Best books and resources for saving money

Saving money may seem straightforward, with most people imagining it to be as simple as moving money from one pot to another. In reality, this is not usually the case. Particularly for indebted people, managing money can seem challenging and even confusing at times, and living on the negative side of your bank account balance can affect you psychologically.

What many people fail to mention in terms of money, is that money accumulation starts with a mentality. Likewise, people who rarely have any money and who find it impossible to save also share similar mindstates. Here are some resources that you can use to not only save money, but build a rich mentality and start making money work for you:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This book is seriously famous - having sold over 100 million copies - and many, many hugely successful people swear by its contents. Think and Grow Rich perfectly encapsulates the point made above, as it stresses the importance of ‘thinking rich’ in order to eventually become rich. You may not necessarily want to become a millionaire, but this book offers some fantastic financial insights that you can apply to your life.

The Little Common Sense Book of Investing by John C Bogle

This is a practical resource that helps people make wise decisions when it comes to investing, particularly in the stock market. It describes to readers how they can increase their chances of getting a fair share of returns from the stock market using a financial product known as an ‘index fund.’ These financial products are safer than many alternatives and generate decent interest.

The primary goal of index investing, however, is to generate compound interest - which is when your interest is reinvested and you start earning interest on your interest, causing explosive gains over the long term. According to experts, index funds are among the safest investments you can make, as they bank on the success of entire sectors, or even whole economies.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason

This is another fantastic book that makes learning about financial subjects truly entertaining. It delivers its narrative in a fable-like fashion, teaching its readers about basic wealth accumulation principles. One of my favourite messages from the book is the 10% rule. The narrator starts off by describing how we receive our wage every month, but in reality, we pay everyone but ourselves.

He explains how we pay our rent, food and energy bills, we may pay the plumber and big companies for clothes and cars and the like, but we don’t actually pay ourselves. He suggests taking 10% of every payment you receive and putting it aside, as this is your payment. This is a great rule to live by, because as the narrator states, the remaining 90% is usually more than enough to see you through.

If you would like some help devising a money-saving strategy that’s tailored to your needs, click here.