Good books to help wife be “sold” on living below means?

Saving
#1

I’ve always been very frugal and financially minded, so constraining myself to a budget is pretty easy. My wife on the other hand wasn’t really raised this way, and though I feel I’ve helped her a little bit, I think reading some books would help solidify it and help her be more comfortable not overspending money (clothes, home decor, etc)

For reference, we are fairly financially comfortable. No debt, 100k combined salary, no kids yet. There’s just never a better time to save money, and I don’t want to regret not doing more.

What are some good books you guys have read that talk about frugality / “living below your means”?

#2

Hey @mornin12!

That’s a really hard mindset to change… it will take some time. I think my favorite is The Millionaire Next Door. I’d give it a read… if she doesn’t want to read it, listen to the audio book on a road trip with her! The Simple Path to Wealth is also a great book that talks a lot about it. It goes over the value of accumulating “F*** you” money.

And yeah, 100K income, no kids, still young. This is where you set yourself up later in life for sure. Don’t try to play catch up 20 years from now!

#3

It sounds good that you guys have talked about it and have an understanding that you were brought up differently with your views on money. As long as you keep that communication always open and show her your investments you could possibly set it up together so you both contribute. Not everyone is interested in the difference between 401ks or HSA or ISA’s like we have in the UK, most people don’t even care how their pension works until it’s too late. But you can temp her in with a few details here and there and then drop more in in time so she learns about the tax benefits etc.

I personally just go for the approach of talking at my wife about it, I’m very lucky though as she doesn’t like too much shopping and is fairly frugal herself.

Also, our current agreement is we’ll get some curtains in the downstairs sitting room when I buy my next bottle of whiskey… it’s okay as I’ve gone off whiskey for a bit :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Tom

#4

My favorite personal finance books of all time are: I will teach you to be rich, Simple path to wealth, and The index card. Millionaire next door pretty much preaches this too but I find it to be a little outdated tbh. Or just follow Jeremy on IG and read his posts on PFC!

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