The Golden Money List: Hundreds of Tips for Turning Your Financial Life Around

Michael Moniz Says:

July 8th, 2008, 21:18 pm

Isn’t it great when you are free from debt?

Money is not happiness but it is freedom and sometimes security. It is so important to free yourself from debt because it frees your life. When work sometimes just to pay our bills. When you create the simple life which is debt free, you also free yourself from stress, worry and having to WORK instead of enjoy a career that is truly meaningful and creates a happier life for yourself.

Thanks for sharing all this tips to free our lives.

Eric Says:

July 8th, 2008, 21:56 pm

Thanks for the excellent points! One sure way to reduce worry that I kept for over a decade is by living a month ahead. In other words, figure your budget for each month. Deposit that amount in your bank account and live off of it. During that month, put your paycheck in a different account. At the end of each month, transfer ONLY the budgeted amount. This gives you relief of bills, at least a 30 day grace for unforseen occurrences and check to see the extra you saved each month. TRY IT!!

Zendad Says:

July 8th, 2008, 22:03 pm

Money isn’t everything, if you have lots of it. In all seriousness thanks for the comprehensive recap Leo!
Zendad
http://www.zendad.net

Adam Sicinski @ Study Matrix Art Says:

July 8th, 2008, 22:18 pm

That’s an abolutely amazing list of resouces. I didn’t actually think that there was so much information about financial success on ZenHabits.

It just amazes me how much wealth of information there is about money on the internet these days, and ZenHabits has no doubt some of the most comprehensive information about money available on the internet.

I have linked to this article from my Wealth Management Mind Map in the hope that my readers will find it.

Thanks for bringing these posts back from your archives :)

Joel Falconer Says:

July 8th, 2008, 23:16 pm

Thanks for the comprehensive roundup, Leo. These are good resources. My wife and I were lucky to learn our lessons early on and with a fairly low risk ‘debt’—we Flexirented a couple of iBooks a while back.

We only lost about $1-2k in interest on top of the base price of the laptops, so we’re lucky next to those who only learn after losing tens or hundreds of thousands.

Xalga Says:

July 8th, 2008, 23:33 pm

I’m going into debt, at a rapid rate, the reason of course - college. Wonderful how the formal education system in America can do that so easily. I haven’t read over all them or those I have weren’t in full detail. My time is in flux. However from the names you give for getting out of debt, I’m not sure they all work. I will be in nearly 200,000$ of debt when I graduate. I won’t live frugally, though some would argue it. I enjoy very fine things: good food, top notch electronics, large quantities of books. I think it’s the trade offs, in pure essance it’s what all this is. A trade off, and I think when people understand that everything will work out well. Though I do like one post which mentions the “pay off the lowest amount first”.

LivSimpl Says:

July 9th, 2008, 0:00 am

If the housing crisis has taught us anything, it’s that it’s important to live within our means and not let our eyes get bigger than our wallets - even if we have someone willing to lend us the money to do so. (I wrote about Lessons Learned From The Housing Crisis here http://snurl.com/2vavj).

Thanks for making such a comprehensive list Leo! It’s good to know there are places for people to go to get back on the road to a debt-free life.

Shilpan | successsoul.com Says:

July 9th, 2008, 0:37 am

Excellent list Leo. Knowing how to save money is more important for the financial well being than to get into a rut chase of making more to spend more mentality. Money is a tricky subject but with simplicity and common sense, it’s lot easier to control the money rather than be controlled by the money.

Devan Says:

July 9th, 2008, 0:42 am

A great list Leo. I recently found a book I had bought about 18 years ago - “The Richest Man In Babylon”. I re-read it again from cover to cover. I think many of your points here relate to that book.

It really is surprising how simple the steps you need to take to ensure a pathway to wealth…

Shila Says:

July 9th, 2008, 2:15 am

I am so late to join you guys. I just found this blog from Lifehack’s 80 Must Bookmark Site, and I must say that this blog will now be my daily read :)

I am now still struggling with my debt. And I think after reading a few of your post, I must postpone a lot of my immediate plan such as buying a car right after securing a job. A lot to read and catch up.

Thank you for the great list.

Andrew Scotchmer Says:

July 9th, 2008, 4:09 am

I’m definately going to read through these articles. I often feel that organising your personal finances is very similiar to a companies finances only smaller.

Both a company and a household have income and expenses. The expences can be sub-divided into fixed and variable costs with fixed being those payments that must be paid each month, the mortgage for example. Those costs that change, or have the capacity to change, such as the amount we spend on take-out dinners, are varible costs.

Understanding the difference between fixed and variable costs, and tweaking our variable costs so they fit within our income once the fixed costs have been paid, can make a huge difference to ones finances.

Joe | A New Band A Day.com Says:

July 9th, 2008, 5:42 am

It’s true that money isn’t everything. Life is so much easier when you adjust to value things in other terms.

That said, living in a world which most people and things are judged and motivated by money isn’t easy when you have a different view.

Thanks for all the links!

Pete Says:

July 9th, 2008, 7:53 am

@Joe
Think of it like this…a different view gives you an advantage.

For me, my debt struggles are a continuing mental battle. I have to understand the path I am on and where it leads. I can’t keep judging my future each and every day.

This entire concept is what sparked my blog YinVsYang.com. It is daily inspiration for anyone struggling through rough times, financially or otherwise.

For me, this blog is where I come to get my inspiration. Great list.

Pete Says:

July 9th, 2008, 7:54 am

@Joe
Think of it like this…a different view gives you an advantage.

For me, my debt struggles are a continuing mental battle. I have to understand the path I am on and where it leads. I can’t keep judging my future each and every day.

This entire concept is what sparked my blog http://www.YinVsYang.com. It is daily inspiration for anyone struggling through rough times, financially or otherwise.

For me, ZenHabits is where I come to get my inspiration. Great list.

Kaled Asmri Says:

July 9th, 2008, 8:25 am

Many thanks for the list Leo. Yeah, money isn’t everything… but it can make life much easier & better.

as I was reading through these articles, I couldn’t resist to say thanks again for this one:

10 Habits to Develop for Financial Stability and Success.

Joe Says:

July 9th, 2008, 9:24 am

That’s how we zen it up y’all :)

Sam Says:

July 9th, 2008, 9:31 am

I was just talking to my wife about cutting out out our cable primo channels and putting that amount into in an ING account which would kick start savings for us and our kids–great tips here and I would like to add one more-I recently began using book mooch http://www.bookmooch.com/

Anyone who is wasting money on full price books should give this site a look and sign up-not only does it allow you to trade off books you have read but it also provides a steady stream of books flowing to your mailbox. We know spend roughly 2.50 for a book (the postage cost of mailing out a book to another reader) as opposed to the 15-20 for a new book–great site and a great way to save money without losing booklust!

Katie Says:

July 9th, 2008, 12:17 pm

I got rid of all my credit cards a few years ago and I haven’t really missed them. Thank you for all the tips!

Giyen Says:

July 9th, 2008, 12:24 pm

WOW! What a great list of tips. I can’t wait to get to reading them!

Cheers!

Avani-Mehta Says:

July 9th, 2008, 14:12 pm

hey … amazing compilation of finance related ideas. Financial freedom is one of my goals. I will treat myself with all this info today.

Mark Says:

July 9th, 2008, 15:01 pm

Thanks for all of these useful links!

TDC Says:

July 9th, 2008, 15:49 pm

I have spent many an evening working through each of your pages on money, as well as many other areas of the site, and can honestly say that I have found some of them far more useful than half the books I have read on finance. Added bonus for me is I can now just work through the list of links on this page, lol. Keep up the great work.

Rahul Says:

July 9th, 2008, 18:56 pm

Have read so many of these and have made adjustments in life because of them! My friends love the links and love the ideas as well! Thanks Leo, great job!

Leo Says:

July 9th, 2008, 20:02 pm

Thanks for the nice comments guys! I’m glad you liked the list of links — I’m finding that a lot of readers, new and old, are finding these lists useful, so it’s worth taking the time to compile them.

I’m back from Thailand so I’ll do a post on that soon! I’ve missed you all!

Jeff@MySuperChargedLife Says:

July 9th, 2008, 20:15 pm

Awesome resources for those trying to improve their financial situation! I’ll add mine to the list:

How To Avoid Buying Things You Do Not Need!

I look forward to reading about your experience in Thailand.

chris Says:

July 10th, 2008, 3:13 am

Ok, I will need time to go through the list. I’m not a financial expert either but I know that not living outside your means and disciplining yourself from compulsive buying helps a lot.

Kate Says:

July 10th, 2008, 9:32 am

My favorite is the Eliminate Debt With the Snowball. While it may not get rid of your biggest debts first, it allows for early success which helps keep you in the debt reduction game.

Thanks for the other resources. Kate

Daisy Says:

July 16th, 2008, 13:26 pm

This is a great post.
My husband and I have been working the last several months to become debt free. We have two young children and are now just over 20 percent there.
I just want to to say to any person out there who is feeling overwhelmed by debt, that you can do it! We still have a long way to go, but we are feeling so great about our progress and our change of attitude. Being on the same page and working together to reduce spending (we have cut out cable, eating out, buying stuff we don’t need, spending money on entertainment, et cetera) is stress reducing and bonding.
Also, as with many people these days, our income is not regular. We can’t count on it and plan ahead several months. But we have tried to grow our income in several small ways and little by little we are seeing progress.
Reviewing these articles on Zen Habits every once in a while gives me inspiration. Thank you, Leo! We are looking forward to being debt free one day soon too.

Richard Says:

July 30th, 2008, 20:53 pm

This is excellent. As someone who’s had a similar romance with credit cards, I can say this is all very helpful stuff.