How to Live Within Your Means and Still Finance Your Dreams

By Robert A. Ortalda

Book Overview

From Simon & Schuster, How to Live Within Your Means and Still Finance Your Dreams is Robert A. Ortalda's practical, step-by-step program for taking charge of your financial future.

Financial consultant Robert A. Ortalda, Jr., presents a realistic, step-by-step system for getting what you want, when you want it--without getting into debt.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671696076
• ISBN13: 9780671696078
• Release Date: April 1990
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

SIMPLY THE BEST!

If you need a method for managing your money, this is simply the best book out there. It is not preachy and is more focused than most financial books that try to cover personal budgeting in a single chapter: it is too complex a subject to get adequate treatment in a few pages.This, on the other hand, is a good chunk of book about just the one subject. There are a lot of OK books out there but, really, to do budgeting and financial planning how many do you need? Only one and this is it!But be warned, the system presented by the author is complex and intensive in that it requires that you really think about where your money is going. It also forces you to set priorities and face the limitations of your financial resources.If you use the system it will force you to become future and goal oriented and if you have a problem with spending too much and not saving enough, this might just be the cure. Good luck.

Best Book On "Budgeting /Decision-Making" Thus Far

This is a "how-to" book covering the fundamentals of establishing a personal financial system of establishing and attaining financial planning goals. The book successfully sets forth an easy-to-adopt system of "funding" each desired goal. Throughout the book the author illustrates the principles with stories from this own dealing with clients.If you need assistance with "establishing a budget", "getting out of debt", or "learning to save", then this is the book for you. It is probably most suited for persons age 18-55 who need a system to manage their income, or to handle sudden influxes of wealth.If you are living beyond your means, or never saving enough, an attitude adjustment book explaining the "why" (such as "The Millionaire Next Door") might be read first, followed by this book, which shows you the "how". You might then follow these readings with others in personal finance and investing, such as John Bogle's excellent primer "Common Sense on Mutual Funds".My only reservation about this book is that it lacks an explanation of how to implement the "funding" system proposed through Quicken or MS Money financial planning software. If the author is listening, perhaps a future edition can be planned. Until such happens, however, this 1990 book still remains the best "how to" book of "funding" and "budgeting" personal finances out there. I often recommend this book to my younger clients and thereafter see their successes in implementing the system this book teaches.

You must read this book!

I thought I knew everything about personal finanace, because all the other books I'd read said the same things: pay off your debt, save 10% each month, and use willpower when you budget. WRONG! This is the best approach to managing money I've ever seen. It helps you to actually use your money effectively and develop plans based on what you need and WANT. This book does not recycle the same stale, predictable, unrealistic rhetoric of finances - it questions everything we've been told by "Dad and Uncle Ralph" over the years and looks instead at what makes sense right now, today, this minute. The advice in this book is practical and immediately useful. Suddenly, it all makes sense!

Excellent, a refreshing way to get a grip on your finances.

I have read this book over at least five times and I recommend it to anyone who, no matter how much money they make, they always seem to spend a little more. It is a new and unique way to budget, getting at your actual "spending power" and pointing out the obvious fact that most expenses you have don't suddenly come up, so can be easily planned for. His step by step instructions make it easy to incorporate his suggestions on a simple spreadsheet, or on paper. I have read a lot of budgeting books, but this one is very useful to the non disciplined reader. I just wish I had found this book ten years ago!

An invaluable source on how to handle your finances.

After reading this book I'm no longer out-of-control or in debt. I've learned the fine art of budgeting, investing and most importantly, how to fund (not save) for the future. This book is a must-read. I've given away every other book I purchased on personal finance because I don't need any other. The funding concept is so simple I can't believe I never heard of it before. It's changed my way of thinking about managing money and living BELOW my means. The information not only points you in the right direction, it leads you there.