I recently finished a great financial planning book called The Wealthy Barber Returns by Dave Chilton. I've always been kind of in to finance. For one thing, I understand how money works, especially in a business sense. But I've never been very good at following through on the basic principles of personal finance. It's only been in the last year or so that I have started to get serious about my finances.
What's nice about Chilton's book is that he keeps things simple. He puts finance in to perspective for all of us to understand. In the book, he keeps pushing the "Pay Yourself First" principle. This is the idea that before you do anything with your money, you should put a certain amount aside as savings. Of course, your options for putting that money away are varied and complicated, but the principle is the same. It's the single most important thing that I took away from the book, and total common sense. But remember that sometimes common sense isn't so common, and often times people don't follow this simple rule, even when they know they should. And one more thing, the earlier the better. The best time to start saving is now!
Here's another great lesson from the book. Learning to say "I can't afford it." He teaches us that it can be quite liberating to simply say those words. After you say that, the pressure is off. Often times we try to keep up with what our friends or neighbours are doing, even when we truly can't afford it. Once you learn to say "I can't afford it", managing your finances becomes quite a bit easier.
Dave Chilton doesn't really teach us anything new in the book. Frankly, most of the principles are the same as they always have been. Save your money, live within your means. It's basic stuff, but I recommend the book because it take these simple principles and teaches us how to apply them to our own lives.
Here's another great lesson from the book. Learning to say "I can't afford it." He teaches us that it can be quite liberating to simply say those words. After you say that, the pressure is off. Often times we try to keep up with what our friends or neighbours are doing, even when we truly can't afford it. Once you learn to say "I can't afford it", managing your finances becomes quite a bit easier.
Dave Chilton doesn't really teach us anything new in the book. Frankly, most of the principles are the same as they always have been. Save your money, live within your means. It's basic stuff, but I recommend the book because it take these simple principles and teaches us how to apply them to our own lives.
