4 ms·

That is true. Best thing to do is start with small changes so that you don't even notice it and all of a sudden, your bank account has more money in it. Also,

by rdudek 13y ago

That is true. Best thing to do is start with small changes so that you don't even notice it and all of a sudden, your bank account has more money in it. Also, which book would you recommend?

npsimons 13y ago
Also, which book would you recommend? Seconded; while I am very skeptical of the "invest to get (a little) rich(er)" approach[1], I'm open to and curious of what books the GP considers good. [1] - Every single way of investing that I've looked at is either (1) not worth it (doesn't even beat inflation) and/or (2) more work than it's worth (I've already got hobbies I like; why should I waste my unpaid time playing even more into the rat race by tracking markets and probably never making a profit?)
- microcolonel 13y ago
  That's an important distinction to make, I don't necessarily mean financial institution investments, I would include personal capital investment as well(like buying a personal computer as a writer, or buying some raw materials to make some handcrafted good, or buying source chemicals to make useful compounds. etc.) Financial investment is a difficult bar to hit just because there are usually people more capable of it, and with better judgement for it than you. Investing in capital goods on the other hand can be best understood by the people capable of using the goods. For example, you may commute to a job every day, and take public transit to get there. If you're within bicycle range perhaps you could get a used bicycle(good commuter bikes can be had for a hundred bucks here, and we don't even have the usual number of surplus bikes.)
  - npsimons 13y ago
    Good points! I feel (perhaps wrongly) that I already "invest" a lot in myself, but I also feel I could be doing more, or finding a "quick and dirty" solution to an early retirement. I just get frustrated to no end when someone says "invest in the stock market! It's easy!", then they explain that all you have to do is keep tabs of a zillion different little market factors everyday, and oh by the way, pay for their super secret money making formula. The painstaking research on companies and the environments in which they operate might be fun for some (dare I say, most fantasy sports people or sports fans in general would be better served by putting their stats minded heads towards financial matters?), but it sounds too much like a second job to me. The point about bicycle commuting is extremely cogent, however, as I do have a working bicycle and a commute that lends itself well to it. But I am lazy, at what I estimate of cost of between 800-1200USD a year, and it's only going to go up. Still, I might be able to motivate myself with some righteousness about being better than all the gas guzzlers . . . All that aside, I can say one of my favorite "get rich slowly" books (that came out before that phrase was invented) is "Your Money or Your Life", although it's fairly dated (T-Notes at 15%? I wish!)
microcolonel 13y ago
I have to agree with the small changes point, lottery winners tend to screw up very badly when they get their deposit, the same is true for those born into large unconditional trust funds(lots of rich kids go bankrupt). Book recommendations are a tough thing for me to make, I studied more gradually since I started in my early youth, and was already interested in mathematics. I suspect most of the "top ten personal finance books" articles favoured by PageRank™ are pretty reasonable, and a good start for most people. My personal method was perusing Wikipedia for accounting and economics information, and looking at people close to me. Sorry I can't fob the right book title though.
vkjv 13y ago
The Automatic Millionaire. It's not as extreme as the title suggests. It's really about practical life decisions and investments for a comfortable retirement.
hispanic 13y ago
Read the Mr. Money Mustache blog - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ I just did a quick scan of recent articles that you might find interesting. Try this one: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/02/04/why-the-middle-class-keeps-giving-itself-the-shaft/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/02/04/why-the-middle-cla...

by rdudek 13y ago

That is true. Best thing to do is start with small changes so that you don't even notice it and all of a sudden, your bank account has more money in it. Also, which book would you recommend?

npsimons 13y ago

Also, which book would you recommend? Seconded; while I am very skeptical of the "invest to get (a little) rich(er)" approach[1], I'm open to and curious of what books the GP considers good. [1] - Every single way of investing that I've looked at is either (1) not worth it (doesn't even beat inflation) and/or (2) more work than it's worth (I've already got hobbies I like; why should I waste my unpaid time playing even more into the rat race by tracking markets and probably never making a profit?)

microcolonel 13y ago
That's an important distinction to make, I don't necessarily mean financial institution investments, I would include personal capital investment as well(like buying a personal computer as a writer, or buying some raw materials to make some handcrafted good, or buying source chemicals to make useful compounds. etc.) Financial investment is a difficult bar to hit just because there are usually people more capable of it, and with better judgement for it than you. Investing in capital goods on the other hand can be best understood by the people capable of using the goods. For example, you may commute to a job every day, and take public transit to get there. If you're within bicycle range perhaps you could get a used bicycle(good commuter bikes can be had for a hundred bucks here, and we don't even have the usual number of surplus bikes.)
- npsimons 13y ago
  Good points! I feel (perhaps wrongly) that I already "invest" a lot in myself, but I also feel I could be doing more, or finding a "quick and dirty" solution to an early retirement. I just get frustrated to no end when someone says "invest in the stock market! It's easy!", then they explain that all you have to do is keep tabs of a zillion different little market factors everyday, and oh by the way, pay for their super secret money making formula. The painstaking research on companies and the environments in which they operate might be fun for some (dare I say, most fantasy sports people or sports fans in general would be better served by putting their stats minded heads towards financial matters?), but it sounds too much like a second job to me. The point about bicycle commuting is extremely cogent, however, as I do have a working bicycle and a commute that lends itself well to it. But I am lazy, at what I estimate of cost of between 800-1200USD a year, and it's only going to go up. Still, I might be able to motivate myself with some righteousness about being better than all the gas guzzlers . . . All that aside, I can say one of my favorite "get rich slowly" books (that came out before that phrase was invented) is "Your Money or Your Life", although it's fairly dated (T-Notes at 15%? I wish!)

microcolonel 13y ago

I have to agree with the small changes point, lottery winners tend to screw up very badly when they get their deposit, the same is true for those born into large unconditional trust funds(lots of rich kids go bankrupt). Book recommendations are a tough thing for me to make, I studied more gradually since I started in my early youth, and was already interested in mathematics. I suspect most of the "top ten personal finance books" articles favoured by PageRank™ are pretty reasonable, and a good start for most people. My personal method was perusing Wikipedia for accounting and economics information, and looking at people close to me. Sorry I can't fob the right book title though.

vkjv 13y ago

The Automatic Millionaire. It's not as extreme as the title suggests. It's really about practical life decisions and investments for a comfortable retirement.

hispanic 13y ago

Read the Mr. Money Mustache blog - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ I just did a quick scan of recent articles that you might find interesting. Try this one: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/02/04/why-the-middle-class-keeps-giving-itself-the-shaft/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/02/04/why-the-middle-cla...