Like many good things, sound financial planning starts at home. It’s your money and you work hard for it – do you know where it all goes? All the places money can go in our daily lives – why it goes there, where it should go (and should not go), where it could go to in the future – are ideas that are addressed in household finance and personal budgeting.
All those ideas your parents, or Ben Franklin, taught you have a grain of truth in them; ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ and ‘neither a borrower or a lender be.’ Household budgeting has grown from basic ideas taught in home economics classes or by grandparents into a significant industry with online products, an increasing array of apps and financial gurus.
Here are some books to help get you started with the basics:
Lighten Up by Clean Sweep guru Peter Walsh offers fundamental principles for a solid financial, emotional and physical life.
If you regularly plan and know where your money routinely goes, then have a look at Be CentsAble: How to Cut your Household Budget in Half by Chrissy Pate
Three Most Important Steps to Saving and Spending Smart by Gregory Karp helps you get in the savings habit.
Make every dollar count with Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style by Marjorie Harris.
Debt got you down? David Bach can help guide you to become Debt Free for Life.
Dave Ramsey, the online debt guru, offers ideas and advice on his website to help you get out of debt.
For additional books and resources about household budgeting, take a look at this list.
Money Smart Week is a national public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. This week, The Seattle Public Library is featuring blog posts on financial topics, lists of resources and informative displays in eight library locations. Drop in to the Central library, High Point, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, International District, Columbia, Southwest or Greenwood branches and have a look.
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