Jim Miller - Budgeting Doesnt Have to Suck: For Young Adults Who Want More Money

Budgeting Doesnt Have to Suck:

For Young Adults Who Want More Money

2nd Edition

Copyright 2013, 2020 RMWP

https://iamjimmiller.com

ISBN: 978-0-9891967-0-3

eISBN: 978-0-9891967-1-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903472

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages.

Budgeting Doesnt Have to Suck is a trademark of RMWP.

Disclaimers: Historical celebrity quotes at each chapters introduction are intentionally and overtly fictitious.

Nothing in this book constitutes investment advice.

Published By:

RMW Publishing

https://rmwp.org

Printed in the United States of America

First Revised Edition

Dedicated to my dad,

in absentia,

on his 75th birthday,

17 April 2013.

PREFACE

Why a second edition?

W

elcome to the first second edition of this book. (That made sense, right?) By no means is the first edition of this book invalid. There is no advice in the original edition that I wouldnt still give. So why?

I fixed a few typos and style issues. I updated the subtitle. And I added a lot of new content. The main reason, though, is that the world has changed a lot since I released Budgeting Doesnt Have to Suck in 2013, and I want to provide you with those updates in this expanded version.

As I write this preface, the year is 2020 and it is summer. Were in month three of the coronavirus pandemic and trying to understand how it will impact our future. Much is unknown and much more is speculated.

The economy is bouncing back quite well right now, thanks to government stimulus programs. Without a vaccine or treatment, as well as a shift backwards in the types of goods and services consumers are spending their money on, we may be in a challenging spot for years to come.

Wherever the world moves, and however you move in the world, it has never been more important to understand what you value in life and how to best aim your money plan toward those values.

I want you to be as prepared as you can be. That is why I wrote and released this second expanded edition. I hope you enjoy it, and that this book helps the future you to be even more awesome.

Only the Best,

Jim Miller

Los Angeles, CA

June 2020

INTRODUCTION

Why Another Personal Finance Book?

T

he world is filled with books on personal finance, budgeting, and well-known ways to protect and grow our hard-earned money. Why write yet another one? First of all, my exploration of personal finance and budgeting skips past much of the knowledge that the general public already knows. And with so many voices out there, I want to give people the right information as clearly as possible.

This book is not for dummies, and instead gets to the point, so you can learn everything you need to know without me wasting your valuable time. You already know its financially smarter to buy a used car than a new car. You already know that you shouldnt eat out as often as youd like to. You already know that you should save more money than you might already be saving.

But what do you know about getting more money? What do you know about growing yourself? What do you know about automating your financial life so you have greater success and spend less time dealing with it?

You may be picking up this book in uncertain times. Maybe you have debt or you lost your job or had a big unexpected expense and have nothing. Or, maybe youre crushing it right now and are seeking new strategies so you can grow even faster. To all of you, you are holding the right book in your hand.

In this book, there are no end-of-chapter checklists, no worksheets, and no quizzes. There is only tremendously helpful advice that will help motivated people like you gain control, get more money, and have a better life. Does that mean you have to love budgeting? No. Keep reading.

I have been working in finance, accounting and with numbers for over twenty years, and I am going to share all of my best advice with you in this concise manuscript. And its not all about spending less. That would suck!

Consistently for many years, I have avoided bad debt, diversified and increased my income, increased savings and my investments, given to non-profit and social causes and every strategy that I use is in this book.

I am not cheap at all. I spend money on things that matter to me. But I am definitely frugal, or careful, as to where my money goes. For example, buying high-quality food is important to me. Clothing, not so much. I have a quality, but small wardrobe. I dont want too many decisions.

Instead of taking my car to a car wash, I wash it myself for $4 at one of those high-pressure, do-it-yourself places. I then air-dry my car on the drive home, along the coast of Los Angeles, at a safe but irresponsible speed. You get the picture. I save so I have more money to invest.

A primary concept in this book is that managing and growing your money can be fun. The aim of this book is to give you the right tools now so that when you are crushing it you keep it. I will show you that this can be fun.

Making your money process easy is crucialelse it will not be fun, and you will not do it. Im talking about real fun. Living life, planning and making space for the things you value the most.

I will provide the philosophical and technical tools for you to create your own ways to gain control of your finances and to start a way of thinking that leads to financial success.

This book is that inspirational, one-hour meeting that starts on time and ends with you feeling supercharged and ready to act.

My readers are those who desire to circumvent relearning what they already know and to discover something unique; to efficiently gain insight that can make their lives better.

This kind of knowledge is esoteric and practical. Those wanting to know these topics in complete detail are invited to peruse the 200+ page workbooks they can find at every bookstore.

This is not to say that there is no detail in my writing. Such detail has been my routine for over two decades. But the detail lies hidden here, primarily, while what is writ large is the philosophy and strategy on how to have a better future.

I am grateful to my father, Dr. Ron Miller, for wordlessly teaching me about the book writing and publishing world, a world I entered after his death in order to continue his many works and publications.

I also want to thank my son, Jetson, for allowing me the time to write this book. Today is his first birthday (2013). He teaches me every single day.

STARTING ON EMPTY

I could either watch it happen or be a part of it. For this one, I decided to watch Jim write the universes best book on money. Elon Musk

WHEN YOU HAVE NADA

This chapter is new to the second expanded edition. When the first edition of this book was released it was 2013 and the economy was doing okay. Unemployment was low. At the time of this writing, it is the summer of 2020 and the government is not allowing many businesses to function. Millions of good people are without jobs. A lot of people need help.

Coronavirus or not, if you are in a dark place financially, this chapter is for you. If you are willing to get busy and to take responsibility for your life, there is absolutely a brighter path ahead for you. Read this book entirely.

This chapter is unique and will appear like a list or guide, because it is. Many of the items within will be explored further in later chapters. But I want to help those in need immediately before we journey any further.