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Getting a Life: Real Lives Transformed by Your Money or Your Life
The revolutionary Your Money or Your Life, with more than half a million copies in print, is considered the bible of the mushrooming "voluntary simplicity" movement. Its inspiring, down-to-earth nine-step program has empowered hundreds of thousands to transform their relationship with money, reorder material priorities, achieve financial freedom, and live well for less.
Now, in Getting a Life, authors Jacqueline Blix and David Heitmiller, a married couple, explain how they gradually transformed their lives over the past six years by using the program. Jacque and David tell how they left their hectic, fast-track lives - two corporate jobs, expensive cars, exotic trips, thoughtless overspending - for an existence that reflects their true values and life purpose. These self-styled "reformed yuppies" are joined by more than two dozen individuals and families of diverse backgrounds who share their own stories of frugality and fulfillment.
Here, with an inspiring introduction by the authors of Your Money or Your Life, are dispatches from the front 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. Here too are proven, practical ideas on how to use each step of the the toughest challenges, the most common pitfalls. And here are frank insights into some of the deepest philosophical issues that arise when one adopts this wholeness of livelihood and lifestyle called Getting a Life.
Now, in Getting a Life, authors Jacqueline Blix and David Heitmiller, a married couple, explain how they gradually transformed their lives over the past six years by using the program. Jacque and David tell how they left their hectic, fast-track lives - two corporate jobs, expensive cars, exotic trips, thoughtless overspending - for an existence that reflects their true values and life purpose. These self-styled "reformed yuppies" are joined by more than two dozen individuals and families of diverse backgrounds who share their own stories of frugality and fulfillment.
Here, with an inspiring introduction by the authors of Your Money or Your Life, are dispatches from the front 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. Here too are proven, practical ideas on how to use each step of the the toughest challenges, the most common pitfalls. And here are frank insights into some of the deepest philosophical issues that arise when one adopts this wholeness of livelihood and lifestyle called Getting a Life.
364 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1997
5 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 24, 2021
Cool idea, in theory, but this is a book that became dated really quickly. Between the fact that the authors spend $495 on rent, and they talk about owning VCRs and having memberships to health clubs, I just kept picturing the cast of Seinfeld. Good content, but you are better off finding some people to follow in instagram and youtube for a 2021 version.
January 12, 2019
TOO LONG TOO LONG TOO LONG.
I wanted very much to like this book, and there were some useful tidbits that I didn't know before reading it. However, the book suffered for what I believe to be three main reasons.
1. The organization of the book. I feel like it would have been much more impactful if the chapters had been organized by the family instead of by the topic. That way we would get a better holistic view of the people who made YMOYL work for them as opposed to tidbits without the full picture.
2. Too much re-hashing of YMOYL. This book was described as being about the PEOPLE that made it work for them, but I had to slog through the authors re-describing all the stuff I'd already read in YMOYL!!!
3. What I consider to be the meat of the book, people's actual expenses after achieving FI, are super outdated. This isn't the authors' fault, but because of weaknesses 1 and 2, the book becomes even less useful now.
I wanted very much to like this book, and there were some useful tidbits that I didn't know before reading it. However, the book suffered for what I believe to be three main reasons.
1. The organization of the book. I feel like it would have been much more impactful if the chapters had been organized by the family instead of by the topic. That way we would get a better holistic view of the people who made YMOYL work for them as opposed to tidbits without the full picture.
2. Too much re-hashing of YMOYL. This book was described as being about the PEOPLE that made it work for them, but I had to slog through the authors re-describing all the stuff I'd already read in YMOYL!!!
3. What I consider to be the meat of the book, people's actual expenses after achieving FI, are super outdated. This isn't the authors' fault, but because of weaknesses 1 and 2, the book becomes even less useful now.
March 24, 2019
Would give a 3.5 star if possible. It was interesting, enjoyed seeing the real life applications but not as compelling as Your Money Your Life.
April 23, 2008
I like the idea of this book and I'm surprised that more self help books haven't followed this model. That idea is to relate the story of couples and individuals who have tried to follow the program outlined in a previous personal finance and simple living manifesto called "Your Money or Your Life." I think why it works in this case is that this program unlike some other personal finance books is very practical and grounded. Still there's room for failure and adjustments in any program and these authors are very honest about where they are still learning as well as celebrating their successes.
I had read "Your Money or Your Life" in my twenties and while I liked a lot of the principles and ideas of middle class folks living a more simple life, the program was too rigorous for a twenty something actor. Now as a thirty something writer with a wife and baby it still seems too rigorous, but I still appreciate many of the ideas expanded on in this book like finding the value in not being busy all the time, volunteering, the importance of community and being a smart and thrifty consumer.
I had read "Your Money or Your Life" in my twenties and while I liked a lot of the principles and ideas of middle class folks living a more simple life, the program was too rigorous for a twenty something actor. Now as a thirty something writer with a wife and baby it still seems too rigorous, but I still appreciate many of the ideas expanded on in this book like finding the value in not being busy all the time, volunteering, the importance of community and being a smart and thrifty consumer.
December 29, 2008
This was an easy read, but not an easy "do." While the program is a bit rigorous for me, I think there are many great tips and tricks to look at expenses and activities in a different way. Sometimes, we all get caught in the fast-track lifestyle, where success and security are determined by your paycheck. I think that the authors do a good job of making the reader think about whether the purchases we make, the things we keep and the jobs we work really contribute to our happiness or detract from it.
It's a good read if you are considering downsizing or simplifying your life in any way. However, there are times that the life experiences are repetitive and the book sometimes reads like an infomercial.
It's a good read if you are considering downsizing or simplifying your life in any way. However, there are times that the life experiences are repetitive and the book sometimes reads like an infomercial.
August 16, 2013
These are stories of people who followed the philosophy laid out in the book Your Money or Your Life. It's very easy to get influenced by the consumer culture, so it's good to be exposed to alternative ways of thinking. I really liked Your Money or Your Life and enjoyed seeing how different people applied those principles to their own lives.
January 20, 2014
I wasn't that into this book. In Radical Homemakers, the author notes that the only thing all her subjects had in common was reading YMOYL. And even though she only mentioned YMOYL once in passing, I still think her account of families who had worked the steps was far more interesting and inspiring than this one.
November 4, 2010
I found this much more accessible than Your Money or Your Life, on which it is based. Hearing the stories of people who have put into practice the lessons from Your Money or Your Life made for inspirational reading. In addition, the lessons are explained once again in a less dictatorial fashion.
January 13, 2012
Personally, I thought this was a great extension to Your Money or Your Life. I loved reading the ways people implemented the philosophies of the first book. Re-read it a couple of times (not in the last few years tho).
Read
August 2, 2013I've seen this described as "step 9." Maybe the last few chapters, but a lot of it is dedicated to "seeing the light" stories and summarizing how to do the steps. A good book, but not what I was hoping for (details on how people got to FI/dealt with the long slog).
April 24, 2009
This is the companion book to Your Money or Your Life - it gives me hope that I can actually live a life without debt
Currently reading
February 22, 2011I guess they really, really want me to read Your Money or Your Life.
July 25, 2011
Voluntary simplicity in action. Wish I could get there!
September 5, 2012
Part 2 of 'Your Money or Your Life', written by a completely different author. I always like knowing what happened to people afterwards...this was the answer.
March 29, 2013
An optional-read book on work-life balance as you manage your career.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews