Browse through the personal finance section in any bookstore or library and you’ll find hundreds of titles on everything from real estate to investing. When you’re looking to pay down debt, however, it helps to focus on those authors who will help you meet that goal.
Following are four books that focus on helping people dig out of debt and get on the road to building wealth.
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. A real estate millionaire by the time he was 30, Dave Ramsey lost it all during the 80’s. Since that time he has re-built his financial life and found a new career as a personal finance guru. In addition to hosting a daily radio talk show out of Nashville, Ramsey has written several books, the latest being The Total Money Makeover. In it he walks readers through seven baby steps that will help them get current on bills, build an emergency fund, “snowball” their way out of debt, and begin to invest.
Debt-Proof Living: The Complete Guide to Living Financially Free by Mary Hunt. Hunt is another author who speaks from personal experience. She and her husband found themselves in a situation with huge debts and almost no income and were able to find their way out. Her advice includes paying off debt with a Rapid Debt Reduction Plan and saving for large, irregular purchases in Freedom Accounts.
Pay It Down! by Jean Chatzky. Jean is the editor-at-large of Money magazine, a contributing editor to the Today Show, and was featured in the Oprah Winfrey Show’s Debt Diet Series. In 2005 she wrote Pay It Down: From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day. Her philosophy is simple: find a way to free up $10 a day and apply that money to your debt. She offers ideas on finding the money, as well as basic information on things like FICO scores.
The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. Like Jean Chatzky, David Bach advocates finding small, regular amounts of money that can be freed up in your budget and used to pay down debt and then build wealth. He refers to this as the Latte Factor. Beyond that his advice involves making it automatic by arranging to have money swept out of your bank account and applied to debt or invested before you even miss it.
If you think you see some similarities in the above descriptions, you’re right. Most personal finance books will repeat at least some of the same messages. They recommend paying off debt, paying yourself first, plugging holes in your budget, etc. But that doesn’t mean that they’re all created equal. Different authors have different approaches and styles. Your job is to find one that resonates with you.