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7 Best Books on Budgeting and Saving Money

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While there are some people who have a natural talent when it comes to handling their money, others have to learn this skill. No matter how much you earn, you will still need to pay attention to how you spend your salary. If you aren’t looking to read the reviews, I’ll let you know that in my opinion, the best of these 7 is The Total Money Makeover  .

Keep in mind that most people buy more things than they can afford. In case you waste a lot of your money on stuff you don’t really need, you should work on your budgeting skills.

Simply saying you’re going to start saving money won’t be enough for you to make progress. You will need to learn a lot about personal finance before being able to come up with a budgeting plan.

Even though you can find a lot of quality advice online, the best thing you can do is buy a personal finance book. After reading just one of the following books, you will learn extremely important lessons that can be used practically in real life. We’ve assembled a list of the best books on budgeting and saving money for your convenience.

1. The Total Money Makeover

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The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition
  • Classic Edition
  • Way to whip your finances into shape
  • This product will be an excellent pick for you
  • Hardcover Book
  • Ramsey, Dave (Author)

Dave Ramsey’s classic has been inspiring budgeters since it was released. He is considered THE expert when it comes to budgeting and paying off debt. Dave Ramsey establishes a foundation for would-be budgeters to pay off their debt, save for emergencies and eventually attain the ultimate goal: the paid off home mortgage.

There is definitely a benefit to seeing various opinions on budgeting but, if you have to purchase just one book now, this is the one you need. He teaches you to distinguish wants from needs. He doesn’t sugar coat things. There are not shortcuts and Ramsey will tell you that. He is also a huge advocate of the envelope system to help control spending.

Have you heard of the Baby Emergency Fund, Sinking Fund and Debt Snowball? Those are all Dave Ramsey concepts. While they may have existed before hand, he certainly popularized them.

What’s great about this book is it takes you through every step imaginable towards financial freedom. The book assumes you are starting in debt with no savings, and gives you strategies for that. It gives you strategies for debt payoff.

Once your debt is gone, The Total Money Makeover  covers retirement investing and college funding. Finally, in Chapter 12 and 13, Dave Ramsey covers wealth building and living a life designed to enhance who you are as a person.

Note: Dave Ramsey is Christian and the book has some religious references. They are not overwhelming or invasive. If you aren’t religious, they are easy to move past.

2. 365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money

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365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money
  • Hamm, Trent (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 240 Pages – 12/17/2008 (Publication Date) – Adams Media (Publisher)

This book was written by Trent Hamm, founder of The Simple Dollar – one of the most popular personal finance blogs in the world. The great thing about it is that you will hear countless ways to save money.

For instance, did you know you’re able to save up to $65 per year simply by washing your clothes with cold water? Another great example of what you can learn is how to save money when you’re shopping for groceries.

It’s recommended you buy food in bulk when there’s a discount involved. You can simply store the excess food in a deep freezer and prepare it whenever you want to.

If you’re looking for interesting ways to start saving money long-term, 365 Ways to Live Cheap  is the perfect book for you. The best thing about this book is you can read it free with Kindle Unlimited.

Although some of the tips mentioned in it have been around for a while, you’ll still hear a ton of great advice when it comes to managing your personal finances.

On top of that, upon finishing the book you’ll be encouraged to reflect on how much money you spend on things you don’t know. If you’re able to cut down on needless everyday spending you’ll be able to save more than you set out to.

3. Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

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Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together
  • Lowry, Erin (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 288 Pages – 05/02/2017 (Publication Date) – TarcherPerigee (Publisher)

This is a book written by personal finance expert Erin Lowry, who created a guide to getting your financial life together. Aimed at millennials, it takes a quite modern approach to explaining personal finances.

If you’re in this generation, you should definitely check this book out. It will prepare you for various situations in life such as retirement and making investments.

You’ll learn how to get out of debt and create a budget as well. It’s easy to remember key advice from this book since each chapter ends with a bullet-point breakdown to ensure you understand what you just read.

You don’t need to know anything about personal finance in order to understand this book. It’s written in a way that encourages people to pay more attention to financial planning. Even though it covers a lot of ground the book is far from boring.

In fact, it’s often quite funny, which makes it a delightful read. Millennials need a book like this  in a time when unpaid internships and huge student loans are common problems.

4. The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living

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The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living
  • Jones, Anna Newell (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 240 Pages – 04/26/2016 (Publication Date) – William Morrow Paperbacks (Publisher)

Popular personal finance expert Anna Newell Jones wrote this amazing book to help people learn how to save money and live a debt-free life. It’s worth noting that Anna was in a lot of debt before she started her AndThenWeSaved.com website.

Anna managed to eliminate nearly $24,000 of her debt in just 15 months using the method she came up with. Anna has since inspired a lot of people across the globe to get out of debt. Reading this book will help you understand just how serious of a problem being in debt can be.

You’ll also work on separating all of your expenses into needs and wants.The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living  is very relatable, as Anna mentions a lot of mistakes most people make. Nevertheless, you will get a solution for every mistake.

You will be able to determine how much money to spend on certain things. The best thing about the book is that Jones is so honest about her own spending problems, which is why you end up connecting with her and listening to her advice.

5. Your Playbook for Tough Times

Your Playbook For Tough Times
  • Freedman, Donna (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 136 Pages – 08/25/2016 (Publication Date) – Word Matters LLC (Publisher)

Written by former newspaper journalist Donna Freedman, this book was written for people who are in tough times, those who think that they’re going to experience a lot of hardships soon, as well as entrepreneurs.

While it’s surely easier to save money when you don’t have to deal with many problems, this book  will teach you how to survive tough times and save money on everything from utilities and entertainment to health care and housing.

No matter how tight your budget is, you will still be able to put some advice to use and build savings for retirement and emergencies.

Apart from developing a strategy to save money in the long run, you’ll find out ways to find short-term help whenever you’re experiencing financial problems. In case you’re an entrepreneur, you will find interesting chapters like one which covers how you can retire by 35.

6. Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America’s Cheapest Family

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Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America’s Cheapest Family
  • Economides, Steve (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 320 Pages – 09/27/2010 (Publication Date) – Thomas Nelson (Publisher)

Written by New York Times best-selling authors Steve and Annette Economides, also known as America’s Cheapest Family, this book focuses on interesting strategies to spend less on your groceries without even having to use coupons.

It can be hard to figure out how to save money on groceries on your own since you think nearly everything you buy at the supermarket is essential. There are many realistic tips mentioned in this book and it’s evident that the authors have really tried and tested their strategies.

Even though you may think cutting your grocery bill in half is impossible, you will actually be able to do this if you follow advice written by Steve and Annette .

7. The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated

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The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
  • Olen, Helaine (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 256 Pages – 03/07/2017 (Publication Date) – Portfolio (Publisher)

The Index Card is a personal finance book written by journalist Helaine Olen and professor Harold Pollack. The idea behind this book was to show readers that personal finance shouldn’t be complicated. It features some amazing and straightforward tips that will help you manage your funds properly.

Some of the advice mentioned in The Index Card  is very simple like maxing out a 401(k), setting aside a percentage of your income, and so on. However, it also goes in detail about how you can choose the right financial advisor.

Conclusion

The journey towards getting out of debt and establishing a budget that works for your family isn’t always easy. Sure, there are countless blogs (like this one) and podcasts available to give advice and lessons on various topics but sometimes it’s just nice to curl up with a good book.

When you are looking for a good book to read we hope you’ll choose one of these 7. We feel they are the best books on budgeting and saving money. If those are your goals, any one of these books will be a great addition to your library.

7 best books on saving money

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