How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck: A proven path to money mastery in only 15 minutes a week!

by Avery Breyer

In this best-selling budgeting bible, you'll get the motivation and know-how for building up a big stash of emergency cash, getting out of debt, making sure you never run out of money, and avoiding the 11 worst budget traps (that will ruin your financial plans if you let them!)

Find out the most important things that you can do to take control of your money and pay off debt. Get the tools and the knowledge you need to finally get ahead. You'll learn a complete budget system that works for beginners and takes only 15 minutes per week to maintain.

This is a straightforward budget planning method that will completely transform your finances, and eliminate your money worries once and for all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Self Help, Business, Money, Personal Finance, Personal Development

121 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2015

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was very introductory and basic. I also felt like the Money Tracker should not be the only budget tool provided.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the rarest of all rarities - a really good ebook on personal finance. The author makes two arguments. First, that you must put some effort into taking control of your finances. Second, that the effort is not as monumental as you think and the rewards are much greater.

She's absolutely right! You cannot successfully "compartmentalize" your finances. How you manage your money (however much or little it may be) affects every aspect of your life - your physical and emotional well-being, your relationships, what hobbies you can pursue and where you can live. And you make a big mistake thinking that you can avoid taking control of your spending by simply getting a job that pays more. You'll find that the job application asks for permission to check your credit rating. If it's lousy, you won't even be considered for that high-paying job that put you on Easy Street.

This author walks you through the process in clear, easy-to-understand language. It's a wonderfully readable combination of advice, fascinating examples, and moral support. Best of all, she instructs you gently and without a hint of condescension or blame. It's like sitting
down with that favorite aunt or uncle (or grandparent) who understands that people make mistakes and who believes in your ability to turn things around. Getting started is the hard part. Take a deep breath and just do it. You'll be glad you did.

This is one of my three favorite books on personal finance. The other two are LIFE AFTER DEBT by Rob Kosberg and HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY by Erik Wecks. With the wisdom of these authors behind you, you can't fail to see change for the better. Good luck

[Lisa Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This practical guide to managing your money is easy to read, and written with a fun style that makes you WANT to try the suggestions in the book. Not only are her suggestions for saving money completely do-able, Avery Breyer gives you the confidence to try it. All the tools you need are at your fingertips!

I particularly liked her writing style, in that she doesn't "talk down to you". She's very "Matter of Fact" - if you're in debt, she just moves on without berating you, or making you feel bad for you poor choices. Her whole book is positive and upbeat - which is something that is really missing from other financial books I have read.

It's definitely a book for the average family. She's right in her opening disclaimer - this is not a book that will teach you how to invest your money - it teaches you how to use your money more efficiently.

She talks about sacrficing little things that will add up over time. At times, that part seemed trite, but you can tell she's coming from a place of knowledge and personal experience, and she does acknowledge that people have to make the internal shift in their mind to not want to buy that new car - or to live with the ratty old couch. I just know that those sacrifices are not easy for everyone.

All in all - it only took me an hour to read the book, because, fortunately I already follow many of her tip and tricks - but if you were starting from scratch, you should really take the time to follow her instructions and make use of her online tools.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I like that he has a free budget you can download. I just finished my first month tracking expenses. He walks you through how to use the spreadsheet. It's all set up. You just have to enter your expenses and income. I actually have my own spreadsheet that is much more complicated. This is faster and you can see what you're spending money on quickly. I wanted something that would be faster than what I've been using. This is great.

It does take more time to break down the grocery bill to separate the paper products or laundry soap from the food. I have had to think more carefully about buying any packaged quick meals. I really want to save more because my husband has started a new business and things will be tight for a while.

He gives a lot of suggestions on how to cut expenses. I plan to sit down with my husband and set some goals and write down how we are going to accomplish them. It will be interesting to see what he is willing to give up...packaged cookies...cold cereal...chips...dining out....cable tv? Me? I'll probably have to stop eating chocolate chips out of the bag and buying kindle books for a while, dang it!

Thanks Avery! You da man!

[Donna Alward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet to work through the tracker, but it's a clear, concise book with a plan to organize your finances for better awareness and management.

[Marie Choi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem.

[Andy Dill · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck: A proven path to money mastery in only 15 minutes a week! (Smart Money Blueprint) by Avery Breyer is an excellent book that shows you how to set up your budget so that you can take control of your finances without spending much time at all, as the title suggests. Her methods are designed for those of us living paycheck to paycheck. The author provides us with many ideas on how to cut living expenses and pay off those nagging debts and in the process reduce stress and providing us with money left over for saving or investing. I recommend this book for anyone in financial trouble, barely making it from payday to payday. Of course, it isn't an easy project. It isn't an overnight fix. There is plenty of work involved in the beginning and you will need to learn new ways of spending, but it is well worth the time and effort. With her system, once you get the ball rolling, it only takes a few minutes a week to maintain this plan. Get this book if you want to take control of your finances. She gives you the tools to help achieve this goal. After following this plan, more of your money will by yours and those stressful debts will be gone.

[Anita Byrd-Petts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and useful

This book provided common sense advice we all have been given at one time or another. However, Avery's book also gives the nuts and bolts to apply to real life. While the book acknowledges that living paycheck to paycheck is difficult, Avery delivers the message in an optimistic fashion .....just because this is true today, it doesn't have to be true in the future.

[Charlie Marciano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book

A good guide to follow on how to create a budget
There are many useful tips on creating budget with no pain and a lot of tips on how to manage your money.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Budgeting Book

This is an amazing book. I'm really looking forward to the challenge. It was a very easy book to read and understand. I will keep in touch. Thank you so very much.

[Kirk G. Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic but informative

The book covers the basics but is well written and easy to follow. It does contain some very useful ideas and offers a budget tool which I need to examine some more. Overall worth the price.

[Joel Warnock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty good reminders and ideas. I liked his tone of voice. A good chunk of the book was devoted to his budget software and we most likely wont be using it, so that wasnt really helpful, but overall i enjoyed the short read.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of common sense.

[Michelle Risa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never really gave too much thought to how much money I spent and what I spent my money on. I was kind of just one of those people that would get anxiety if I felt I had gone overboard with my spending, or would be willing to spend if I hadn't been lately. So that goes for anything like hanging out with my friends, buying food, or even paying for gas for my car and my monthly student loan payment. I just had that vague idea in my head if I had or had not spent too much lately. It wasn't organized, concise, responsible, or smart. This book has a lot of great information that should honestly be common sense, but if you're a financial risk-taker, meaning you impulsively buy things 'just because' then the information will still help you. Breyer lays out solid advice and even provides you with a free download for a spreadsheet to help you track your income, expenses, debt, and savings so that the habits and skills you learn from the book can be maintained for months or years into your future. I know I'm going to use this tracker religiously from now on, because it feels good to know where my money is going down to the last cent. I've already suggested that my friends download the money tracker, too, and although it is a great tool, the spreadsheet is about 10% of the work (because it's so easy to use and understand) and reading the book and having the self-discipline to hold yourself accountable for all your impulsive purchases and monthly/annual expenses is 90%. So really, you do still need to read the book and then from there on, learn how to manage your expenses and income, learn to use the money tracker, find out where your financial habits are costing you, and keep it up.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably good for some

I would imagine this is a great book for certain kinds of people. The problem is that the information and the tips in this book are geared towards the lowest common denominator. If you have no or next to no previous financial education then this is probably an excellent book for you to start with. If you already understand the basics of budgeting, and what a budget is, then it might not be worth your while to read through this entire book.
There are a few small things I got out of the book, here and there. But ultimately I could tell that I wasn’t the target demographic for this book. I also didn’t like the last chapter where the author kind of broached the idea of “money scripts” but then didn’t mention what a money script was or how it impacts one’s ability to budget and save money. It either shouldn’t have been included or should have been written differently.
If the idea of budgeting is foreign to you, if you’ve never tried it before, if you’ve never taken any accounting or finance classes, this book will probably help you elevate your game a thousand. But if you’ve had even an elementary financial background and are having problems budgeting for reasons other than you go to happy hour every day, then you’ll probably be better off with another book.
This book spends a lot of time essentially saying “be honest and transparent with yourself about where you spend your money and why you do it. Then plan to do better.” It’s a worthwhile message for everyone, but this book isn’t just for anyone.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had I no idea how to start a budget, I would have found this book more helpful. It isn't until 57% into the book there is any discussion of actual How-To for setting up a budget. At that point, it is a somewhat fruitless exercise if you have not downloaded her specific Money Tracking tool. Were I to title this book, it would be "How to Use the Avery Breyer Money Tracker and lots of Tips About Money Related Things".

I did find it fascinating that one of the books recommended at the end was Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover when several points of advice in this book are quite contradictory to Ramsey's book. Another very interesting point is that the author is Canadian but has no books in this same list by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, arguably the Canadian money authority. If you want a budget spreadsheet ready to go with full instructions and some help to get started, this book is great for that. If you are looking for other financial information, check out another book.

[Stefan Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough:

There are a number of finance related books. While “How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck” was a decent book, much lacked. I might have better received the book had there been more about budgeting (which I assumed was the major premise). Instead, I felt as though all a person needs to do is spend less and use the free “Money Tracker” and all would be well. I may be wrong but I highly doubt that someone who has trouble with budgeting would be able to follow through with using a semi-complex spreadsheet necessary to track their expenses and income. A simple sheet of paper and a hand held calculator should suffice. Nonetheless, three stars is average so I’ll stick with that as my justification for the rating. On a positive note, it’s a quick read, but again, someone living paycheck to paycheck has bigger problems than this reading can solve.

[Ayrie Peddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid, basic, simple steps. Easy to read and understand.

I find these types of books to be boring and hard to get thru. Important but boring. That being said this is well laid out. Avery explains everything in simple to follow steps using basic language. Good for novices! I like that Avery included US and Canadian examples. I was disappointed to find her key tool needs a home computer, not a phone or tablet. It does seem like an excellent excel sheet. I also wish Avery had given examples of how to separate the saved money… does it just sit in your regular account? Open several savings accounts? Take it out in cash and label each envelope? It is a good read!

[Wendy Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do Not Purchase

Since I've been on my get out of debt journey, no longer wanting to be a slave to the lender or live pay check to check, I've read a number of money management books.

What I've found with this one is that, I don't agree with transferring debt to a loan. If you're bad at managing money this is not a great idea. Nor do I believe in using credit cards for points, if I'm living check to check, nine times out of ten I'm not managing my cards appropriately.

I will say, I did learn some things; however, overall I simply did not like this book.

[Renee Lepine-Downing 🌙 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get past the insipid introduction, she gives solid budgeting and cost-cutting advice. Definitely a good read for beginners who have never budgeted before. Some chapters seemed to be sponsored content because she links to a specific AMEX credit card, and goes over (in great detail) her budgeting software in the last part of the book. However, the best parts of the book are her philosophical points. She asks the reader to reflect on lifestyle choices, and provides great insight on staying focused and determined on savings goals.

[Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book was in my hands 13 years ago, this would have rocked my world. Don't let my rating deter you from giving this a try.

My three-star review is not indicative of the quality of this book. It just wasn't what I was hoping to get out of it.

That being said! For someone who hasn't spent a good portion of their adult life working on budgets and managing their own money, this book is a great place to start. It walks you through all different aspects of starting and maintaining a budget/watching your finances.

[Reason Musetsho · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on stop wasting your hard earned money uselessly.

This is a book I recommend to everyone working 9 to 5 job and don't have side hustle. This is a book that will show you action plans on how budgeting works. I was one of those people who don't believe in budgeting but I have a different view after reading this book.
What stand out of this book is the action plans at the end of each chapter. That's well thought. A must read book if you want to do your budgeting well and track your income and monthly expenses.

[Karen Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I teach Economics & Personal Finance at a VA high school (course is required for graduation). I am always looking for something to add to my curriculum.

So, I reviewed this very quickly, took maybe half an hour. I didn't find anything new.

I already spend 2 weeks going over budgets with my students. The importance of a budget, following a budget, reviewing your budget to actual spending, and what happens when you spend more than you budgeted (money taken from savings or credit card debt).

I think it would be a great place to start learning about budgets.

[Dawn J. Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pitch for Money Tracker program with some additional information about budgeting.

I got this book to learn how to stop living from paycheck to paycheck and learn about budgeting. It does well at ot beating down people already in debt. After the general information, chapters are dedicated to a Money Tracker program developed by the author. It does give general information about budgeting but nothing apecific.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I'm not living paycheck to paycheck I was looking for something to help me manage my money better and make my dollar stretch further. This book provided information for both of those and is very straightforward. None of that make money by buying real estate bull I see in so many other books. This is for the average person and I highly recommend it.

[yvonne augustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

I enjoyed reading this book, it really made me stop and think about where my money is going and how I should be making more and saving more money. Very descriptive the use of money tracker app, but still not sure if I'd like to use it. Overall enjoyed authors aspect! 😀

[E Horak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love her book and her resources. She’s a friendly but straightforward voice that encourages you to track and review your money and make the choices you need to make. What do you value? She is logical, which I’m thankful for, and clear. She is easy to understand, and provides resources to you. I am starting month two and working on paying off my debts. Highly recommend this author.

[iliana castaneda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love. Total necessity

I def recommend this book, For the broke. To learn how to stop living pay check to pay check. It opened my eyes on my unnecessary expenses. Like eating out was 1200$ a month. And I’m a good cook, no need to be doing all that. I already amounted to a good chunk of money. By just cutting 75% of expenses by eating out.

[James Smedes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dated

Offers an app mainly usable in a desktop. Any budget app that isn't a playstore app, kindle app or apple app is pretty much useless in today's world. I made it a good ways into the book, most of the information is pretty common sense nothing new. This is my first kindle unlimited book, it foreshadows getting out of kindle unlimited before my free month is up.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have trouble saving money because you believe that your income cannot manage even to cater for your basic needs, this is the book for you. it will open up your mind in unique ways to understand how money works. And the part I liked the most is the part where the author says that saving does not have to be something to make you too stingy. You can treat yourself once in a while.