Best Money Mindset Books For Beginners

Glowing up is more than just skincare or dressing better. It’s about getting better and more aligned with the best version of yourself in every aspect of life. Including your finances…

In school, we aren’t taught much about money, how to manage it or how to make it other than getting a 9-5. Especially for women, it may seem a bit daunting diving into the world of finances because it is still seen as such a male-dominated task. But we need to take control of our lives, take responsibility and use it for making our lives better. This is why I’m sharing my favourite money mindset books with you today. These books have helped me massively in changing the way I see money, the way I make money and my relationship with money. But why should you bother reading these?

Why Should You Improve Your Financial Mindset?

Money is a tricky subject because we are taught it’s not something you should openly discuss. But it is something that plays a huge part in our lives. Not having enough money is stressful, but somehow it’s not okay to express wanting to learn about finance, creating more wealth and living your best financial life possible. We need to stop worrying about our lack of money and start using that energy to broaden our knowledge. Knowledge is power, after all.

So why spend time improving your money mindset? I’m a firm believer that you should never stop learning. Investing time and money into your knowledge and education is one of the most valuable things you can do. Especially when there are so many misconceptions about money, finances, and the desire to be wealthy. We are brainwashed into thinking that it is bad to want money, but we all need it to live happy lives. This is why glowing up your mindset is so important.

Does money make you happy? No. Money itself doesn’t do anything. But the things money allows you to do, the freedom it gives you to do what you love and actually being able to sleep without worrying about how I’m going to pay my rent definitely makes me happier than not having these things.

The desire to become wealthy doesn’t mean that you want to profit of screwing over others. It just means that you want to create enough money to live a life you want and do that comfortably. And there are tons of ways to do this in a healthy, ethical way. But the first – most important – step is to change your mindset and your relationship with money. These books will help!

Best Financial Books For Beginners

To kickstart your financial knowledge journey, here are some of my all-time favourite finance books that helped me get started. All the books listed below are books that I love and helped me change my mindset about money completely. I hope they can do the same for you! Scroll to the bottom if you want a few tips on how to read these for free.

“You Are A Badass At Making Money” by Jen Sincero

Let’s kick off this list with my personal favourite. My finance bible. I bought “You Are A Badass At Making Money” while I was on a road trip through the USA just after graduating university. I had no plans on what I wanted to do when I came back from the trip, didn’t really want to think about how I wanted to kickstart my career as a creative writing graduate and the “I’m going to be stuck in a 9-5 office job that I hate for the rest of my life oh noooo!” thoughts started to worry me.

Since that road trip, I have re-read this book at least six times. It completely shifted my mindset about my ability to make money, how I look at money and my relationship with money (which was really bad without me even realising it was – I never realised the unconscious beliefs about money that I was taught throughout my life were influencing me without wanting to believe them). The tips and ways of thinking that Jen talks about can be applied to any aspect of your life, not just your dollah dollah bills.

For me, this book kicked off my journey to improving my money mindset and has inspired me to read the other books on this list. It was a lightbulb moment for me. It showed me that “wow, maybe things aren’t the way they seem or the way I’ve been taught”. This book allowed me to change my mindset and showed me that I am able to take control of my finances, despite my background or previous beliefs. Even though the book is quite spiritual, it’s also encouraging you to put in the work! It’s a combination of changing your mindset to then put in the work because your mindset has changed.

Jen’s writing is hilarious which allows you to read through it super quickly, but the lessons she teaches are life-changing. Even after having read it so many times, every single time is a real treat. At the end of each chapter, there are some exercises you can do to start transforming your mindset around money. It’s a really starting point on your journey to financial freedom and will get you excited to learn more.

Buy You Are A Badass At Making Money here

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki

After getting a feel for improving my financial literacy and money mindset, I picked up this book. Reading it was another *glass shattering* moment for me. Rich Dad, Poor Dad gives you six important lessons about money that the rich teach their children, but the working and middle-class don’t. Not because they don’t want to teach their kids properly, but because they don’t know!

A lot of the things that I was taught by my middle-class family about finances were the complete opposite of “rich dad’s” lessons. At first, I was reluctant to believe the statements because my mind was programmed to believe the opposite – but when the author went on explaining why these statements were true, I completely changed my mind.

The main focus of this book lays in the teaching of financial literacy. You aren’t taught this in school, but the more you know about how the system works, the better you can play the game and make money doing so. It’s the perfect book for beginners who are looking to improve your financial literacy. It’s less spiritual compared to You Are A Badass At Making Money, but gives you concrete lessons on how to look at money and finances.

Buy Rich Dad, Poor Dad here

“Overcoming Underearning” by Barbara Stanny

Could you possibly be sabotaging your potential earnings because of your mindset and relationship with money? Do you sometimes think that a large sum of money would fix all your problems? READ. THIS. BOOK.

Usually (actually, 99% of the time) a large chunk of money ain’t going to fix your problems. Until you fix your relationship with money, your mindset and your financial knowledge, things won’t get better. This is why many lottery winners end up right where they were before winning the lottery – only with more debt. Same thing counts for people who get pay rises. Unless they also improve their financial literacy, they will still be living paycheck to paycheck – because their expenses grow with their income.

Overcoming Underearning teaches you five essential steps to financial independence and gives a wake-up call to all of you who are undervaluing themselves. The book comes with many exercises and I advise you to take them seriously! Actually do the exercises or maybe get a friend to read the book with you. It is a straightforward book with easy steps to implement into your day-to-day life to start living up to your potential.

Buy Overcoming Underearning here

Other great financial books for beginners

How to read these for free (or cheaper)?

Even though I’m a big believer in investing in your (financial) education, sometimes money is tight. If you’re looking for ways to get your hands on these books for free or with a small discount, that’s possible!

Audible trial: If you’re on the go a lot, or like to listen to audiobooks while doing chores – try a free audible trial. If you sign up through the link, you get a free audible membership for a month including a book of your choice. Pick one of the books in the list above and start your financial mind shift.
Use your local library: You can also go old school and use your local library. Libraries are amazing and it’s crazy to think that so little people use them anymore. They are a free source or incredible knowledge. Dust off your old library card and go take a look if they have any of the recommended books.
Kindle Unlimited trial: If you have a kindle, you can already get most of these books at a cheaper price compared to paperbacks. But you can also leverage your kindle even more by getting the Kindle Unlimited trial. This program gives you access to countless free Kindle books for 30 days – that’s enough time to read a few of these! Usually, buying the book on kindle is also cheaper compared to buying a physical copy of the book.
Charity shops: Although not entirely free, it’s worth having a look in your local charity shop. The book section sometimes has some real gems in it.
Second-hand books: Also not free, but a lot cheaper! Websites such as awesomebooks and amazon sell second-hand books for a fraction of the price. It’s a great way to still get your hands on these money mindset books without paying full price.