Exploration 7: Liz Williams

"Your Money Or Your Life"

Joe Dominguez grew up in what is commonly known as "the ghetto". He from there went out on his own and landed a great job on Wall Street in the financial sector. He saved about $70,000 by the age of  30 in the year 1969. He never accepted any money for his work for the rest of his life. During his road to success, he met a woman named Vicki Robin, and together they founded a movement called the New Roadmap Foundation. This Foundation includes a huge network of volunteer teachers complete with seminars and even some cassette-tapes. They have educated thousands of people (without the benefit of the internet), freeing them from the chains of their spending addictions. Eventually, these efforts turned into the book called, "Your Money or Your Life." This book changed many lives and helped the word to start spreading. This concept has its own category on Reddit and there are a number if financial independence blogs on the subject. This book presents a 9 Step program approach, which makes it difficult for the reader to get through. This article then goes on to help break it down for the reader. Here are the steps he shares in his article:
Step 1: Make Peace With Your Past
Step 2: Figure Out Your Real Earnings and Spending
Step 3: Create Monthly Reports For Yourself
Step 4: Three Questions That Will Supposedly Transform Your Life
Step 5: Keep A Prominent Graph of Income and Expenses
Step 6: Learn To Value Your Life Energy By Minimizing Spending
Step 7: Minimize Your Earnings
Step 8: Watch For Crossover Point
Step 9: Managing Your Money

One strong thing that I liked about this article is that he took the time to break down a book that moreover would have been very difficult to get through and understand, contrasting it to better help us get acquainted with the topics of the book. He makes is very easy with the simple 9 step program approach. For example, Step 1 is about making peace with your past; he asks you to add up all of the money you have earned in your life followed by adding up your net worth. He wants you thinking about how much you have saved, and how much you have spent. He realizes that to many, this realization may come as an unpleasant surprise as he says, "...there is so sense in beating yourself up over past mistakes."

Another thing I enjoyed about this article is the fact that he takes the time to teach you about his steps, instead of just listing them and gives important insight where it is appropriate. This is prevalent as he helps you figure out your Real Earning and Spendings in Step 2. He understands basic human needs and wants, and approaches his reader and audience in a way in which we can relate to what he is trying to teach. "Become knowledgable and invest your capital in such a way as to provide an absolutely safe income sufficient to meet your basic needs for life." This quote is from Step9: Managing Your Money

As I have said before, I think the reason this article and why he is so popular is because he tries to have us relate to him. This is especially clear in my article because of the writing style he uses. He lists his ideas and teachings, rather than give it to us in long, drawn-out paragraphs making it hard and boring to read. I think people who want fast and easy lessons about how to approach saving their money and how to transform their money situations will greatly enjoy this article because that is exactly what it provides. Because I am one of those people as of now, I will continue to read this and more blogs of his for better understandings and teachings.