As a weird person who enjoys both personal finance books and contrarianism, I really enjoyed Miranda’s takedown of “budget culture,” which she defines as “the prevailing set of beliefs around money that relies on restriction, shame, and greed.” Chapter by chapter, she refutes core tenets of traditional personal finance advice, and critiques them all with a different lens: money is a tool to create a life of joy and ease versus an end in itself.

Chapter titles and my quick summary of her argument include:

• You don’t have to earn your living: Everyone has a right to live regardless of earned income.
• You don’t have to work so hard: Choose good work that’s in line with what matters to you, and detach your self-worth from job title and pay.
• You don’t have to pay all your bills: Bills are a commitment you make, and the terms of all commitments can be renegotiated.
• You don’t have to pay off debt: Debt isn’t a shameful blight on your personhood, it’s a financial instrument which can enhance your life when you need it.
• You don’t need an emergency fund: Financial events do not constitute emergencies, but they can cause discomfort. Reframe as your “comfort fund.”
• You don’t need an investment account: Investing is inherently exploitative in capitalism and not the only and best way to manage money.
• You can spend money: That’s what it’s meant for.
• You can give away money: We don’t actually own anything, the money we have is just ours to steward for some amount of time. Humans are designed to want to help others. Resist the urge to hoard your cash, and lean into sharing.

Miranda compares budget culture to diet culture, systems that enforce strict rules designed to keep subscribers in restrictive, shameful cycles of deprivation to achieve the fantasy of being rich or thin.

While I wouldn’t say the book converted me to a whole new way of thinking, it did make me question some beliefs I never have before. That in itself is useful.

You Don’t Need a Budget