Overcome Debt: 6 Books Written By Women For Women To Reach Financial Freedom
Finding ways to overcome debt has become increasingly urgent, especially for women. According to a 2024 report from Lending Tree, women are more likely than men to experience financial insecurity due to unequal pay and debt, and Bankrate reports that women hold more student loan debt than men. Black women are also graduating with the most education-related loan debt.
Financial freedom is a common money goal for many women, with becoming debt-free being one of the key factors in that journey. A Bank of America report reflects this, with 47% of respondents saying debt elimination was a “huge indicator of financial independence. If you’re among those who dream of the day when your debt balance becomes zero, here are a few books with diverse approaches to help you get started:
Rich Girl Nation by Katie Gatti Tassin
With this book, Katie Gatti Tassin, a personal finance writer and host of The Money with Katie Show, offers insights — from her personal experience using financial savvy — that consider the actual obstacles women encounter on their path to financial freedom. It includes resources like how to budget a “Hot Girl Detox,” create salary negotiation strategies, and build investment frameworks that can help with wealth creation and debt reduction.
Made Whole by Tiffany Aliche
A New York Times bestselling author and financial educator, Tiffany Aliche offers a 10-step action plan in this book, with worksheets, checklists, and actionable steps. She has helped millions of women pay off debt as well as meet other financial goals through her books, speaking engagements, and coaching. She always has a very keep-it-real, down-to-earth approach to empowering people toward eliminating debt, as she has her own powerful story of going from unemployed and broke to monetizing her skills and rebuilding her life. She shares practical tips for boosting your credit score, making savings harder to access, and finding support to stay locked in.
Million Dollar Action: Your Step-by-Step Guide To Making Wealth Happen by Rachel Rodgers
Rachel Rodgers, the creator of an eight-figure business and author of We Should All Be Millionaires, expands on that book — which detailed her personal story of how she climbed from debt and financial stress to wealth and abundance —with this workbook. It offers more of a summary of the major concepts from We Should All Be Millionaires, including how to shift your attitude about money, increase cash flow, and focus on an approach that has a foundation of hope and joy. There are action steps you can actually take to meet your debt-reduction and financial freedom goals, as well as exercises to advance through the book and keep you accountable.
Money Is Not A Math Problem by Jade Warshaw
Jade Warsaw is a Dave Ramsey personality and debt elimination expert, and in this short read, she shares how she and her husband, Sam, shifted their mindset around money and paid off over $460,000 in debt — including $280,000 of student loans. She covers what she calls “five lies we tend to believe about budgeting,” and debunks the myths along with strategies to boldly face financial challenges, getting over the scarcity mentality, the truth about budgeting, and getting past victimizing yourself due to debt.
Heal Your Relationship With Money by Kara Stevens
Written by the founder of The Frugal Feminista, a personal finance and development company that offers coaching and other resources for women, this book guides the reader through 28 days of financial lessons, introspection, and “lifework” exercises. It also offers pathways to tools that can help women heal their relationship with money and empower themselves to overcome challenges including debt. When you can get to the root of your why when it comes to how you perceive money and how you manage it, overcoming the stress and trauma of debt becomes that much easier.
What’s Up With Women And Money? by Alison Kosik
With a forward by powerhouse CEO Emma Grede, Alison Kosik’s book dives into lessons the former TV anchor and business correspondent she learned while feeling trapped in a failing marriage due to insecurities about her own ability to manage her finances. Surviving a layoff and going through with her divorce, she gathered the knowledge and confidence she needed. In the book, she makes complicated financial topics of investing relatable and covers paying down debt in a step-by-step process.
