Books : Getting a Life: Strategies for Simple Living Based on the Revolutionary Program for Financial Freedom, 'Your Money or Your Life'
In association with Amazon.com
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.024
EAN num: 9780140258776
ISBN number: 0140258779
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: January 01, 1999
Publishing house: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Sale Popularity Level: 430650
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Revolutionary and life changing, the 'voluntary simplicity' movement is about achieving financial freedom and living well for less. Now Getting a Life shows how real people have left the rat race for a more meaningful--and financially manageable--life that reflects their own true values and individual goals. Written by a couple who used the nine steps in the bestselling Your Money or Your Life to transform their own relationship with money, Getting a Life offers proven, practical ideas on how to use each step of the program. With honesty and humor, the authors and more than two dozen families and individuals share their personal experiences on such issues as paying for health care, raising children in a materialistic world, and breaking the link between what you do for a living and who you are. Getting a Life shows you how to adopt voluntary simplicity in your own life and what to expect once you do.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
This couple's contention that they are living simply is a joke. It's easy to choose voluntary simplicity when you can live off the interest of your investments. I also understand that one of their tenets is to borrow whenever possible, including borrowing a friend's van to transport a group of other VS types to a gathering. During the trip, the van broke down. Did Mr. Heitmiller offer to pay for the repairs? Oh, heck no, it wasn't his fault because the van was due to break down. Guess the friend won't be able to adopt the VS lifestyle because he will have to work to pay for the repairs. Mooching off your friends doesn't qualify as VS, does it? People who are living the VS lifestyle because their economic situation forces them to do so are in a better position to write a book about how it's done. People with a million bucks in the bank have a rather comfy cushion.
Rated by buyers 
-
In Your Money or Your Life, Dominguez and Robin lay out an easy-to-undestand system that will result in financial security. The challenge is in implementation. It's the little things that tend to derail even the most well-intentioned plans.
The value of this book is that it is a great implementation tool. If you haven't read YMOYL, you'll be scratching your head at many of the the things that Heitmiller and Blix assume you already know. The authors do tend to spend a lot of time on "the way we were" but I suspect it's because their epiphany has so dramatically altered their lives. Don't dwell on it. This is a book about living better, not class struggle.
The bottom line is that if you're going to commmit to the 9 step program Dominguez and Robin outline in YMOYL, you're going to need help. This book is the best source of help I've found and I recommend it (as others have) because the real life stories of others who have taken the journey you've embarked on serve as a source of motivation and how to advice that simply isn't available elsewhere.
Rated by buyers -
We read Duane Elgins excellent book Voluntary Simplicity decades ago, and would simply caution that this book Getting A :Life will probably appeal to those who have lots of money and really do not have to worry about making ends meet. For those who are on some type of a fixed income. or those with middle class incomes in a precarious economy it doesn't have much useful information. And I agree with those reviews that note the "yuppy" element.
We run a small simple living group in the Sierras, that is like the ones we ran in Alameda and San Joaquin counties here in California. So we are not new to the live simply and get out of debt ideas. And I note that there is a big difference between spoiled brats needing to learn what is really important in life and those who know what is important in life and want to know even more about how to simplify their lives.
The Intenet be it google searches or Yahoo groups has a whole lot more free information that is useful than this book. Amazon[.com]offers a whole lot more books on the subject that I would recommend.
Rated by buyers -
Should be subtitled, "How Two Seattle Yuppies Retired Early on 3.5K a Month". This book contains some helpful info, but I was hoping to see someone with a negative net worth pay off their debts and become FI. What I got was the story of a couple of yuppies saying, "Whoa, were worth a bundle and if we refuse to pay for our kids' college we can retire early". Not too impressive to me. I would not read this book if I were looking for material on voluntary simplicity. Why does Vicki Robin endorse this book?
Rated by buyers -
I recommend that you read 'Your Money or Your Life' (YMOYL) before you read this book. I waited about 2 or 3 months to give YMOYL time to really sink in before I read this. When I started reading, I found myself trying to read very slowly so that I could absorb everything. It is very inspiring and englightening to read about other people's experiences following the YMOYL philosophy and the ways that they have integrated this into their lives.
I think your experience with this book will closely follow YMOYL. If you liked YMOYL, then you should find this book inspiring and very interesting. If you didn't, then you won't. If you want more detail on how YMOYL has affected people's lives, then you will enjoy...
Find other books like this one:
