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Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

Learn about Your Money or Your Life
Even though this book is called Your Money OR Your Life, I finished reading it and thought, your money IS your life. --And I don't mean that money is what your life revolves around (although sometimes it feels like that, doesn't it?). This book taught me that money is essentially what we trade our "life energy" for, and that we should spend it the same way we'd spend our time and energy--in accordance with our values.

Of course, if one of your values is sustainability, then you should use money as a means to achieve that end. But all too often we associate money with greed and sustainability with sacrifice. The authors recount the story of an activist named Jason:
...the formula [money = life energy] made him see clearly that for all his best intentions to 'make the world a better place,' his stubborn financial ignorance made his efforts ineffectual. To be truly effective in his desire to make a difference in the world, he needed to master money. (p. 55)
Although the book is a little outdated, and at times it can get a bit preachy, it's unlike any other personal finance book I've ever read. It's the only one that really covers all the bases, from how you spend your money (and the values associated with that) to how you get the money (finding a job you love), and ultimately, reaching a point where you can really live life on your own terms: financial independence.

After reading Your Money or Your Life, I stopped seeing money as just something to be made or spent or saved...I started seeing it as a tool. After all, money is a means to an end, not an end itself, and now to me it represents one more avenue for living sustainably.

The authors of Your Money or Your Life also founded an organization called The New Road Map Foundation.

To learn more about the relationship between your job, money, and the environment, check out Work, Success, and Sustainability, an article on how to integrate these three seemingly separate pursuits.

If your values include owning your own home, definitely check out Mortgage-Free!, which I've reviewed here on SustainableWays.com.


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