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My step daughter is 22 with a child and a part time job. We keep telling her to save her money and not blow it away.
Are there good books to help her understand? or advise?

I am a financial counselor and this is ALWAYS the first book I start everyone out with. It is easy to read, easy to identify with, and it doesn’t read like a textbook. It starts with the very basics about dealing with debt, saving and improving your financial situation BEFORE it goes into any kind of investing. I have found that people who will not learn from, and follow, the advice in Dave Ramsey’s "The Total Money Makeover" usually will not follow the advice in any other good book about personal finance. There’s a book review and a LOT more information about personal finance on the Financial Page of my website eclecticsite.com And all the info and help are free!

(re-post)
I’m interested in Law, Politics, and Government, but I’m not able to understand some of it because I have a very weak understanding of personal finance. What age–or grade–did you start learning about it? As of now, I’ve been doing independent research on Law, Politics, and Government, for about two or three months, and it’s very hard to learn about it when you don’t have someone teaching it to you. How old were you when you started learning about these things?

(I’m fourteen)

I started learning basic personal finance in third or fourth grade, just like Ariaread, but in public school. We had to "write checks" for little goodies (jolly ranchers, party favor type toys) each month, balance check books, etc. I didn’t get aggressive about personal finance until college. I was reading some books about investing strategies, budgeting, etc. I would suggest: Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and Rich Dad Poor Dad. They’re somewhat contradictory to one another, but they’re crucial for dropping your preconceived notions of money, wealth, and "getting ahead."

Government has been in my life a long, long time. I would talk to my parents a little about politics from the time I was little. My parents voted for George H. W. Bush in 1992, and I asked them why. I was only six or seven at the time. Since then, I’ve listened to and participated in conversations about politics pretty regularly. In high school, I did Lincoln Douglass debate and learned a lot of political theory from researching for my arguments. Read the Federalist Papers, John Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government, Jean Jacque Rousseau’s Social Contract, Aristotle’s Politics and Ethics, and Machiavelli’s The Prince and Discourses on Livy. They’re hard to read, but full of insight and wisdom that have served as pivotal ideas throughout human history. Feel free to read Sun Tzu’s Art of War, while you’re at it.

It’s better to learn these things yourself, through reading and carefully considering what you read. Take nothing at face value, but always question. Is this really true? How do I know? This process develops wisdom as well as knowledge, and both are sorely lacking in society these days.

Best of luck, and don’t get discouraged. Simply asking this question is a huge step in the right direction. Good luck, and God speed.

Just got married. Husband has 2 checks each week. I have 1 each 2 weeks. We are debating about best way to formulate a strong budget. He states that he should just put in 1 check and stay with the other for "personal" finances and I should just put in my checks. I say we should put in all our incomes to get a clear picture of where we stand especially since we do want a home in the future. Any suggestions?

Try this book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey his budget is alwsome! We do it not only will he teach you to be debt free but also to prosper as well. Think about retirment.
The best home is paid-in-full. w/o loans. Sounds like you are allready on the right track keep up the good work!

I am looking for some guidance with my personal finances and I am not sure who would be the right type of person/organization to help me. i am not looking of investment advice or investment planning or anything like that, but rather advice on setting a plan for how to pay off some debt and wisely save some money before I mess things up for myself and my credit score. Right now my Credit score is above 700 and I am afraid that my finances are about to become too much for me.

In a nut shell, make a budget and see where your money is going. Next list your bills smallest to biggest. While paying the minimum on the rest, pay off the smallest. Bamm–one gone. Next take the money you were paying on the small one, and put that together with the second bill. When that is gone, attack the third and so on.

Also, get the book TOTAL MONEY MAKE OVER by Dave Ramsey.

I’m still in college and know very little about personal finance. My parents manage to get by but I really question some of their decisions at times because I’m further in debt with loans than my friends in the same situation. I wanna manage my own finances with saving, investing, debt management, stocks. etc. What are some recommendations for good programs or books for this? Thanks.

Without a doubt the best for me is TOTAL MONEY MAKE OVER, by Dave Ramsey. Learn how to live your life to become debt free, and especially start young, and be really free of credit interest in order to be financially stable early. You also become quite healthy for your retirement.

Check out his web site http://www.daveramsey.com.

Depends on your goal. If it is just to keep track of your checking & savings account, Quicken will do.

If you want to do a budget, then I suggest either Crown Financial software for budgets and getting out of debt or Dave Ramsey’s budget software and getting out of debt (he has a free one on line or a more detailed one for under $20). Links are below.

I am looking for a good book that will address topics like how to pay your tithing as well as pay for missions and retirement.

"one for the money"

do an Ensign search on lds.org for money management. This is what i have gleaned from all the information: in a nutshell, the lds way is 10% tithe, 10%retirement, 10% to debt repayment, and live on the remaining 70%. have an emergency fund and a food store. pay off your mortgage asap.

the church welfare section of LDS.org has a lot of info.

the dave ramsey way works too, but the LDS way , for me, is more sane and slow.

listen to this guy everyday http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/?#listenlive-tab

total money makeover – dave ramsey

My parents are in a bit of financial trouble. The problem is not their income. It really comes down to the fact that they don’t have a basic grasp on how to manage money. Any money they make, they spend on something. They won’t take advice from me, because I’m "just their kid."

So I was wondering if there were any books out there that anyone might know if that talks about things like:

Paying yourself first
How to set up a budget
How to change your thinking about spending
How to get out of that "spend every extra dime you have" mentality…
Etc.

It needs to be a fairly simple read, because neither of them "has time to read."

Hi there mountain chick,
The book to get for you and your parents is the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. You may be able to get it at the library, but you can definitely get it from his website…www.daveramsey.com
This website and book will be a wealth of information for you and your parents. Dave Ramsey teaches us how to get out of debt and to stay out of debt. This book is a very easy read, easy terms and all of the forms you need will also be in his book. Also, at www.daveramsey.com you can look for Financial Peace University classes. You and your parents can go through his class and learn about getting out of debt and many other concepts of saving and living debt free.
I commend you for being such a wonderful child to help your parents. They may not listen to you, however, you can give them these tools for financial peace and know that you did the right thing……….good luck!

just for fun, example why study only dave ramsey when you can study robert kiyosaki and suze orman and warren buffet etc..?

Yeah, then I go watch paint dry.