Personal Finance Books that changed my money mindset

Over the last few months, I have read 5 personal finance books that changed my money mindset for the better. I have always thought I was good at money management and in fairness I am to a degree but after reading the 5 personal finances I realise I could go much deeper in understanding how I view money and how I spend money. Most of us have grown up in households where speaking openly about money is; rude, a taboo and not the done thing and this had affected how we manage and interact with money. I have shared previously about the 3 money mistakes I made as a young adult and these resulted from being financially illiterate and not being able to discuss money issues openly.

In the last 5+ years, I made it my mission to get my personal finances in order, I made a decision to not have any consumer debt and any debt I had needed to be generating me income (e.g. rental mortgage = rental. income). The last 5 years have been filled with a lot of trial and error, trying to understand how I could manage my money better and getting out of the Paycheck to Paycheck cycle. I did not have all the answers but I knew that if I educated myself on things I did not know, I could improve and manage my money in a better way. Fast forward to 2020/1 when I decided to truly elevate my personal education on money manage and one thing at the core of this education was improving my mindset around money.

Personal Finance Books that Changed my Money Mindset

There are a gazillion personal finance books out there and a lot of them teach the same thing just explained differently but what a lot seem to miss is the money mindset fundamentals. Often you will hear people talk themselves down when it comes to managing their personal finances, ‘oh, I am not good at managing money’ or even ‘let’s not talk about money, it’s not a pleasant topic’. People would much rather talk about who had an affair with whom but will never discuss how financially they are up to their necks in debt. And I personally believe this is tied to how we grew up whether money was a constant topic ( negatively) or it wasn’t spoken about at all.

The 5 personal finance books that changed my money mindset I am sure many of you are very familiar with and if not then I hope this post will be a great introduction to them. I must reiterate the whilst personal finance is personal, there are many things we can learn from other people and adopt them for ourselves with a few adjustments. For example, when I started budgeting using budget trackers, I used other people’s trackers and realised they did not align with my personal circumstances, that I created my own which I sell on my Etsy shop. I utilised the basics of other trackers but tailored it to what was applicable to me and this allowed me to manage my month income better.

The Simple Path to Wealth (by JL Collins)

The book is an easy read, especially for someone on the F.I.R.E movement who understands the 4% rule, investing in index funds and appreciates that whilst money can’t buy everything, it can buy back time freedom for yourself to do the things you love the most. One thing most people seem to forget is that in order for you to get your time freedom back, you need money for example, if you want to be a stay-at-home parent – you will need funds that you will support this dream or you will need assets that whilst you take time out from work, these assets will continue to make you money. We live in a capitalist world where nothing is free, not even your freedom.

Wealth Made Easy (by Greg S)

This book is one that took me by surprise, some of the wealth hacks in the book were very simple like ‘finding the gap in the market and filling it to make money’ and others a little more deep like ‘believing you deserve to make a lot of money in your business etc’. This has a lot to do with shifting your mindset on how money flows into one’s life, what hacks you can take on yourself to health you retain your wealth. It is all well and good to make money but can you retain your wealth for years to come?

The Psychology of Money (by Morgan House)

The Psychology of Money is a book I heard Tolu speak about in one of her YouTube videos and I knew it was one I needed to check out. “The psychology of money, the author shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important matters“. The minute I picked up this book I could not put it down, the 19 short stories gripped me and had me re-assessing how I think about money, my behaviour towards money and how I manage it. I definitely recommend this book highly, it is an easy read but very revolutionary for many.

Your Money or Your Life (by Vick Robin)

This is the book that over the last 6 weeks has made me re-evaluate how I budget, sure all the budget trackers I have were working just fine but this book helped me look at it on a molecular level. For example, I have a budget of £200 for food, this book allowed me to break down to the minute detail what ‘food’ areas I was spending the most in, was it snacks, eating out, eating at home or entertaining. It has been an eye opener seeing firstly how much money has entered my life since I started working when I was 16 and to think almost £1.5m has somehow come and left my life is both impressive and debilitating. I highly recommend this book whether you are on the F.I.R.E (financial independence retire early) movement or not.

Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grown Up (by Sam Beckbessinger)

This book I bought via recommendation in my audible and I knew I would love it. Sam (South African lady – represent sister), takes no prisoners in her book, she tells it as it with some strong humour (I mean the title gives it away) but its a great read. I honestly needed this type of book to change my mindset on certain aspects on money management and Sam definitely delivers, on GoodReads – I took this section about the book because it describes it better than I ever could, “In Manage Your Money Like a F*cking Grown Up, Sam Beckbessinger tells it to you straight: how to take control of your money to take control of your life.“

I hope you find these 5 personal finances books that changed my money mindset help and I hope they change your money mindset too. You don’t need to hold a degree to be able to understand money, how to manage it and stop it from controlling your life instead you continue it, give it jobs and make it multiply to give you extra income. Let me know if you have read any of these books before.