Best Book of 2011, 2012, 2013...

2003, 2007. Third edition, 2009.

It's not even a children's book, but it should be part of the required reading in Civics/Economics classes in High School (and in college, too)! The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey gripped me from the very beginning. When I got near the end, I didn't even want to check my emails for a week!

This book is FULL of real-life examples of regular people who have gotten out of debt, saved for their children's college funds, set up for retirement, paid off their homes, and built wealth. It is SO awesome, and I'm only on step 3! If one of your goals for 2012 is remotely related to money, then please read this book. It will change your life if you choose to implement his 7 baby steps. The examples are the BEST part of the book. I'm thinking about reading it again!

I'm all fired up. I love to save money, even as a child. Once, I cried because my mom bought me some clothing. I didn't want her to spend all her money on me. I was probably 9 or 10. My sisters all came to me to borrow money (a big no-no, according to Dave, but hey, cut me some slack, I was only 16). $5 here and $10 there. I did a lot of babysitting. It wasn't until I was 18 and working, actually a couple years later, until I started to love to SPEND money. Learning to budget can be tricky. There are so many different ways to approach it. This book doesn't go into detail about how to set up a budget, but it is a very important component of it. The book's motto is "Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else." It's true. If that's what you want, then you have to make sacrifices, but only temporarily.

I'm looking forward to 2012 to see how much fun I'll have following my yearly budget. Hope it goes well. Another companion book is Suze Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. She does go into detail about how to set up a budget. That's what I did, before I ever heard of Dave's book. I'm saving up to buy a "new" (3-5 years old) car in 8 years. Can't wait to pay cash for it! 2020, here I come!

Happy New Year!

Keep on keepin' on...

Merry Christmas! and a Wordless Picture Book

I'm still alive. Haven't blogged in over a month. Next year, I think I'll take December off. I visited my dad for Thanksgiving. We had a great time. For Christmas, we're staying home. I  think I'll Skype-visit family for Christmas. With all the visiting, decorating, partying, shopping, wrapping, baking, and caroling, I haven't wanted to do any blogging, although I have thought about it some. I've missed it, so I wanted to drop in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (or another happy holiday) and a Happy New Year, too!

Today, I'm roasting a turkey. Haven't done that since Home Ec. in 9th grade. I didn't sleep well last night, but not because of my turkey anxiety. My daughter (just turned 5) climbed in the bed with me and I had to sleep squished in the middle all night long. So I'm up bright and early getting ready for the day. Hope to get some laundry done, too.

A cute book to read this season is Peter Spier's Christmas! It is a wordless picture book. Published in the 80's and brings back some fun memories and a feeling of nostalgia. I hope a lot of families still follow these traditions. My family never used real trees, but I often wished we did. Either way, it's such a cute fun little book that honors family togetherness at Christmas. If you get a chance to view a copy, enjoy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!