I read this book last year, and I wanted to revisit it. Upon reading it again, I realized that although I’ve read dozens of personal finance books, this one had the biggest impact on me. I got sober in 2012, and my life has was a financial mess before, during, and after my addiction. Today, I’m killing it. My credit score is over 100 points higher, I have a 401k, investment accounts, savings, and more, and so much is thanks to this book. When reflecting, I realized that 99% of what I’ve done to improve my financial life is thanks to this book.

What’s crazy is that I was so skeptical of this book. When you read the title, you think it’s going to be filled with nonsense like so many other terrible books about becoming rich. But Ramit Sethi provides so much practical advice, and I’m super receptive to his tough-love approach. The book starts by having you take personal responsibility for your finances, and then he also talks a bunch of crap about messed up institutions like banks. He’s very conversational, and the whole book is just like a brutally honest friend giving you advice.

If I could only recommend one personal finance book, it’d be this one. Ramit covers everything you need to know. He discusses credit, debt, saving, investing, how much to save from your paychecks, how to spend on stuff you like without making awful decisions, and more. He also teaches you so many tricks about settling debts and getting better interest rates that I’ve used so many times, and they actually work. This book is so good, and I learned even more my second time around now that I have a solid foundation. I honestly don’t know if any other book has helped me as much as this one has.