The best books for changing the way you look at money

As of 2023, behavioral economics is no longer a surprising new look at old economics principles–but that doesn’t change just how entertaining, surprising, and challenging you will find the experiments detailed in Predictably Irrational. 

In one notable experiment, Dr. Ariely placed six-packs of soft drinks next to plates of cash inside of communal dorm fridges–to prove we tend to be honest about cash but feel no compunction about swiping someone else’s Coke. In another memorable experiment, male volunteers were asked moral questions when they were in a state of arousal–which helped prove that morals are flexible depending on the circumstances. 

Reading this book will make you realize just how often you make decisions–especially financial decisions–that are weird, illogical, and irrational.

This graphic novel tells the story of how Vladek–Spiegelman’s father–survived the Holocaust. Though Spiegelman illustrates Germans as cats and Jews as mice, this story is not cartoonish and it pulls no punches. We see the horrors and brutality of this awful event.

Reading this book made me realize there’s no such thing as “financial security.” Vladek and his wife were wealthy prior to WWII. Their story illustrates that money is not safety, and that any fortune can be taken away.

But the book also provides an odd sort of hope. Vladek was masterfully resourceful, which helped him succeed prior to the Holocaust. The Nazis took everything, but they could not take his resourcefulness and intelligence. Vladek used those traits to survive. 

Maus helped me let go of the idea that I need money to protect me. I can’t count on money, but I can count on myself–just as Vladek did.

Your Money or Your Life is like a cheat code for living. The authors cut through all the “shoulds” we place on money to ask this simple question: What do you really want from life? 

Once you have pinpointed the specific things that make you feel satisfied, alive, connected, contented, and energetic, you can easily let everything else go–and then your money decisions easily fall into place. You simply need to ask yourself if a financial decision supports the things you want most.

The lessons of this book are simple to understand, but not easy to implement. But getting into the habit of thinking more about your life energy than about money means you’re on your way.

In Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich took a number of low-paying jobs to understand the challenges facing the working poor. This book opened my eyes to things I’d always taken for granted.

Prior to reading this book, it never occurred to me how expensive it can be to be frugal. Theoretically, making yourself big batches of homemade soup is far cheaper (and healthier) than getting fast food for every meal. But if you don’t have pots or utensils, the initial set-up cost of making your own food is far higher than the cost of a single Value Meal. 

This book will challenge your beliefs about what it means to be “good with money” and the meaning of “unskilled” labor.

Szuchman and Anderson use the framework of economics principles to look at marital relationships. Though the book was written as more of a self-help marriage guide, it’s an excellent introductory primer to many economic theories. 

Every chapter introduces and defines an economic theory–including moral hazard, comparative advantage, loss aversion, supply and demand, and incentives. Then the authors profile a married couple in crisis and describe how the economic theory fits the marital problem.

It’s a fascinating way of narrowing the larger issues of how to allocate scarce resources into the domestic sphere. I found applying economic theories to married couple fights helped me better understand economics as a whole, and the ways I make decisions in every part of my life.

Additionally, this book can be laugh-out-loud funny.