in worry free Treasury Bonds. I did this by investing a third of our retirement funds in I Bonds. Now they have doubled in value earning a cool 5-6% a year after 12 years. No fuss, no worry, no concerns about inflation.

It's the old principle of the hare or the turtle. After 40 years I finally got it...the turtle wins out with the magic of compounding. If you just learn those two principles...compounding and Treasury Bonds and start as early as possible, you will be financially free with no risks. Yes. You can try the stock market. I did. Lost alot of money because I acted like a hare, jumping around from one trade to another. if you must use the market, I recommend you buy an Index Fund from Vanguard. Just put your money in every year over 30-40 years. That also works...but it's not risk free. You'll have lots of ups and downs with the possibility of losing everything when times get bad, real bad and you pull out.

To be honest, all of my teaching buddies made their fortunes in real estate by buying one house at a time. But...still not risk free and a lot of worry, work, and frustration. You want an easy way to financial freedom and a great life, read this book every year for the rest of your life. I rated it only four stars because it's too expensive for a kindle book and should be dropped down in price so it is more available to the public. This is a book that all of America needs to read!

Uno de los más grandes libros para hacer introspectiva de la relación que tenemos con el dinero.

Top Tipps

I got a lot of inspiration from this book and will definitely read it again in the future. I also bought it as a gift to my family after reading it.

This is a great book! I first read it many years ago and lost track of it. Both then and now I learned valuable lessons on finances I was not taught previous. I gifted one to each of our kids.

A wonderful resource!💥

The cover came already scratched