Pinch A Penny Till It Screams

"the philosophy of the simple living movement is the motto that says 'live simply so others may simply live'"
"Another aspect of successful frugal living is balance. We don't want to spend all our time on just survival. We want to be able to make a difference in the world, pursue our goals, and have some fun along the way....Everyone has to find the comfortable balance for themselves."
Pinch a Penny Till It Screams by Madeline Clive is a very quick read (it took me about a hour) and is a great place to start if you are new to the frugal lifestyle. However, if you have been practicing the frugal lifestyle for any amount of time you probably already practice most of her ideas, as they are pretty basic.

The Millionaire Next Door

For those of you who are wise enough to not be counting on social insecurity for retirement you should read this book. The Millionaire Next Door:the surprising secrets of America's Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley comes highly recommended by Dave Ramsey, who I highly respect. You may be shocked who are the millionaires in your life and that you could be one some day! The main thing I got from this book? Consume less than make. A very hard thing for Americans. But necessary if you want to become wealthy.
The book points to 7 common denominators among the wealthy:
1. They live well below their means.
2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.
3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.
4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.
5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.
6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.
7. They chose the right occupation.
I do not believe that wealth building is the most important thing in life. I however, do believe that we need to be wise stewards of the money God has given us. That involves being frugal and not falling prey to the have more and bigger propaganda that is all around us in America. This book really encouraged me to continue to live on less than we make. I am proud to say in 3 months we will be DEBT FREE (except our house), which you'd better believe I'm calling Dave Ramsey and screaming it on air! We plan on NEVER having any debt again except our house. The borrower really is slave to the lender.