Your Budget Blueprint: Master Money to Save Your First $100k

by Michela Allocca

Join TikTok star Michela Allocca (@BreakYourBudget) for a crash course in everything personal finance. With real-life examples, this book unlocks the fun of money fundamentals.

Michela Allocca had an epiphany when she was working at her first job: even those working in finance can have no idea how to budget, invest, and spend on a personal level! By the time she reached her mid-20s, she had a new mission: helping any young person who wanted advice with the “scary,” aka often misunderstood, world of personal finance.

In Your Budget Blueprint, Michela shares all the tools she used to manage, save, invest, and set a routine that enabled her to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than a decade of professional—and freelance—work. You’ll find chapters that address:

Budgeting: Don’t make it a dreaded B-word! Learn about various strategies including 50/30/20, zero-based, and 3-bucket budgets.

How to save: It’s all about SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).

How to spend money: That’s right, a plan for spending is important too! With a quick analysis of values and priorities, you can spend without feeling guilt—yes, even on those fancy coffees.

Investing: Learn the difference between 401ks and IRAs, investment types from index funds to target date funds, and relate it all back to core concepts in investing (like diversification).

Jobs and careers: If your dream job doesn’t exist, join the club! Learn how to find satisfaction through the tasks you want to do, networking, and career pivots.

Increase your earning potential: Set yourself up for a raise/promotion, negotiate a job offer, and figure out if a side hustle is right for you.

This is a book that’s meant to partner with you on your own journey and financial goals!

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Self Help, Money, Audiobook, Personal Finance, Economics

Audiobook

Published June 13, 2023

Reviews

[Laura Welch · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

The first half of this book was very helpful and insightful. The second half of this book was more about how to apply for a promotion/new jobs to make more money rather than investing and utilizing the money you already have. I didn't get nearly as much out of that portion of the book. Beneficial for some but I wanted more about what to do with the money I currently have.

[Larisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read. Perfect for someone who is just starting with their financial literacy. Not so much insights for those who are versed in budgeting, investing and having more sources of income.

[Joy Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice short overview of how to better understand ones finances and financial goals. Super handy for someone who has never thought about how to save, spend and invest. Super encouraging materials. It does repeat a lot of the same lessons if you've read a lot in this genre, which limited its usefulness for me. It is one of the nicely laid out books though.

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone who has read loads of books on the subject, this was just another to add on the pile. Nothing stood out for me in the audiobook, but maybe the paper copy with charts 📈 and 📊 is more helpful? If you are just starting it could be a good beginning read, but if you are like me there is little new information.

[Braden Tenney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had some good tips and advice on budgeting and money and finances in general. It broke down quite a few financial concepts in a very simple way that helped me learn and understand better. The book was simple and pretty easy to follow. Quite a few concepts from the book did not seem very original, just the authors tiny little spin on what many other people have wrote about. There were some very repetitive parts that felt almost exactly the same over and over.

Overall I did like the book but it was not the most fitting for my current point in life. This book is definitely made for people right out of college and I think would give much better guidance to someone starting their career than being 10 years into it. A lot of the concepts she goes over are for single people right out of college. I felt it a little hard to relate being a dad of 3 years and almost 10 years into my working career.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fairly enjoyed reading this book, I am always looking for ways to improve my finances and this book taught me quite a bit about what I should be doing now, and what I should be preparing to do for when I finish university.
The templates at the back were extremely helpful, as you could fill these out at the end, it gave you questions to ask yourself in terms of savings and how to regularly hold yourself accountable for these savings goals.

Being in the UK I found that investing side of things slightly inaccurate, because it was not based for the UK I believe, however, I still found it helping hearing the best ways to invest.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Brittany Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Altogether, a great introduction to investing and managing money. This isn’t the book you read to design an elaborate financial plan or pick your stocks, but it’s a great starting point to break down concepts. Most of all, it was a refreshing book on the psychology of money and the power of being mindful of how your money can work for you. It was the perfect companion to her budgeting/investing excel I purchased to revamp my 2025 plan, and helped me transition from the panic of not feeling like my plan would ever get me where I wanted to go, to instead a little peace when I spend money intentionally on things that bring me joy.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the author on instagram and use her PFD! Bought this book to support and see what other nuggets I could gain from reading. If you consume her content on social media or already bought her products, you can skip the book. But it’s a great tool for those based in the US starting their financial journey (not super applicable to those outside of US). One thing that was meh for me was that she talks lots about career stuff but she hasn’t spent lots of time in corporate America so that felt flat for me.

[Nina Nhatavong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been tuning into Michela’s formally called Break Your Budget (still current social media handles) to Don’t Depend on Daddy podcast since 2021. And I think she did a really good job of summarizing the main lessons and habits one needs to adopt in order to utilize personal finance to enhance an individual’s quality of life. I can see this book serving as a great introduction to personal finance.

[Sophie Bruns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly only part of the book was helpful- the budgeting chapter, investing chapter, and financial goal setting chapter. I didn’t really care about some of the career and earning potential stuff- not rlly relevant to me at this point in life. Overall, glad I read it to become more financially literate! I have made some big financial decisions influenced by this book and the other one I read before.

[Joanne Cayabyab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for those who are new to budgeting/finance, but for those who are well versed already may not find helpful. A lot of the info you can learn from her posts on social media. Also- a lot of the career tips are geared towards those working in corporate. I work in healthcare and bartend on the side- so I couldn’t relate to some of those chapters.

[Anna Pata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard about this book from the author’s podcast. The information is pretty basic and elementary for those just learning about finances, so I found it to be an unneeded recap for me. However, I liked the section about vesting schedules and career building and haven’t seen any other finance books mention those topics.

[Michele rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all, it was a good book. I feel like others were more helpful, but this was pretty good. Not as applicable for a nurse, as it would be someone working in like offices in corporate America. A little idealistic at times, but I did have some good points throughout.

[Ambs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw this on TikTok so I bought it on a whim, expecting to get guidance on investing strategies, which wasn’t the case. This is a great book if you are right out of college, but didn’t find it applicable for this phase of my life.

[Geekfork]

Shit, I should've updated this way back when - now I can't even remember if I actually finished this or not. Welp, I guess it didn;t make much of an impression if I did (although I'm willing to be it probably also contained some pretty good advice. Am I too lazy to go back and check? Yes.)

[Jordan Freeman Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to as an audiobook! Great book for me in this season of wanting to understand personal finance for the first time during post grad! Makes finances feel less overwhelming and has good basic advice for budgeting and the importance of saving and investing!

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to understand and nicely organized. I thought I’d give it a listen as I enjoy her podcast and it was free on Spotify premium, but the book covered 90% of what I know already. Better for someone who is looking for 101.

[Liam Vo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book about budgeting

The information in this book is very helpful for me to accomplish my financial freedom. The author also discusses work life balance and side hustles, which can be pretty useful too. Highly recommended!

[Elizabeth Pandos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative easy to read personal finance book!

[Roxana Kappmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to it on audio on Spotify.

[Chloe Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is some good content but honestly she gives off major anxiety

[David Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book and covers some fundamentals very well, but I feel like if you are beyond the beginning steps of your personal finance journey, you won't really derive anything new here.

[Katie Schlacks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for post-grads learning how to navigate personal finances!

[Sherri Jene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Own Your Money is a very easy to understand book on how to manage your money. Her ideas are realistic. I love how she incorporates the word guidelines and encourages you to adjust her recommendations as it fits your financial needs and wants.

Myth Busting. Yes, financial myth busting. I love it.

I recommend this book to anyone, no matter what their level of financial understanding is. Even if the person is financial savvy, there just might be something they can take away from reading this book.

I’d like to thank the author Michela Allocca, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group USA for the arc.

#finances #MichelaAllocca #NetGalley #quartoplublishinggroupusa #money #budget

[Alicia Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic money handbook for new adults just graduating college, this book is full of important adulting information. While the information isn't new, it's absolutely essential for any young adult, and Michela Allocca writes clearly and concisely.
My favorite part was the excellent metaphor of a flower shop to explain investment options. Investments can be confusing for someone unfamiliar with them, but the image of a flower shop resonated with me and immediately made sense.
In contrast, the last two chapters on jobs were too simplistic, and made job hunting sound much easier than the challenging, frustrating work it usually is.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Books US for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Mags (mbooksbycandlelight) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start this review by saying that I really liked the lay-out of this book, the design and the way it was written. I think that if you live in the US this could be a valuable tool, if you feel like personal finance is a subject you often feel lost in. However, since I live in Europe and not the US, not many of the tips would actually work for me. Maybe that little detail could have been included in the synopsis or even on the cover. A couple of the more basic strategies could be adapted and still be useful though, or, if you’re really curious about finances in the US, I’m sure you would really enjoy this book.

[Hermes_Fang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the layout of this book!
It's an easy and enjoyable reading.

It's short, but full of solid principles.
The principles are not hard to realise on your own, but this book is a great reminder to help you remember those important life lessons.

However, if you live in a different country (outside the US), you may find some principles and examples in this book not apply to you. You'll need to adjust the principles.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[ais · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Own Your Money. This book was a quick and easy high-level overview on taking accountability in regards to your finances. It could be a great starting point for someone. However, the information was not ground breaking by any means and you could easily find on your own.

[literarybutterfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Own Your Money provides some good basic financial education. The only downside for me was that it's clearly targeted at a young audience, like early 20s. Some of the examples and advice I couldn't relate to or it made me feel bad for not having known things sooner. I do think it still has some good information, just know who the target audience is going in.

[mags♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable tool and a must read.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review