Homeless to Financial Freedom: Books That Changed My Life

Back in 2009 our family had fallen on hard times and we found ourselves homeless. My husband had his arm pulled out and dislocated in the cafeteria at work. His laptop simply slid off his shoulder and took his arm with it. This caused a cascade of problems. He immediately went onto disability and that turned into long term disability. Funny thing, is that just the day before this happened he was told that he needed to “reinterview” for his current job as they we changing the role and renaming it. This all happened in August of 2009. By November the day after Thanksgiving he was with 250 other people who all lost their jobs.

Our savings that was depleted because he was laid off and out of work for eight months in 2008. We already had been through the unemployment struggle the year prior and thought we were on our way to recovery. We needed to make some rough choices and make them fast.

We decided to pack our Winnebago Chalet and move into it to cut all costs as our lease was up at the home we were renting. This left us bailing out on furniture, loved belongings and all kinds of possessions. We had 4 weeks to downsize. We were a family of five. Me, my husband, two sons and a daughter. My mother was able to house my eldest son so he could continue to attend the High School and stay in band that he loved so much. So essentially there now were four of us a cat and a dog all living in the Winnebago Chalet. We wandered the roads in the Chalet searching for a way to turn our lives life around during this time we had a lot to think about and surviving was difficult. Thankfully we still had his long term disability payments and a severance package to keep us floating.

Some days we had time to go to the library and use the internet and read books to keep ourselves sane and occupied. To battle the depression I turned to reading. I wandered through the aisles, I came across a book that caught my eye: “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. Intrigued, I picked it up and began to read. As I devoured the pages, I began to understand the importance of financial education and investing in assets. Something that just isn't covered in American schools. I knew that I had been making many mistakes in our financial lives and that I needed to change our ways if we ever hoped to become solvent again.

Inspired by Kiyosaki's advice, I continued to explore the shelves of the bookstore, picking up more books on personal finance and life skills. I discovered “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham, “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. With each book, I learned more about how to manage our finances, set goals, and communicate effectively.

As I delved deeper into the world of personal finance, I realized that I needed more than just practical advice. I needed to rebuild my life from the ground up and find the courage to overcome my setbacks and failures. Once I started reading I have now continued to read and highly recommend books such as “Rising Strong” by Brené Brown, “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, and “Option B” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, “Man's Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl, and “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. Reading books about self improvement and rebuilding our lives has become a passion project for me. I don't think I will ever stop trying to improve and help others do so as well.

Books helped me to find the resilience and courage I needed to rebuild my life. That and a lot of hard work focus and tears. I learned how to overcome my past mistakes, live in the present moment, find meaning and purpose in our lives again. Knowledge and inspiration I gained from these amazing books, I was able to turn my life around and become solvent again. I was hard to catch back up for all our past bad decisions. Our family has had to make a lot of scarifies. Letting go of the past was a constant struggle. My husband and I made it through reminding each other that we promised that if we lost it all we still had our family and that would suffice. Now as I look back on our journey, I realize that these books had not only taught me about finance and life skills, but had also helped me to become a better and more fulfilled person.

With the newfound knowledge and resilience, my husband was secured a job. We had been homeless for ten months. When He landed his job we were on our last envelope of money. We had even surrendered the Winnebago. We told the kids it was an extended camping trip. I will eventually tell these stories more in depth. We finally found a house to call home. We started to save our money, invest in assets, and set goals for our future. We no longer just are surviving day-to-day, but thriving and creating a life that we are proud of. Since this ordeal I have learned to house hack my home and gain equity quickly.

As I continued to read and learn, I realized that the books he had discovered in the library had not only helped me to rebuild my life, but they had also given me a new perspective on the world. I saw how important it was to be financially savvy, but also to live a life of purpose and meaning. I enjoy helping others who were going through similar struggles of their own I love to give helpful advise on how to pull yourself up and out of debt, and other struggles.

Through my experiences, I realized that there were countless others out there who were struggling with their finances and life skills. I decided to start a blog, where I will be sharing some of the lessons and funny stories I had learned from the journey we took and books I had read. I wanted to help others find their own path to success and fulfillment, just as I had.

Over time, I hope my blog will grow in popularity, and I hope to start to receive messages from people all over the world who had been inspired by our story and the books I recommend. I know that I have found my true purpose in life to help others rebuild their lives and find financial freedom and happiness. I want to share knowledge, tips and tricks to life.

And so, I will continue to read, learn, and share my knowledge with others. I know that the journey will not always easy, but I also know that with the right mindset, anything is possible. And with the books I love by my side, I am ready to face whatever challenges come my way.