Wonderfully varied and personal stories of how many stressed-out middle-class Americans are using an orderly and thoughtful rethinking of their finances to achieve relaxed, secure, free-spirited lives.

-Ernest Callenbach, author of Living Cheaply With Style

You might legitimately ask: "Do I need a program to change my life?" Perhaps not. Nineteenth century philosopher Henry David Thoreau just hung out at Walden Pond for a couple of years to figure things out. Other self-motivated souls have changed their lives, found happiness and achieved financial integrity through sheer will, individual exploration and trial and error. We found, however, that using a program gave us an overall structure that would be difficult to create on our own. The program made us ask ourselves the tough questions. The structure then gave us a way of monitoring our progress and provided motivation for "staying the course." While it gave us a framework, the program also had enough flexibility to allow us to define our own goals and objectives.

You might also ask: "Well, OK, but what's so special about this program -- the Your Money Or Your Life program? Aren't there lots of other programs that promise financial independence and true happiness?" A quick look at bookstore shelves reveals many books devoted to money. However, most programs we have seen are based on traditional financial advice and assume a lifestyle based on consumption and an underlying equation between happiness and material acquisition. Other sources offer ways to think about money, but little in the way of practical steps to achieve change. Your Money or Your Life offers a holistic approach that uses consciousness about spending instead of external controls (budgets) to bring about change. It offers "enough" rather than "wealth." The program not only made us realize the folly of the "more is better" treadmill, but gave us a plan to get off.

We wanted to make this book as useful as possible and realized that everyone who read it might not be familiar with the program. You do not have to have read Your Money Or Your Life to benefit from this book (although we hope you will be inspired to read it if you haven't already). We explain terms and principles from the original book as they come up. Chapter 5, the account of how we and others worked through the program, includes a more detailed explanation of each of the nine steps. Overall, we've included how-to information, revealed difficulties we encountered along the way, and shared some of the mental processes we have gone through in making changes in our lives.

-From the Prologue