Adam Baker and Unautomate Your Finances

By Pinyo, on April 2, 2010

I am not sure when I first ran across Adam and his blog Man vs. Debt. All I remember was how impress I was with Adam and his story. I knew then that his blog will become an influential force in personal finance blogosphere. And it didn’t take long before Adam’s humble little blog becomes a top-tier personal finance destination. Recently, Adam surprised me again with the launch of his Unautomate Your Finances Guide — somehow calling it an eBook just doesn’t cut it.

Once I learned about this, I asked Adam for an interview, so that I can share Adam, his blog, and his Unautomate Your Finances Guide with you. So, let’s start.

1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and Man vs. Debt?

I could talk for days!

Seriously, though…  I’m 26 years old, married, and have a increasingly emotional two-year-old daughter.  I started ManVsDebt.com a little over a year ago to chronicle our journey to sell our crap, pay off our debt, and take a year off to travel through Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand.

I’m not a financial guru.  I’m not rich.  Heck, I didn’t even finish college.  I’m just a normal guy who found himself on a typical American life path (along with the debt and clutter that includes!).  Courtney and I made a decision to try and take back control of our lives and have openly shared that for the past year!

2. What was the key driver that pushed you to spend over 6 months to develop Unautomate Your Finances?

My primary motivation was to pay forward the spark that had led to our financial turn around.  I wanted to share what worked and what didn’t — conventional advice fell short for us.  I wanted to pass along what inspired us and what we uncovered as we struggle to adopt sustainable habits.

This wasn’t something I could do in a weekend.  It took a lot of planning, a lot of writing (25,000+ words), and a lot of coffee.  It was written on the road in Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand.  It was a long process, but it was worth it.  I couldn’t be more proud of the final guide!

3. Everyone else is talking about automating this and that — why unautomate?

Automation is the process of trading consciousness for convenience.  There are lots of times this is beneficial.  The problem, however, is that it doesn’t lead to habit change.  Automating a bad habit, just yields more of the bad habit.  It buries the problem.  Automating mediocre patterns just makes you…  mediocre.

We didn’t want to be mediocre anymore.  We didn’t like what “average” looked like.  So instead of looking for MORE automation, we tried un-automating.  We tried reversing the trend.  We looked for ways to adopt habits that may not be convenient, but that would *increase* our consciousness.

This was an eye-opening experience for us.  We became much more intimate with both our strengths and our weaknesses!

4. Who should buy your book and why?

Anyone whose financial life isn’t where they want it to be.  Anyone who can benefit from increased focus and increased consciousness.  Anyone who is willing to put their head down and do the hard work it’s going to take to have empowering finances.

Why?  Because I’m firmly believe the guide will both initiate the “spark” to help get you started AND provide you with the tangible tools (budgeting, tracking, spending, etc…) to get there.

5. Okay, give us three power tips so that we know what to expect from your book.

The guide contains of fully-functional guide to a 2-page simple budgeting system. There is a PDF template, an excel template, and an entire chapter on applying it.  Some of the simple budgeting tips that are explained in details:  how to round budgeting numbers, simplifying budgeting categories, how to break down you “Irregular Fund”, and budgeting on last month’s income.

Section 2 of the guide contains what I like to call dreaming in the present tense.  In my opinion, it’s one of the most powerful parts of the entire guide.  We run through specific questions to help brainstorm not what you want your financial life to be like in 20 years, but what it could be right now.

Section 1 contains 27+ Core Action Steps.  Some of these include calculating how much you really earn at your job, creating a list of everything you own, calculate how much your debt is costing you per month, testing different spending methods, and implementing “no spend days”.

6. Beside your book, what else would you personally recommend to people who wants to improve their finances?

In addition to ManVsDebt.com:

1. Your Money or Your Life
2. The Total Money Makeover
3. GetRichSlowly.org

7. Any closing thoughts you’d like to share?

My closing remarks may surprise you! To be honest, you don’t need this guide. You don’t need any of the books I suggested above either. You don’t need this site, nor my site.

The information side of personal finance is about 5% of the battle. The inspiration to tackle your finances head on and the motivation to continue through the (sometimes long) battle is what is really valuable. The great books and sites provide this above all else. With this, the information will come quickly and easily.

I’ve been inspired just like this by many sources. I’ve poured my energy into passing along what has been an empowering journey for my family. I’m extremely proud of the guide and genuinely believe it will create that spark for you!

I hope you enjoyed our little interview and be sure to check out Unautomate Your Finances.

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Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

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