Your Money_ The Missing Manual - J. D. Roth [1]
Many Get Rich Slowly readers contributed their stories and ideas to this book, including Courtney Cronk, Sabino Arredondo, Jason Corbett, Trent Hamm, Jessie Smith, Donna Freedman, Jim Wang, Mike Iannantuano, Matt Jabs, Jacob Laha, John Little, Sierra Black, Matt Haughey, Tim Ferriss, April Dykman, Adam Baker, and Ramit Sethi.
Thanks, too, to all the people who read chapters here and there and gave me feedback, including Jeremy Gingerich, Dave Carlson, Andrew Cronk, Paul Hosom, Josh Bennett, Tim Kutscha, Liz Weston, Bonnie Biafore, Adam Jusko, Curtis Arnold, and Chris Guillebeau.
Special thanks to Michael Hampton, without whom I never would have started my journey from debt to wealth. Without Michael's gentle prodding, I wouldn't have changed my profligate ways, destroyed my debt, started Get Rich Slowly, or written this book. Speaking of Get Rich Slowly, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my blog's readers for the support and education they've given me over the years. You guys are awesome!
Finally, this book wouldn't have been possible without the support of my wife, Kris Gates, who has not only tolerated my long hours in front of the computer, but read every word in these pages many times, and provided much-needed moral support. This project has proved what I already knew: Kris Gates is always right.
This book is dedicated to Sparky: http://tinyurl.com/GRS-sparky.
Introduction
"What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for."
—George Mallory
For years, I lived paycheck to paycheck on an average American salary. Every month I struggled to pay my bills and make ends meet. I spent everything I had, and sometimes more. In the decade after I graduated from college, I racked up over $35,000 in debt. I knew how to spend money, but I didn't know how to save it.
2004 was a turning point for me. My wife and I bought a 100-year-old farmhouse that needed a lot of work. My budget was already stretched to the limit, and I didn't see how I'd be able to afford the plumber, electrician, and carpenter we needed. I felt like I was drowning.
With the help of some friends, I was able to keep my head above water: They loaned me some books about money. I read them, and then went to the public library and borrowed more books on the topic. I started picking up personal-finance magazines and browsing financial websites. All of the advice made sense, but there were so many numbers and terms involved that I couldn't keep them straight.
To make sense of it all for myself—and maybe to help some others along the way—I started writing about the things I learned and posting them at GetRichSlowly.org. I reviewed the books I read, shared the websites I found, and wrote down my thoughts about my relationship with money. I never expected anyone other than my family and friends to read the site, but to my surprise, others wanted to learn about this stuff, too.
Get Rich Slowly has grown into an amazing community of everyday folks who help each other tackle financial problems. (The site gets half a million visitors every month!) Want to learn how to cut your cable bill by 33%, where to find the best online savings account, or find out what a bond is? Get Rich Slowly readers have the answers.
Over the years, I've continued to use the site to share what I learn about managing money. I also share my own story, both the successes and the failures. I know a lot more about money than I did 5 years ago, but I still do dumb things from time to time. (We all make mistakes, right?) The key is to learn from them and move on.
This book is the culmination of everything I've learned while turning my financial life around. I've included the most important things I've discovered during 5 years of reading and writing about money every day. I've done my best to pack Your Money: The Missing Manual with tons of useful info while