Your Money or Your Life

For those who want or desperately need to get control of their finances the rest of the book is still relevant whether you are a US or UK reader. If you are already interested in getting off the consumption treadmill then it's an ideal system that will help you define how much money is really 'enough' for your needs. In the vast majority of personal examples this is invariably far less than the people started with, possibly because most of them are middle class earners 'downsizing' rather than poor people 'upgrading'.

YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE makes good points about how much of your wages go straight back into the costs of the job (suitable clothing, daily transport, relaxation from all the stress, lunch away from home etc) and shows how to calculate your real hourly wage. This could be useful if you are planning to re-enter the job market. Strangely it also recommends WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR PARACHUTE which is about finding the perfect job for your interests and aptitudes, despite having spent several pages explaining there is no 'job charming' for any of us and we should just reconcile ourselves to working for money, content that it's for the greater aim of Financial Independence.

Middle class babyboomers tired of the rat race will lap it up whlist those still trying to get into that race will find useful financial techniques to get started from a firm foundation.


This book is killer.   September 3, 1999
 5 out of 12 found this review helpful

If you read this book, and follow its advice, you are a better man than I. My attitude was "step one sounds great -- but I'll skip it." And I put all my money in Internet stocks, and they took off, and then they fell, and the simple life is not for everyone. Still, the book is quite thought-provoking (if a bit dogmatic). Get rid of all that you do not need, and live off investment interest, then you can do what you WANT to do instead of what you HAVE to do. A good plan, indeed, and a nice antidote to the get-rich-and-die yuppi credo. See you in shangri-la


Don't pass this book up!   June 4, 1999
 16 out of 16 found this review helpful

This book is more than a book about money, it's a book about time...your time. I heard about this book and I thought it would be interesting, but I had no idea it would completely transform my life. Before I even finished it I found myself talking about the ideas to family and friends.

"Your Money or Your Life" has given me the strength to know the path that eluded me for so long. Now I can focus on things that are meaningful, instead of just being another 9-5 drone. Now I realize the myths behind modern employment, and the modern stencil-cut pattern for living. Still every day I talk with brainwashed people who say "I love my work" then come home exhausted and unfufilled, deeper in debt, down a 6-pack or just simply collapse after dinner...ignoring their family and friends. You don't have to be one. Read this book with an open mind, and you will never be just a piece of the machine that a select few profit from again.