YNAB You Need A Budget

[llambe]

From what I've seen on other forums, book club type things like this are not easy to be the leader of unless you like to post a lot without feedback, especially if you try to follow a chapter by chapter topic approach. In the (few) "real life" book clubs I've been a member of, the discussion was more general on what interested people about the books, likes and dislikes kind of thing. The chapter by chapter kind of thing is more reminiscent of a study group which most books (IMO) don't really lend themselves too but I've seen it online plenty of times - most times with great lack of response just like here. After all online not everyone is reading it at the same time (like I just finally got "I'll teach you to be rich" from the library - 6 weeks late) and not everybody has a comment on a specific chapter. Plus study groups in general need more structure to keep the discussion moving. So I can understand if it kind of fell by the wayside through perceived lack of interest.

If pksublime or jesse are no longer interested in promoting the book club through the email list, we could certainly find and comment on finance books on this forum without that. I've thought about doing that myself but I've read few finance books lately that I've even finished after the first chapters (and "I'll teach you to be rich" is so far falling in that category although I'm still giving it an extra shot so I can comment on it in this forum )

[jesse]

I have to admit I dropped the ball on this mainly b/c of the new site launch. It's captivating virtually all of my time

[TheSterlingJoe]

I have scoured the IWILLTEACHYOUTOBERICH site and have not seen any YNAB cross-marketing. As a matter of fact, I just posted a reply in the actual forum space re the specific book (here under book club) my disappointment with the way Sethi promotes MINT, QUICKEN et al, yet no mention of YNAB anywhere.....which to me is a great omission considering he posted how he hates "frugal tips" on his website under the Scrooge Strategy drop down (full of boring frugal tips, by the way). So why wouldn't he point the teenagers and college grads to something intuitive like YNAB (instead of MINT....~yawn~).

I believe the author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich has endorsed people with irrational payday schedule such as freelancers to use YNAB.

[jesse]

It's not a HUGE mention, but it's there and I appreciated it

[pksublime]

I have to admit I dropped the ball on this mainly b/c of the new site launch. It's captivating virtually all of my time

Well get the next book chosen and let's try again.

[balesjb]

So, it seems unfortunate this idea died a quick death. I would definitely be interested in participating in a monthly financial book club even if there were just a handful of people interested. Is anyone still interested in participating in such a thing?

Cheers,

-Jason

[jesse]

I wonder how we could manage this? The idea does still intrigue me quite a bit.

[pksublime]

Let's pick a new book, and begin the discussion.

[fricker3]

I read "Your Money Or Your Life" by Vicki Robin many years ago. It really changed the way I look at money. It was very helpful in budgeting and making sure that each months income was more than expenses. I wasn't as impressed with the investment part of the book, but that is just me, I am a more active investor.
Two other books I really have enjoyed are "Stock Market Logic" by Norman Fosback and "The Little Book That Beats the Market" by Joel Greenblatt.
Eric

[TheGooch]

Has anyone here read "Quitter" ? I hear about it on the Dave Ramsey show quite often.

[3100]

I haven't read that one yet. Even though I have my own business (and like what I do), I have other things I'd like to do, too, so I think I'll add "Quitter" to my eventually-to-read list. You never know!

I've been reading "Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics." Much of it has been really interesting, though now that I'm nearer to the end it feels like it's bogging down a little bit. I've recognized a lot of my own mistakes in its pages, and the authors have given me some understanding of why I make those mistakes, which should be some help in avoiding making them all over again in the future. (In fact, I think it's fair to say that the book I paid $9.20 for will pay for itself many times over; it's changed my thinking about how I'm paying down my credit card debt, potentially to the tune of more than $500 in interest charge savings and a reduction of two months on the payoff date.)

Before that one I read "All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending," which I had high hopes for (it has a great premise!) but found to be a big disappointment. Written by an ivy-league-educated, upper-middle class blogging mom, it's superficial, oblivious and at times actually insulting (albeit unintentionally) to less-privileged readers. Here's an example of what a mess the book is: for much of it the author preaches the idea that you need to figure out what you value and make your financial decisions according to your values (which I think is a fair point)--but then, out of nowhere, there's this entire chapter on why backyard chickens, vegetable gardens and foraging are wastes of time and money. But the premise, the premise is wonderful, and I hope someday someone less clueless writes a better book around it.

[alwaysgolden]

How about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? That should provide a lot of discussion.