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• Here are some fascinating stats about the business of books.

• It only takes 1 book to completely change the trajectory of your life. Here are 10 such examples.

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📚 Book Summary:

This week’s book is “The Money Habit” by Mike Michalowicz.

Mike Michalowicz’s book “Profit First” has helped 1M+ business owners with their finances. Now he’s on a mission to help 1M+ people with their personal finances.

In his new book, Mike shares his Money Habit System. The visuals and steps in the book make it easy to follow, so I’d recommend getting it to learn more and implement his system.

For now, here are three shorter lessons from his book:

📖

1) The Shortest, Most Effective Lesson In Investing

If you’re not a professional investor who has dedicated your entire life to mastering the markets, here’s all you need to know about investing, distilled from decades of experience and advice from the greats.

Do 2 things:

1. Invest in stock index funds. These are mutual funds designed to mirror the performance of a market index like the Nasdaq or S&P 500.

2. Employ the dollar-cost average system. This means investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, no matter what the market is doing.

That’s it.

It might not seem sexy, but sticking with the boring stuff works.

Follow those two strategies and you’ll outperform the majority of investors.

📖

2) Separate Your WANTs from Your NEEDs

A key part of better managing your finances is separating your WANTs (nice to have) from your NEEDs (must have).

Here’s a quick framework to help you figure out the difference between the two:

• Needs are the essentials of life: They are things required for survival and stability.

  • Examples: Groceries, rent, public transportation, insurance, etc.

• Wants are the enhancements of life: They are things that improve the quality of life but are not necessary for functioning.

  • Examples: Dining out, luxury car, designer clothing, exotic vacation, etc.

It’s totally okay to buy things in your personal want category, just make sure to budget for it appropriately. If you’re spending your paycheck on new designer shoes or concert tickets instead of paying rent first, that’s a problem.

Mike recommends budgeting 65% of your income to cover your NEEDs and only 10% of your income toward saving for your WANTs.

📖

3) Stop Your Subscriptions

According to C+R Research, the average American spends $219 per month on subscriptions.

That’s $2,628 a year or $26,280 a decade!

It’s so easy to set it and forget it, but those $10 and $20 a month subscriptions add up.

What’s worse is that these subscriptions are easy to sign up for but difficult to cancel.

So here’s Mike’s suggestion:

1. Pause all of your subscriptions for a month. Don’t let them auto-renew. When the break is over, see which ones you truly missed and are worth keeping. Cancel the rest.

2. Call your credit card company and report your card missing. Your subscriptions will automatically stop because they won’t be able to auto-renew. Confirm this with your credit card company so that they don’t auto-bill your old or new card.

3. Put all your subscriptions on one credit card. That way, you’ll be able to see exactly what subscriptions you’re signed up to and how much they’re costing you.

By following these steps, Mike was able to cancel over $400 a month in subscriptions. That’s nearly $5,000 every year!

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) Save 65% of your income to cover your NEEDs and 10% to cover your WANTs.

2) Follow these 2 investing rules and you’ll outperform the majority of investors: Invest in index funds and dollar-cost average into the market.

3) Pause or cancel all of your subscriptions for 1 month and only resubscribe to the ones that are truly worth the money.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Here are 3 awesome (and free) newsletters worth checking out:

1) Lorraine Lee: Feeling overlooked at work? Check out this popular newsletter from my friend Lorraine Lee, the bestselling author of “Unforgettable Presence.” Each week, Lorraine shares actionable tips to supercharge your career in 3 minutes or less. Join 60k+ readers here. 

2) Vicki Johnson: Vicki is the author of “Pitch Your Potential” and creator of the MATCH ME Formula®, a tested framework to create a compelling personal pitch and successfully land dream jobs, awards, fellowships, and top university spots. Vicki’s followers have achieved more than $500 million in funding. Join 40K+ readers here.

3) The Sunday Long Read Newsletter: In today's world of infinite algorithmic clickbait, The Sunday Long Read's mission is to celebrate great journalism actually worth reading—and help ensure you make time for truly worthwhile stories. Join 40K+ readers here.

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Thank you for your support,

Alex W.