Comments on: Some Thoughts on the Revised Edition of Your Money or Your Life

By: Judy

Judy — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:56:31 +0000

The book that got me on the road to debt-free living and still refer to it today when I need a tune-up! I’ll check out the new version for the investing advice.

By: Abby

Abby — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:24:29 +0000

You can find the old chapters (including the 101 frugality tips in chapter 6) online at http://yourmoneyoryourlife.info/resources/oldies-but-goodies/.

By: dianna

dianna — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:55:10 +0000

the old chapters 6 and 9 are still available! vicki robin put them on her website if you want to read the original versions, they’re at http://yourmoneyoryourlife.info/resources/oldies-but-goodies/

By: getagrip

getagrip — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:17:46 +0000

In one sense I agree with Pam’s question about what are we saving the planet from since nothing we do actually “saves” the planet. Period. The save the planet speil is just pretty marketing hype to make us feel good about environmental conservatism. The planet will continue to exist and operate just fine whether a super volcano erupts, an astreroid hits it, the sun burps bunches of solar flares in rapid succession and rips our atmosphere to shreds, every nation blows up every bomb in their nuclear arsenals at the same time, or we find some other means of driving ourselves to extinction like creating a mega plague. The Earth doesn’t give a hoot if we occupy it or not. The Earth doesn’t really care what, if any, life exists on it any more than your hair cares how you comb it today. So all the talk about “saving the planet” is really marketing babble to support making the planet a better place for us, humans, to live and prosper. All the environmental arguments typically come down to whether or not actions we are taking are hurting us on some level, whether it’s pollution, preserving ecosystems, environmental diversity, etc.

So its really not about the planet. It’s all about us.

By: Cheap Like Me

Cheap Like Me — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:08:02 +0000

I read this book many years ago — in my 20s. Thanks for mentioning it again … I still have it on a shelf, and it might be a great time to re-read it.

By: almost there

almost there — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:34:05 +0000

I originally read YMOYL a few years after it was published. I too felt it has a sanctimonious slant to it, as if everyone that read it was encouraged to drink the kool-aid their way. Remember, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest wence published is a bastion of earth-first tree spiking, natural women, earth shoe wearin’, non- flushin’ when yellow, let the bums live anywhere on the streets begging and taking up all the free internet in the library to watch po_n all day and get free transportation throughout Seattle, WTO protesting, riot and burning types. But have no fear gen y types, the people that run the world want to reduce the world population to about 1/2 a billion people, so the earth is safe. :) Not that I don’t disagree with alot of this. One just has to remember where the authors came from. But then wait until after 2012 and the pole shift to get really upset about global warming. Science and the history of the earth doesn’t lie about global warming but people do.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:04:26 +0000

@Pam: Right. You must be one of those that is in denial about human destruction of this planet. Global warming is real, it is being influenced by human activity, and my generation gets to live (survive?) through it.

Proud to be a do-gooder.

By: CPA Kevin

CPA Kevin — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:21:06 +0000

Pam –

Sorry you feel so much anger at our planet. I really don’t understand the attitude of people like you. If others want to conserve resources for future generations…why is that such a horrible thing? You do realize we will run out of oil and other natural resources at some point?

By: The Happy Rock

The Happy Rock — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:11:33 +0000

Call me a bad personal finance blogger, but I have never read this book. Its one my list, but I have always felt like I had moved past the material in this book with the aid of other books specifically Dave Ramsey and a few others.

I am already debt free except the mortgage and I am attacking my plan to reach my career dreams of self employed doing exactly what I want to do.

With that said, I still need to read the book.

By: plonkee

plonkee — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:30:42 +0000

@Pam:
I’m not sure what’s wrong with doing good. And I’ve heard that in many parts of the world, there’s hunger, poverty, homelessness, habitat destruction, pollution,… You might not personally want to do anything about it, but I’d be disappointed if you thought they were good things.

But then I’m an avowed leftie and bleeding heart liberal, so presumably everything I say must be complete rubbish :) .

By: Pam

Pam — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:16:33 +0000

I have a copy of the old edition. I have not read it in total, nor have I gone through the “program.” But one of the things I absolutely HATE about the book was their do-gooder, leftie, “save-the-planet” mentality.

Save the planet from what, may I ask?

By: almost there

almost there — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 04:23:32 +0000

To read the 101 tips go to amazon and under the new book click on the link to search inside another edition of this book. In the search block have the tab inside this book showing and type in the page number where it starts. Page 181.

By: pima

pima — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:27:59 +0000

Your Money or Your Life was a seminal book for me.
The concept of trading life energy for an item/meal/event really hit a note.
I have had the same job all my adult life and I LOVE it.
( I am self employed in retail) Working is a pleasure.
But I also have many other interests so not working is a pleasure too. Knowing what life energy an item/meal/event will cost you is such a tangible way to evaluate if that item has value FOR you. Ultimately every decision WE make forms our financial life. This book gave me a tool to make sure those decisions benefited me.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:38:24 +0000

I read the first edition 7 or 8 years ago. The biggest takeaway for me was when he asked yo to estimate how much money you had made in your life. You then look at what you have to show for it. Ouch! It’s probably in my top ten all time personal finance books.

By: Chris M

Chris M — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:04:20 +0000

Is the old version out of print? If so, do you think they might allow the 101 tips to be published on the internet (maybe here, or perhaps on the book publisher’s website as an addendum)?

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:40:40 +0000

Because of your advice, I am currently reading the book and I like it a lot. Every evening now I tally up exactly what I’ve spent during the course of the day. I thought this would make me feel terrible, but in fact, it is oddly calming. A reminder I guess, of the fact that my family and I actually have quite a lot of control over our financial well being – we just have to pay attention. Thanks for the good advice.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:36:49 +0000

I’ve never read the book. Though I have been out of debt for over a year, I would still like to read it. Thanks for the heads up on the new version – I’ll put it on hold at the library.

By: Mr. Nickle

Mr. Nickle — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:50:56 +0000

Though I never followed the investment advice this book espoused (to only invest in 30 year Treasuries), I don’t see how they can depart from this plan, much, without significantly changing their whole plan. Their plan was based around building up a predictable stream of income, and plotting the specific date that your income from your savings would exceed your living expenses. If you’re investing in index funds, how can you accurately project the date that your passive income exceeds your expenses (especially since there is no guarantee that it will ever happen)?

By: Brad

Brad — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:41:16 +0000

I’m about 75% through the revised edition, after having read the original version a number of times over the last 15 years. Overall, a nice updating, but there were a couple of glaring errors that stood out…. references in later chapters to material in the front of the book that had been removed in the new edition. For instance, on Page 144, there is a reference to “Gordon M. … who we met in Chapter 1″. Well, that was chapter 1 of the old edition…and readers will search fruitlessly for his story.

I also miss the wonderful 101 ways to save money in Chapter six, but I think the updating of the investing advice makes up for it. This still remains one of the top ten influential books I’ve read in my 50+ years.

By: CPA Kevin

CPA Kevin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:07:23 +0000

I just read the book (not the updated one) a couple months ago and I agree that it both: a) changed my life and really made me think and b) the investing chapter was not useful.

Thanks for the mini-review of the updated version.