Make Money, Not Excuses: Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever by Jean Chatzky (Crown Publishing Group; $25.95) Chatzky was tired of hearing women make excuses about their lack of financial prowess. In her latest book, she’s negated those excuses—from “I hate math” to ”My husband pays our bills”—with insightful tips on how women can take charge of their financial needs and desires. From getting rich by spending less than you make to turning investing into an automatic part of your lifestyle, Chatzky covers many a money-related subject through the eyes of a woman who’s been in similar shoes.
Take-home tip: Start with small changes, i.e., the kind you’ll be able to achieve to keep motivated.
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control your Destiny by Suze Orman (Speigel & Grau; $24.95) This internationally acclaimed, tell-it-like-it-is personal finance expert has become a veritable force in the financial advice sector. In her latest book, Orman details the Eight Qualities of a Wealthy Woman (and they aren’t all about money), and then shares a five-month “Save Yourself Plan” made up of “core financial recipes that are easy to follow.”
Take-home tip: A wealthy woman has money, but also practices other principles of wealth—health, happiness, wisdom, balance, and harmony—to help her improve her financial outlook.
Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want by Gregory Karp (FT Press; $17.99) This money-savvy author and award-winning columnist suggests that the fastest and easiest way to eliminate debt, achieve financial security, and build lifelong security is to control spending. Thus, he’s packed his book full of practical to-dos for trimming your spending habits in every category from grocery shopping to computer accessories. You can pick and choose which advice applies to your own lifestyle and needs, and start improving your spending habits right away.
Take-home tip: It doesn’t matter if you earn $20,000 a year or $200,000. The only thing that makes you wealthier is regularly spending less money than you make.
Money & Happiness: A Guide to Living the Good Life by Laura Rowley (Wiley; $14.95)
This columnist and finance expert teaches readers how to align their money and spending habits with their personal value systems. The book is filled with pragmatic advice to help people understand the ways happiness, money management, and spending are inextricably linked. A host of self-assessment tests, spending-pattern worksheets, and savings tips then outline the steps to banish financial anxieties forever.
Take-home tip: People who first figure out what they value in life, and then align their money with those values, have the strongest sense of financial and personal well-being
Everyone’s Money Book by Jordan E. Goodman (Kaplan Business) This title’s an oldie but still provides applicable advice from a nationally recognized personal finance expert. Goodman’s earned himself the nickname of “America’s Money Answers Man” thanks to having spent many years working in the finance industry. In this title, he shares tips for every stage in life from 20 to 70. Consult it to learn how to create a record-keeping system as well as tips to picking winning stocks.
Take-home tip: Before you can figure out how to improve your current financial condition, you need to tally up your assets and subtract your debt to determine your net worth. That’s the number that will help shape your future financial goals.
