How can you progress towards true financial independence? In Your Money or Your Life, authors Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez delve into why many of us have an unhealthy relationship with money – and what to do about it. They offer a 9-step program to help readers examine their money habits and perspectives so they can form new, better ones.
Your Money or Your Life is divided into nine parts, offering readers a progressive system to examine their attitudes to money, the influences behind them, and their ways forward. Each section builds on the last, giving the reader a powerful sense of purpose and direction.
One example of this is the first section, called Making Peace with the Past. Here, Robin and Dominguez offer a clear system for readers to calculate all their money earned and assess their net worth. This empowers the reader to establish their current financial position and their financial “journey” so far, making peace with past mistakes they may have made.
“The key is remembering that anything you buy and don’t use, anything you throw away, anything you consume and don’t enjoy is money down the drain, wasting your life energy and wasting the finite resources of the planet. Any waste of your life energy means more hours lost to the rat race… Frugality is the user-friendly and earth-friendly lifestyle.”
Despite the title, the book does not require the reader to choose between their money or their life. Rather, it offers a middle road to live an “authentic, productive, meaningful life”, providing a balance between our inner and outer worlds.
One great pro of Your Money or Your Life is it provides a simple way to reflect on how you spend money without shame. The book’s first half offers inspiration by describing how money relates to our “life energy”. For instance, how much life energy does it take to make a particular purchase? Here, the authors provide a valuable formula to help readers decide which items are worth the original investment.
This is a refreshing approach to personal finance and budgeting. Rather than telling ourselves, “Don’t buy that!”, we can ask ourselves: “How many hours of my life did I invest to get this thing I want to buy?” This is empowering rather than restraining – a much more sustainable approach.
The book is a powerful tool for readers stuck in a financial rut, living month to month. It also offers great value to those who have already achieved significant financial freedom. The talk of “gazingus pins, economist-gods, and life energy” might not resonate strongly with some. Yet, most will find immense benefit from calculating their “real wage”.
Your Money or Your Life is a compelling reminder that money and life do not have to involve a trade-off. Rather, with the right mindset and approach, money can empower our life energy and potentially bring you into early financial freedom. We commend this book to you!
