James Watermann's "How to: Tame Your Expenses and Build Your Savings - A beginner's guide to personal finances" is designed to provide structured guidance on managing your money to avoid difficulties.
Far too many people in the world are struggling to make ends meet, but most of them can't be blamed for their misfortune. When schools fail to provide basic financial literacy, it can have a lasting impact for generations. Even at home your household's finances might be a sensitive issue nobody wants to talk about, much less with children. Personal finances are a very sensitive and deeply guarded secret-until it is too late.
My experience with friends and colleagues has convinced me to share my approach to managing personal finances and let others benefit from it too. Everything written in this book is based on what I have been doing every single day for more than ten years now.
Each chapter of the book will guide you on a journey to financial stability, starting with the importance of a good credit score, setting aside your first few cents, understanding your cash flow, and creating a balanced budget. It then moves to building stable long-term savings, understanding the importance of protecting your money from inflation, and towards the end it outlines some ideas on how to work with your savings once you have them. Sharing this approach has already helped people around me, and I want to share it with as many others as possible.
Our modern-day society is built on instant gratification, non-stop marketing, notifications, and an endless supply of dopamine. How can you hope to resist? No wonder you might be spending your days afraid of the next credit card bill, losing your job, or speaking up even when you know you are right. I believe that providing as many people as possible with the knowledge of how to achieve financial stability will make the world a better place. If you can spend less time worrying and more time with your family and friends, or working on your dream project, even sky won't be the limit for you.
This book will not teach you to get rich overnight by following a magic formula. In fact, if you don't know how to handle money, winning a lottery could actually do more harm than good. However, if you know how to manage your money, you are already richer than most-no matter what comes your way, you will be able to get back on your feet. And this book will teach you just that.
I want the world to be a better place. Where people can speak up without fear of losing their jobs, have enough capital to start their own independent businesses, and focus on their dreams instead of working on someone else's dream.
For years I have been tracking my income and expenses, planning monthly budgets, and setting up savings goals without a clear goal. I simply wanted to have some savings available for emergencies. Around 2015 I have met a traveler who told me that she has been saving money for years with a clear vision of leaving their job and travelling the world. And I thought to myself: "It would be nice to take a break like that. To feel free for a while." And because I now have this freedom, I decided to write my book and share how I did it with others.
One day, I walked out of a meeting room after yet another useless meeting, sat down at my desk, typed my resignation, and took it straight to my boss. I was done. Thanks to my savings, I have been able to quit my job and walk away without any plan. All I wanted to do was relax, stop taking orders, and wake up when I feel like it. This is a privilege, but a hard-earned one.
Few weeks into my 'vacation', I started writing what I thought would be a simple blog post. When I was done, it was 25 pages long. Well, how about I make it into a short booklet? I thought it would take a few days to write and publish. However, with every iteration, I felt that more questions need to be answered to keep it informative and easy to understand. I took it slow and dedicated one day a week to it. No rush.
The process of writing and publishing The Beginner's Guide to Personal Finances took almost two years.
