![\"user-pic\"](\"/css/images/default.gif\")
Two thumbs down for the Suze Orman's \"The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke.\" Most of her suggestions are either common sense (cut back on Starbucks) or really dumb (get 10 haircuts a year isntead of 12. The $40/year will really add up!)
@jpx72x: Monthly haircuts? Slow down there, some of us can't afford to light our preferred inhaled narcotic with c-notes.
Generally, I think I do pretty well to get five haircuts a year.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-98237-100x100.png\")
I may be a no-consumer-debt-having, cantankerous, contrarian, gold-investing, back-to-the-land pseudo-hippie, but it was a book called Mortgage-Free that taught me I could get along without a mortgage if I traded back some temporary security and bought freedom with it. Rob Roy may be a cheerfully full-fledged hippie type himself, but his book teaches you how to build a sturdy and decent home on a piece of country land and furnish it adequately, out of your own savings and pocket, just like people were once able to do. His life is an object lesson in the value of money and the genuine transformative power of a little easy effort. He's practiced what he preaches for decades, lives well and indulgently, and is a happy man today.
With our nickle-and-diming about airlines, our gripes about cable TV, and our poisonous infighting about fast food, we could use a little of that happiness, I think.
Or don't get any haircuts per year and save even more. Suze should take her own advice and ditch the 90s butch look. I'm surprised anyone listens to her any more. I've heard her ramble on about finance for about a year now -- at random -- any just about everything she says is utter common sense. How can she sustain her credibility this way?
The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke is really good.
I'll check out the rest as well. Seems like a decent list.
@jwestfall: Hey, don't knock common sense. It's not all that common.
Besides, it could be worse. Imagine if she was spouting nonsense like so many others (*koff rich dad poor dad koff*)...
Making the most of your money, by Jane Bryant Quinn.
Covers it all. Probably the only book you'll need. Although published 10 years ago, and some financial laws have been changed since, its the most comprehensive book I've read. She has a newer book out, too, called \"Smart and simple financial strategies for busy people\".
I also like The Truth About Money by Ric Edelman. My parents gave me that after college and it is well-worn by now...helped me put together a good plan for getting out of debt and into an affordable home.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-180473-100x100.png\")
Suzie Orman is the talking parrot for women who have no idea how to think for themselves.
Idiot Dad, Poor Dad by R.K. is a joke and he is a liar. All it takes is the right title and marketing to fool millions.
I've read most of the others and they are not too bad. Personally, I decided to wait to hit the lottery to get my financial situation in order.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-75067-100x100.png\")
I once had the misfortune to have to spend two nights sharing a hotel room with a guy involved in Quixtar (Amway) who was a big fan of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He was trying to sell me into his MLM crap the WHOLE time, despite my consistent disinterest. The best part was the hard sell based around the line \"you don't have to sell it, it to anyone, it sells itself.\" Eventually, I had to get rude.
He claimed that RD,PD told him that the best way to get rich was to start your own business. He could not be dissuaded from the argument that buying into someone else's get rich scheme was not starting your OWN business...
I'm a big fan of Andrew Tobias's \"The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need\". Good, solid advice that covers the whole spectrum, from how to get out of debt to what to do with your money when you become a millionaire. It's also an enjoyable read, as it's filled with funny stories of how Tobias has lost money by ignoring his own advice.
\"The Richest Man in Babylon\" by George S. Clason is pretty fantastic for teens on up.
No \"A Random Walk Down Wall Street\" which is in it umpteen printing?