Time to get your finances and diet in order with these books

By Linda, Everett Public Library staff

That the word salary came from soldiers being paid in salt?

I found this information on page 63 in the book Salt: a World History by Mark Kurlansky. This is also where we get the saying “worth his salt.”

I’m not sure about you, but I prefer my salary to be paid in money! I doubt that I have a single creditor that would take a payment in salt. Salary Tutor by Jim Hopkinson will help you get the most pay possible for your position. While most of the information relates directly to getting a new job, there is a chapter dedicated to helping you get a raise from your current employer.

I remember when I was young, overhearing the adults talking about salaries and wondering why they were talking about celery! I’m not certain that this would be any better than getting paid in salt. I suppose if you had an abundance of celery lying around, you could try the recipe for braised celery in Martha Stewart’s Vegetables book.

While it may not be braised like Martha makes, Amor y apio/(Love and Celery) is a book about healthy eating while pregnant. This is one reason you would be glad to eat celery!

But, back to ‘green’ that isn’t vegetables. Let’s assume you are actually getting paid in money and not salt….or celery. We have many books on investing, saving and creating a budget with your money. But you have to be careful where you are putting those hard-earned wages! The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to do about It by Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig has financial advice we can all use.

You know it’s never too soon to start planning! Kid Millionaire by Matthew Eliot is a great way for young people to get started earning, saving and investing. There are great tips for start-up jobs and games and apps that kids (or adults) can play or use to learn to track their money.

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