These are some of the best books about budgeting! If you’re like most Americans, money can be an issue for you. You probably don’t have as much as you’d like.
And, you’d probably like to save more of the money you have. You’re not alone!
So many people feel like they’re lacking in financial know-how.
Let’s face it, without a firm grasp of financial strategies, you’ll be very lucky to make it financially.
And, unless you have a degree in finance, financial concepts have not been taught to you. More likely you have picked up tips and tricks and navigated the money maze on your own.
Personal finance should be a required course in every high school. But until it is, it’s up to us to educate ourselves with these books about budgeting.
What’s the best way to educate yourself? Reading books!
We recommend reading everything you can about money!
Read budgeting books, investing books and general personal finance books. Basically, read whatever you can get your hands on about money!
How to get knowledge without going back to school? Read! Did you know that the most successful businessmen read hours every single day?
Related: Daily Habits of Successful People
There is probably no single thing that you can do that will be more beneficial to you throughout your life than reading.
Warren Buffett says one of the keys to his success is reading. And he spends 80% of his day reading everything from newspapers to magazines and of course books.
Bill Gates reads on average 1 book per week. Mark Cuban reads for at least 3 hours a day. In fact, most successful people attribute at least part of their success to reading.
In addition to reading, they all follow the 5-hour rule in which they spend an hour a day learning or practicing.
No matter how busy they are, they commit to spending an hour learning every single day. Given their incredible success, this approach to reading and learning is proven to work!
So, if you want to get better at managing your financial life, you’ll need to spend some time reading and learning with these books about budgeting. It’s really not hard to get into the habit.
Just make the commitment to carve out an hour a day for reading. Figure out the best time of day for you and schedule your reading time into your day – just like an important meeting.
I like to do business and financial reading during the day as part of my lunch. Then at night, I have my pleasure reading time on my Kindle.
The Best Books About Budgeting
We’ve done the research for you on which books you should be on your reading list if you want to improve your financial skills. Thes are some of my personal favorites as well!
Best For Financial Newbies – Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry.
If you’re newer to personal finance topics like budgeting, saving for a house and paying off student loans, Broke Millennial covers these essential topics and more.
Best For Digging Out of Debt – Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
Dave Ramsey is the granddaddy of educating people about all things money.
This book will teach you so much. It’s a budgeting book, a day-to-day money guidebook as well as a book to teach you how to become debt free.
Dave will teach you his method of achieving financial success. You’ll learn about the 7 baby steps you’ll need to take, the cash envelope system and the importance of rice & beans in your dirt cheap meal plan.
The information in this book has helped countless people transform their life and become debt free.
If you follow Dave’s steps, you too can do your own debt free scream! Total Money Makeover is perfect for beginners and those more experienced with budgeting.
Best For Wealth Building – The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.
In The Automatic Millionaire, author David Bach starts out sharing a story about a couple he meets who, surprising to him, turn out to be millionaires.
It’s a great story because he shares that based on their income and what he’s picked up on from talking to them, he’s pretty much expecting this couple to be totally middle class at best.
Yet somehow, this couple, who is barely in their fifties, is able to retire super early with no debt and quite a bit of money in the bank. Yes, it’s all about living below your means!
From here, he goes into explaining his theory on why automating your finances will alleviate guesswork and help you attain wealth faster.
And, he discusses why it’s important to automate your savings and aim to save at least 10% or 15% of every paycheck.
And, have that money go straight into your retirement account.
The logic is that if you put your savings on autopilot, this will take the guesswork out of making budgeting decisions.
Best For Frugal Living – 365 Ways To Live Cheap by Trent Hamm.
This book by Trent Hamm is a real winner. It’s not really a budgeting book, but a book for those that want to learn how to be more frugal in day-to-day life.
Trent, one of the online personal finance pioneers, has lots of really good tips and tricks that will save you money.
Organized into various sections, you’ll find tips on saving money, saving money on groceries, vacations and even buying a house.
Some of the ideas are extreme, but most are very do-able.
And, even if you already consider yourself frugal, you’re certain to learn at least a few new strategies.
Best Case Study- Rich Dad, Poor Dad By Robert T. Kiyosaki.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a very interesting take on how people learn about money in different ways and how that impacts their financial decisions.
This book personally changed my life. It completely changed the way I thought about money, life and investing and made me motivated to change.
It’s what put me on this road to complete financial freedom and enabled me to become a millionaire!
This book focuses on Robert’s own childhood. Robert grew up with a “poor” Dad who struggled financially though he made a decent salary.
Contrast that with the “rich” Dad in his life, the father of his best friend, who was financially successful in working for himself.
Robert compares and contrasts what each of these men taught him and how that impacted his future financial decisions.
Hint: It’s all about having assets to pay for you lifestyle.
Best For Changing Up Your Mindset – Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin.
This book promises to change your life, if you follow the 9-step process outlined by author Vicki Robin.
One of the central themes of the book is that by working, you are in effect trading your time for money.
And if you don’t want to do this for the next 30 years, there are alternative ways to make a living and more importantly, making a life.
This book will make you really think about the role money plays in your life.
And it will make you question your values when it comes to money. This one is a worthy read.
Best For Women – Millionaire Women Next Door by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley
This is the follow up to the original bestseller The Millionaire Next Door, and this book is geared towards women (obviously!).
In this selection, author Thomas J. Stanley shares the stories of ordinary women who became millionaires.
There’re so many personal finance books written by men that focus on men, that’s we sometimes overlook the fact that there’s an entire population of successful women that we can learn from.
The women in this book share their stories about how they achieved financial success.
Much of their success comes back to fundamental concepts like budgeting, systematically saving and not giving into lifestyle creep.
Most importantly, as a woman, you need to have a vested interest in your money!
Best For Reaching Financial Independence – The Simple Path To Wealth by JL Collins.
This book is an easy read for those who already have key concepts like early retirement and the 4% rule down pat.
This book is a primer that will help you understand the steps you need to take in order to have a solid financial future and the potential to retire early.
The author encourages financial discipline and the ability to experience delayed gratification as well as why you need to start investing, like yesterday!
Best For Income Optimization – I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.
Geared towards the younger set, and those that may already be familiar with his blog, Ramit Sethi’s book offers actionable clear steps to get your financial life in shape.
His plan is built around a 6-week timeframe, so you know exactly what you should be doing when.
It’s easy to follow and the information is presented in a basic way so you can easily understand.
Best For FIRE – Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier.
Grant Sabatier is a new age money guru who got himself from broke to FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) in 5 short years. In his book, he discusses how he made the journey from not having much more than a dollar to becoming a millionaire.
He shares his views on why side hustles are ultra-important to get to FIRE as well as having the right mindset and hustling. FIRE isn’t easy, but it is possible.
More Best Budgeting Book Recommendations
The Minimalist Budget by Simeon Lindstrom A great budgeting book.
The Financial Diet by Chelsea Fagan. This book is for the absolute newbie who has zero knowledge about money.
Everything Budgeting Book by Tere Stouffer. An excellent beginner budgeting book.
You Are A Bad-Ass At Making Money by Jen Sincero. From the author of the bestselling Badass books about transforming your personal life, Jen Sincero helps you tackle your finances in this book.
In Conclusion
We promise that if you take the time to read any or all of these personal finance books, you’ll be rewarded with a brighter financial future!
Have you read any of these books? Are there books that aren’t on this list that should be? Comment below and let us know!
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