GET GOOD WITH MONEY | BOOK REVIEW

SYNOPSIS

A ten-step plan for finding peace, safety, and harmony with your money—no matter how big or small your goals and no matter how rocky the market might be—by the inspiring and savvy “Budgetnista.”

Available for purchase on: Amazon // Target // Wal-Mart // Barnes & Noble // Books-a-Million

I kicked off my first read of the year with Get Good With Money by Tiffany Aliche (also known as “The Budgetnista.”) Before discovering this book in the aisles of Target last year, I wasn’t familiar with Tiffany or her reputation as a blogger and financial expert. After reading the book, I learned she has built a community on educating others about finance. She’s very active on social media and has a ton of useful resources on her websites. I'll link both of her sites TheBudgetnista.com and GetGoodWithMoney.com if you want to learn more. 

As I’ve gotten older and started managing my own funds, learning about money has become exciting and empowering. I think it’s important to educate yourself not only to be knowledgeable on the topic, but also so you can make the right decisions when it comes to your own financial health. You have to take care of your current and future you! It's easy to avoid this because it can feel overwhelming or too difficult to understand. It definitely not fun having to face the music of reality either if you have a lot of debt or like to spend too much! Sometimes you just have to dive in and go! Everything will become a lot more manageable and less overwhelming once you do. For me, staying in the know has given a greater sense of direction with my money and tackling my goals.

If you don't know where to begin, Get Good With Money is a great place to start. The book outlines ten essential parts of becoming financially whole: Budgeting, Saving, Becoming Debt Free, High Credit Scores, Increasing Income, Investing, Having Insurance, Increasing Net Worth, Financial Experts + Estate Planning. Tiffany does a great job of explaining all of these concepts in great detail but in a way that's easy to understand. You'll learn the basics and financial keystones that a lot of financial experts preach. Think things like having an emergency fund, spending less than you earn, budgeting and so forth. 

I found the most value in Get Good With Money in the chapters about investing, insurance and estate planning. One of my current goals is to learn and invest more of my money beyond saving for retirement. This is still relatively new for me so I enjoyed learning more about the specifics from Tiffany's perspective. She also gave me a lot of things to think about and consider when it comes to insurance and estate planning, especially going forward in life. 

If you're looking to educate yourself on personal finance, Get Good With Money is a great place to start. It serves as a valuable tool with in-depth information on all of the basics and provides actionable steps to take control of your money. 

What should I read next? 

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ENNEAGRAM TYPE 4 | BOOK REVIEW

In an effort to do some self discovery + improvement, this year I started researching enneagrams. The enneagram is a system of nine different personality types that interconnect together. We all have relationships with each type based on our behavior, however are more strongly connected to one "main" type. To find out your own enneagram type, you can take an enneagram test (there are tons of free ones online). I identify the most with Type 4, commonly referred to as "The Individualist." If you're here because you're also a Type 4, today I'm doing a book review on Enneagram Type 4 by Beth McCord. I shared it a few weeks back in my Summer Book Haul.

If you aren't a Type 4, there's an entire collection by Beth McCord for each enneagram type. I'll link them all here! 

Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 | Type 5 | Type 6 | Type 7 | Type 8 | Type 9

ENNEAGRAM TYPE 4 by BETH McCORD

In Enneagram Type 4, the author breaks down the essence of being a type 4 into what are referred to as our four major motivations: our core desire, core fear, core weakness and core longing. These are the main qualities, strengths and weaknesses that we embody as a type 4. Through a spiritual approach, Beth McCord shares how these motivations impact our lives both positively and negatively. She also discusses the ways that we can cope and adapt with them.

While reading, I confirmed that the core motivations and Type 4 traits she discussed in the book align well with my personality. I definitely identify with the personality traits of wanting to be unique, creative and authentic. I also recognize some of my flawed traits in the book too, things like being temperamental at times and moody. Normally recognizing your flaws isn’t fun, however it was actually really nice to find a connection and understanding of why you behave and think the way you do. The book is also setup like a mini workbook with areas to answer questions after each section. I'm not a huge fan of writing in books so I tried to think through these instead.

The author is also a Type 4 so I related a lot to her personal experience with having "the ability to sit with sorrow." My entire life, I've always dealt with grief and sadness differently than most people do. I've never been as emotionally expressive on the outside and often approach these areas in a more matter-of-fact way. There are a lot of traits and themes in Type 4 that deal with feeling misunderstood or that you are missing something that everyone else has. I too feel this way at times and appreciated the way she recognized that we all have negative tendencies and that's it's okay-- some of them can even be positives. 

At the end I was still left wanting more insight and a deeper look into my enneagram, however I think Enneagram Type 4 (or likely any in the series) is a great starting point for diving into your enneagram type. She offers some great information on all of the different enneagram types and more insight on the specifics of Type 4. It was interesting to see how and where the Type 4 personality also overlaps and shares traits with some of the other types. I also appreciated her basis on spirituality and how we can use the enneagram from a religious perspective. For any type, I think it's worth checking out the corresponding book in her collection if you're curious to learn more about yourself! 

What's your type? 

I love sharing book reviews with you all! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping! Pretty cool, huh? :)