Earlier this week, L and I started reading, Your Money or Your Life! A lot of folks who are part of the voluntary simplicity movement have discussed the life changing power of this book.
Image from Wikipedia.
It wasn’t too difficult to do Step 1, but extremely eye opening. The assignments included:
Assignment #1: Calculate all the money you have earned/obtained your entire life (including taxable earnings, gifts, scholarships, bills paid on your behalf, etc.)
Assignment #2: Calculate your net worth by totaling liabilities (debts) and assets (cash + property/items/stuff value)
I was tempted to put our lifetime earnings grand total, plus our asset/liability balance sheet on the blog. But I am not prepared to put that much of my financial life out there for peeps to review.
In essence, we have earned a significant portion of money over our lifetime and we have little to show for it, in terms of savings. We were disappointed, but at the same time happy. Why do happy? During the last six months we have made many positive changes in our lives, like selling our car, downscaling, and we paid off our debt! So…
Completing Step 1 wasn’t too painful, but we have a lot of work to do. By work, I am talking about saving more of our income and evaluating every purchase we make, from coffee to books. Especially, if we want to retire early and purchase a tiny house.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and completing all the steps! I will keep you posted on how the process goes. We have only read Chapter 1 and my perspective about money management has changed dramatically. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Be thankful that you aren’t as old as I am and having to do Step 1. Sounds impossible for me ;-}
I don’t think anything is impossible…The book is so positive and the authors talk about not blaming yourself for past mistakes, but recognizing them and moving forward. I think you would gain a lot of info from reading it.