Not my first personal finance book, but the one that had the biggest impact on me was Your Money or Your Life. It taught me how to create a true budget and gave me hope that I could retire.
I'm so excited to read these reviews! (Not just because you listed my book — this is a fantastic experiment, anyway!) I love the angle you're taking to learn how people talk about money in seemingly similar cultures around the world. This question has been on my mind as I wonder whether my book would have a chance at international publication (it's probably too specific to the U.S.). I'm adding these books to my TBR, and I look forward to your reviews :)
More than 20 years ago I was inspired by David Bach's Smart Women Finish Rich. In the past 5 years, I've learned the most from Paula Pant's podcast, Afford Anything: https://affordanything.com/, and the work on Shang Saavedra and her Instagram account, Save My Cents: https://savemycents.com/about/.
I'm very excited to follow along with you on this. I love the approach of exploring authors from different countries. Whenever I go to Italy and hear conversations about money, I can tell the culture around it is different and that is so incredibly fascinating! It has given me a lot to ponder.
Writing that out, I guess that might be something I am seeking this year within my own financial goals... perhaps developing my own culture around money and not being exclusively sucked in to the hustle of it all... 🩷🩷🩷
My Dad also constantly talked about money and I credit him to the situation I'm in now (35, mortgage free owner of my own [small] home, relatively close to financial freedom [on my own terms]). He didn't specifically tell me to do anything, it was more listening to who he thought was impressive ('Look at this article, this woman saved half of everything she earned as a teenager and now she's got X amount!') and what he saw as his own problems (having a mortgage, having to be away from home to work as a long distance wagon [lorry/truck] driver). Oh, and the fact he didn't subscribe to social norms so I haven't minded doing things differently! That's huge when it comes to finances I think, because ultimately if you're not willing to behave differently to the norm you're going to end up in the norm. Looking forward to more from you on personal finance, it's a very intriguing topic and I'd love to know more about how the situation in the UK compares to Canada/the US.
Have to recommend Real Life Money by Clare Seal. She *started out* on a debt repayment journey, but now talks about how our emotional relationship to money impacts our ability to ‘use’ it like the tool it is.
Hands down the best personal finance (UK) book I've read is Pete Matthews 'The Meaningful Money Handbook'. Very very practical and if I'd had it ten or twenty years ago (I'm 45 now), it would have made me a richer woman today! He also has a podcast and a Youtube channel.
I like “I will teach you how to be rich” douche title for sure. But I like the message that Rich is what each person wants it to be. So the author encourages people to live their rich life. For me at the moment that might be being able to buy whatever book I want. But then I just cut back on the things that don’t make my life rich. Also he encourages people to think bigger and bigger on their rich lives. So many books seem to be about saving. This book along with other ideas focuses on spending and having fun while doing it responsibly.
Yay, looking forward to the personal book reviews! I also like the goal you have set for yourself this year 👍🏼 A personal finance book that I read this past autumn and enjoyed was I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. I may have mentioned this previously but his book made my brain finally understand a bit more about index funds and that is one thing I would like to learn even more about and then open one.
A million years ago (late 1980's), I read How to Survive Without a Salary by local author Charles Long. Not so much a book about how to handle money, it was instrumental in introducing me to a non-consumer, non-wage earner mindset. Later, when I took a writing class from Charles, he invited me to his home. I saw firsthand how comfortable and fulfilling life could be without depending on a paycheque. Changed my world.
The most impactful book I have read on financial literacy is Financial Fitness: the 47 principles of financial literacy. It doesn't fit your criteria because 1. It was written by 2 men Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward and 2. It is written by US authors though I have known readers from North American, South American, Australia, and Europe who have benefited from the information. As a result of what I learned I payed off all debt including my mortgage and my daughters' student loan debt from their undergraduate studies and have remained not only debt free but grown my resources for the last 8 years. I have acted as a guide for numerous women using this information and those who have implemented what they learn have experienced similar results.
Cait! As someone who went through this exact transition, I am so keen to see where this leads to. I was financially tied to Canada until I moved to the UK for a decade, and now live in Switzerland for four years. I’ve learned A LOT about how simplify and move your money around. One point that you need to consider is retirement and the pension systems you’re engaging in. I still haven’t found a good book / blog about this yet - What happens when you work in multiple countries, pay into multiple state systems and are not sure where you will ‘retire’. I’ve simplified what I can privately but this is a massive topic that deeply impacts expats! And something we need to be thinking about now as to not leave money on the table
Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. I read that in 1999 or 2000 or sometime back then. And I listened to his radio show consistently. I think you may have read his book before but thought I would bring it up anyway. It strongly helped direct my life and now I am retired. I am not sure if Millionaire Next Door is a financial book but that was such a fun read. Thank you for your writing and thoughtful words.
Re:the lack of men on your book list—from someone who almost exclusively reads women on every topic, I’m tired of seeing subjects through the eyes of men. Why not become one of the go-to experts for writing about women’s finances in the UK? The challenges are so unique and you’re already invested (ha) in that subject.
Ooo and I forgot to add: there will be book giveaways throughout the year too! Yay! 🥳
Not my first personal finance book, but the one that had the biggest impact on me was Your Money or Your Life. It taught me how to create a true budget and gave me hope that I could retire.
I'm so excited to read these reviews! (Not just because you listed my book — this is a fantastic experiment, anyway!) I love the angle you're taking to learn how people talk about money in seemingly similar cultures around the world. This question has been on my mind as I wonder whether my book would have a chance at international publication (it's probably too specific to the U.S.). I'm adding these books to my TBR, and I look forward to your reviews :)
More than 20 years ago I was inspired by David Bach's Smart Women Finish Rich. In the past 5 years, I've learned the most from Paula Pant's podcast, Afford Anything: https://affordanything.com/, and the work on Shang Saavedra and her Instagram account, Save My Cents: https://savemycents.com/about/.
Hi friend!
I'm very excited to follow along with you on this. I love the approach of exploring authors from different countries. Whenever I go to Italy and hear conversations about money, I can tell the culture around it is different and that is so incredibly fascinating! It has given me a lot to ponder.
Writing that out, I guess that might be something I am seeking this year within my own financial goals... perhaps developing my own culture around money and not being exclusively sucked in to the hustle of it all... 🩷🩷🩷
My Dad also constantly talked about money and I credit him to the situation I'm in now (35, mortgage free owner of my own [small] home, relatively close to financial freedom [on my own terms]). He didn't specifically tell me to do anything, it was more listening to who he thought was impressive ('Look at this article, this woman saved half of everything she earned as a teenager and now she's got X amount!') and what he saw as his own problems (having a mortgage, having to be away from home to work as a long distance wagon [lorry/truck] driver). Oh, and the fact he didn't subscribe to social norms so I haven't minded doing things differently! That's huge when it comes to finances I think, because ultimately if you're not willing to behave differently to the norm you're going to end up in the norm. Looking forward to more from you on personal finance, it's a very intriguing topic and I'd love to know more about how the situation in the UK compares to Canada/the US.
I highly recommend "Money Out Loud" by Berna Anat, a US author. I think the say she approaches money from a POC perspective is quite refreshing.
Have to recommend Real Life Money by Clare Seal. She *started out* on a debt repayment journey, but now talks about how our emotional relationship to money impacts our ability to ‘use’ it like the tool it is.
Hands down the best personal finance (UK) book I've read is Pete Matthews 'The Meaningful Money Handbook'. Very very practical and if I'd had it ten or twenty years ago (I'm 45 now), it would have made me a richer woman today! He also has a podcast and a Youtube channel.
I like “I will teach you how to be rich” douche title for sure. But I like the message that Rich is what each person wants it to be. So the author encourages people to live their rich life. For me at the moment that might be being able to buy whatever book I want. But then I just cut back on the things that don’t make my life rich. Also he encourages people to think bigger and bigger on their rich lives. So many books seem to be about saving. This book along with other ideas focuses on spending and having fun while doing it responsibly.
Yay, looking forward to the personal book reviews! I also like the goal you have set for yourself this year 👍🏼 A personal finance book that I read this past autumn and enjoyed was I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. I may have mentioned this previously but his book made my brain finally understand a bit more about index funds and that is one thing I would like to learn even more about and then open one.
A million years ago (late 1980's), I read How to Survive Without a Salary by local author Charles Long. Not so much a book about how to handle money, it was instrumental in introducing me to a non-consumer, non-wage earner mindset. Later, when I took a writing class from Charles, he invited me to his home. I saw firsthand how comfortable and fulfilling life could be without depending on a paycheque. Changed my world.
The most impactful book I have read on financial literacy is Financial Fitness: the 47 principles of financial literacy. It doesn't fit your criteria because 1. It was written by 2 men Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward and 2. It is written by US authors though I have known readers from North American, South American, Australia, and Europe who have benefited from the information. As a result of what I learned I payed off all debt including my mortgage and my daughters' student loan debt from their undergraduate studies and have remained not only debt free but grown my resources for the last 8 years. I have acted as a guide for numerous women using this information and those who have implemented what they learn have experienced similar results.
Cait! As someone who went through this exact transition, I am so keen to see where this leads to. I was financially tied to Canada until I moved to the UK for a decade, and now live in Switzerland for four years. I’ve learned A LOT about how simplify and move your money around. One point that you need to consider is retirement and the pension systems you’re engaging in. I still haven’t found a good book / blog about this yet - What happens when you work in multiple countries, pay into multiple state systems and are not sure where you will ‘retire’. I’ve simplified what I can privately but this is a massive topic that deeply impacts expats! And something we need to be thinking about now as to not leave money on the table
Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. I read that in 1999 or 2000 or sometime back then. And I listened to his radio show consistently. I think you may have read his book before but thought I would bring it up anyway. It strongly helped direct my life and now I am retired. I am not sure if Millionaire Next Door is a financial book but that was such a fun read. Thank you for your writing and thoughtful words.
Re:the lack of men on your book list—from someone who almost exclusively reads women on every topic, I’m tired of seeing subjects through the eyes of men. Why not become one of the go-to experts for writing about women’s finances in the UK? The challenges are so unique and you’re already invested (ha) in that subject.