I first read a blog post of Ramit’s back in 2009-2010 on Mint.com–which is a personal finance software website that I use–where he talked about an idea called the two-headed savings approach. I really liked the blog. Check it out if you haven’t read it because it made sense. It just made sense.
Why are we focusing on all these nitty gritty details of our budget when we should focus on big wins and save more money there?
So I really enjoyed that article and ended up going over to his blog: I Will Teach You To Be Rich. I read several blog posts, subscribed to his email newsletter (which you should do if you haven’t done so already). It’s free. Lots of valuable information. And he’s funny to boot–just like in the book (which is why I bought the book).
So I was reading the blog. I liked the blog. I was getting the email newsletter. He put out a plug for the book he just wrote. It was on the New York Times bestseller list, so I figured, “Hey! This guy’s probably pretty legit.” So I went to my Amazon.com account, ordered it up, had it sent to me after watching a bunch of reviews just like this one that said, “Hey! This book is awesome.”
So I read the book. And (long story, short) I love it.
He starts with credit cards, and then he goes through savings and investing for retirement and buying (or not buying) a house and all of these different life scenarios that we all encounter at some point. But nobody every really teaches us how to do it.
You’ll hear people say, “Oh, just make a budget,” or “Spend less money than you make.” And Ramit basically says, “That advice is alright, it’s well-intentioned. But it’s so generic.”
Nobody ever tells you HOW to save more. Nobody tells you what to say to save more. Nobody teaches us how to negotiate. He goes into a lot of these things in his book and that’s what makes it really valuable.
I think if I were to say, “What is the #1 thing I learned from this book?” interestingly enough, it’s not about money. It’s about psychology. Ramit’s really big into psychology. Anybody who reads his blog or gets his newsletters knows that. He’s all about psychology.
The most important thing I learned was the power of automation. The power of “set it and forget it.” Ronco Roasters have sold millions of those things because of the phrase “set it and forget it.” What are they getting at here? They’re saying, “Just start it. Set up a system. And then, the rest will take care of itself.”
Well, Ramit has conveniently taken this system of his that he’s developed over the years, put it into a book that only costs you $15 and what it’s going to do is it’s going to automate your personal finances. You’re going to pay everything you’re supposed to pay when you’re supposed to pay it. Everything will be paid off on time. You’re not going to be spending crazy amounts on finance fees or any of this stuff.
I haven’t written a rent check in God knows how long because I have that automated, too. And my credit cards are automatically paid off every month by my checking account. And I make a crapload of points every year from my credit card purchases. But it doesn’t matter. I can use those points for whatever I want. Everything is just this nice, integrated little ecosystem of personal finance.
And I learned it all in this book.
So if you haven’t had a chance to read the book or haven’t seen the book or heard about the book or you’re sitting there going, “Eh . . . Do I shell out $15 for . . .”
Yes!
Shell out $15 for it. Hell, this weekend, you probably went out and spent $20, $40, $60, $80 getting drunk. So why not invest in your future, spend $15, read a book about personal finance that’s not going to make you want to stab yourself in the eye with a fork and get yourself in a better financial position than you are today?
This has been my review of Ramit’s book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Read it. Live it. Learn it. Love it. It’s awesome.
Sign up for his newsletter. I’m telling you it’s worth the 10 seconds it takes to do that. Read his stuff. Check out his other programs, too. I’m going to do another review of Earn1K and another review of his Overnight Resume Makeover which have both helped me tremendously as well.
Did you buy the book? Leave a comment and share what you think about it.
Leave a Reply