Inexpensive Start up- Up front... Starting this system will not commit you to buying checkbook booklets for the rest of your days. Simply put cut one of the three sample booklets out of the back of the book with a razor blade and hit the copy store. Copy what you need for the year and then file the original. (If cutting up books bugs you, buy a second copy used for under a few dollars.) This system is basically the envelope system on paper. If paper bugeting scares you to death start with training wheels. Try the envelope system first. You can find info free about it on the web. Don't buy some expensive plan. If keeping track of every breath you take is painful, then this will be rough for you in the beginning. Honestly facing where you are spending is the first step. Be sure to allow yourself a budgeted amount of money that you *do not have to account for. This will minimize the feeling of having your every breath counted. For me it is ussually 10 dollars. Your budget is likely very different than mine. But, it is awfully nice to not have to account for tic tacs. :o) Give it a try! Also try your money or your life.
some people need to budget
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This book is a great tool to learn how to be excellent with your money. I love how people (or a certain reviewer) think that budgeting is over-rated/evil. I doubt that you could find a successful business or a millionaire who doesn't budget everything. Many people have plenty of money and plenty of skill and wheel power to not spend more then you make, and still know how to come out ahead. But there is a reason that bankruptcies and debt problems have sky rocketed in the past ten years. Some people just don't know how to spend and save, or some people are like me; I had some bad things happen in life that caused me to be in a lot of debt not by my choosing. Because of this I could not afford an expensive financial planer to help me. The budget product that "Rich on Any Income" talks about is $12 that is $1 a month; it is a little book, like a check balancing book. Yes this can be duplicated in any number of ways, from Excel to a .25 cent note pad. But the key is this book gives you the know how to get out of debt and stay out of debt! This is a great book for young people learning about money as well Mhalky
best budget book I've read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I managed to survive on VERY little money in a time of need because of the principles I learned in this book. I highly recommend it to everyone. It truely teaches how to best use your money to get what you want out of life.
This is a GREAT System
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
This book is great! Being on such a tight budget ourselves, it has saved me many, many hours of frustration. It is like using the envelope system, but it is right in your checkbook and you know at a moment's notice where you are with your budget. I strongly suggest this to anyone who has to budget to live on their income.
Some great concepts
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Budgeting is hard, it requires discipline... especially for those of us who struggle to make ends meet. Its not as easy as the previous reviewer seems to think... sound principles, good tools, and daily personal flogging are required to get your financial life in order. This book teaches sound principles and is a very easy read. The methods taught are manual and require discipline to implement... I have found it to be difficult to implement personally because of the manual nature. But... I am sold on the envelope budgeting concept and know that if I can implement it and stick with it, it will help me get on top of my finances. I like that you dont need to buy his tools to implement the principles he teaches, but I intend to try them out to see how they work.
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