Debt is Slavery - Michael Mihalik

Debt is Slavery:
And 9 Other Things I Wish My Dad Had Taught Me About Money
Michael Mihalik
October Mist Publishing
ISBN 9780978545703

I was very impressed with this book. Short and simple, at under 125 pages with appendix. It has great advice and tips, for gaining control of your spending, your finances and in doing so, your time. The biggest lesson I took from the book is that money is time. If you make 20$ a hour and you want a Blue Ray player that is $200 then it is about 10 hours of your life for you to buy it. As a father of young children I already do this. For example, there are guys at work that go out and eat almost every day for lunch. When I only go every few weeks, they bug me. But depending on where they are going I say lunch is a box of diapers or two cans of formula. But I had never considered applying it to all spending. Every time you spend money it comes down to how much do you need to work for that item or expense. Every expense therefore has a time value not just a dollar value.

The book is clear and concise; it has tips and tricks at the end of each chapter to help you apply it. No matter where you are at, it can help you start on the road to financial recovery. I only wish the worksheets and checklists it uses were available for download from the website, as excel workbooks that can progress from month to month or as PDF to be printed and used. But other than that it is an excellent resource especially for students or new grads, to develop the good habits early.