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Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending
Two professors combine their fascinating and cutting-edge research in behavioral science to explain how money can buy happiness—if you follow five core principles of smart spending.
Most people recognize that they need professional advice on how to earn, save, and invest their money. When it comes to spending that money, most people just follow their intuitions. But scientific research shows that those intuitions are often wrong.
Happy Money offers a tour of research on the science of spending, explaining how you can get more happiness for your money. Authors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton have outlined five principles—from choosing experiences over stuff to spending money on others—to guide not only individuals looking for financial security, but also companies seeking to create happier employees and provide “happier products” to their customers. Dunn and Norton show how companies from Google to Pepsi to Charmin have put these ideas into action.
Along the way, Dunn and Norton explore fascinating research that reveals that luxury cars often provide no more pleasure than economy models, that commercials can actually enhance the enjoyment of watching television, and that residents of many cities frequently miss out on inexpensive pleasures in their hometowns. By the end of this “lively and engaging book” (Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness ), you’ll be asking yourself one simple question every time you reach for your Am I getting the biggest happiness bang for my buck?
Most people recognize that they need professional advice on how to earn, save, and invest their money. When it comes to spending that money, most people just follow their intuitions. But scientific research shows that those intuitions are often wrong.
Happy Money offers a tour of research on the science of spending, explaining how you can get more happiness for your money. Authors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton have outlined five principles—from choosing experiences over stuff to spending money on others—to guide not only individuals looking for financial security, but also companies seeking to create happier employees and provide “happier products” to their customers. Dunn and Norton show how companies from Google to Pepsi to Charmin have put these ideas into action.
Along the way, Dunn and Norton explore fascinating research that reveals that luxury cars often provide no more pleasure than economy models, that commercials can actually enhance the enjoyment of watching television, and that residents of many cities frequently miss out on inexpensive pleasures in their hometowns. By the end of this “lively and engaging book” (Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness ), you’ll be asking yourself one simple question every time you reach for your Am I getting the biggest happiness bang for my buck?
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 14, 2013
426 people are currently reading
9303 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Dunn
22 books47 followersElizabeth Dunn is an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. At age twenty-six, she was featured as one of the “rising stars” across all of academia by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her work has been featured in top academic journals, including two recent papers in Science, and in hundreds of media outlets worldwide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 395 reviews
December 3, 2013
In the spirit of the authors' recommendations to share, here are my notes from the book. If it interests you, see if you can find it at a library or borrow a copy from a friend.
*****
The goal of the book is NOT to help you earn more, but to change the way you spend your money. Here are five principles the authors put forth to summarize the research of happiness and spending habits:
1. Buy Experiences
Rather then spending your money on material objects (even bigger houses!), you will be more satisfied with experiential purchases, which will be more likely to connect you with others, produce more positive memories, and not result in buyer’s remorse. If you’re looking to buy an experience, make sure it connects you with others, provides a memorable story that you’ll enjoy telling in the future, is linked to your sense of self or who you want to be, and provides a unique opportunity that can’t easily be compared with alternatives.
2. Treat Yourself
The more you are exposed to something, the less impact it will have. Don’t do your favorite things every day, don’t eat your favorite food or drink your favorite latte every day. You will enjoy it more if you make it an occasional treat. At the same time, you don’t need to take it to an extreme: Minimalism doesn’t actually result in bliss, what matters is your mindset, and ability to enjoy the small pleasures in your life.
3. Buy Time
Many people sacrifice much of their time in efforts to save a little money, e.g. through comparison shopping (which can also influence us to pay more for features that won’t actually make us happier). Other people spend a lot more time in stressful activities, e.g. working, in order to make more money. Watching less than 30 minutes of television per day can also be more satisfying, while spending more money on a bigger TV may only result in more time spent alone. Spending time playing with your child or walking your dog will provide more payoff. Consider how any given purchase will affect your time.
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
While iTunes and Amazon allow you to immediately consume our products, it can be counterproductive, because many of the pleasures of things we buy come prior to actually getting them, e.g. the planning phase of the trip. Waiting for things will make them more enjoyable when the wait makes you think about the details of how good it will be, when it makes you drool (literally, as it might in waiting for a piece of candy you really want), and when your consumption of the item won’t last very long.
5. Invest in Others
Finally, spending money on other people can provide more happiness than spending on yourself. The amount doesn’t matter—what’s important is that you don’t feel pressured or compelled to give: in fact, you are likely to feel worse after giving when you feel compelled to give. It is also beneficial to connect with those whom you give to. Be knowledgeable of the cause or purpose of your charity.
Try tracking your expenditures for one week, according to these five principles. See what falls outside of these categories, and what you can move around.
*****
The goal of the book is NOT to help you earn more, but to change the way you spend your money. Here are five principles the authors put forth to summarize the research of happiness and spending habits:
1. Buy Experiences
Rather then spending your money on material objects (even bigger houses!), you will be more satisfied with experiential purchases, which will be more likely to connect you with others, produce more positive memories, and not result in buyer’s remorse. If you’re looking to buy an experience, make sure it connects you with others, provides a memorable story that you’ll enjoy telling in the future, is linked to your sense of self or who you want to be, and provides a unique opportunity that can’t easily be compared with alternatives.
2. Treat Yourself
The more you are exposed to something, the less impact it will have. Don’t do your favorite things every day, don’t eat your favorite food or drink your favorite latte every day. You will enjoy it more if you make it an occasional treat. At the same time, you don’t need to take it to an extreme: Minimalism doesn’t actually result in bliss, what matters is your mindset, and ability to enjoy the small pleasures in your life.
3. Buy Time
Many people sacrifice much of their time in efforts to save a little money, e.g. through comparison shopping (which can also influence us to pay more for features that won’t actually make us happier). Other people spend a lot more time in stressful activities, e.g. working, in order to make more money. Watching less than 30 minutes of television per day can also be more satisfying, while spending more money on a bigger TV may only result in more time spent alone. Spending time playing with your child or walking your dog will provide more payoff. Consider how any given purchase will affect your time.
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
While iTunes and Amazon allow you to immediately consume our products, it can be counterproductive, because many of the pleasures of things we buy come prior to actually getting them, e.g. the planning phase of the trip. Waiting for things will make them more enjoyable when the wait makes you think about the details of how good it will be, when it makes you drool (literally, as it might in waiting for a piece of candy you really want), and when your consumption of the item won’t last very long.
5. Invest in Others
Finally, spending money on other people can provide more happiness than spending on yourself. The amount doesn’t matter—what’s important is that you don’t feel pressured or compelled to give: in fact, you are likely to feel worse after giving when you feel compelled to give. It is also beneficial to connect with those whom you give to. Be knowledgeable of the cause or purpose of your charity.
Try tracking your expenditures for one week, according to these five principles. See what falls outside of these categories, and what you can move around.
June 12, 2013
The authors of this book are hilarious. They are these professors and most of the book is from a research point-of-view, but then they add these really funny comments. Nothing in the book is too earth shattering, but it is a good reminder of how spending your money thoughtfully can lead to greater happiness. Just for my memory's sake, the five principles they discuss are:
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make it a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest in Others
I would've given this book three stars had it not been for the epilogue. The authors' final comments are all about how the government can make people happier and the rich vs. poor blah blah blah. It's not that I want people to be poor, but I'm tired of people using every opportunity to explain how they have all the answers to solve our political issues. I wouldnt have been as bothered had this been presented as a political piece. But it wasn't. As a result, it discredited the entire rest of their book and made me feel like that was the real purpose behind their writing. Very disappointing.
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make it a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest in Others
I would've given this book three stars had it not been for the epilogue. The authors' final comments are all about how the government can make people happier and the rich vs. poor blah blah blah. It's not that I want people to be poor, but I'm tired of people using every opportunity to explain how they have all the answers to solve our political issues. I wouldnt have been as bothered had this been presented as a political piece. But it wasn't. As a result, it discredited the entire rest of their book and made me feel like that was the real purpose behind their writing. Very disappointing.
July 26, 2021
Pozor, tu sa nedozviete nič o tom, ako zarobiť peniaze, ale je to fajn a miestami dokonca vtipný sumár zistení psychológov o tom, ako by ste mali peniaze MÍŇAŤ, aby vám priniesli čo najviac potešenia.
tl;dr potešenie z čohokoľvek materiálneho strašne rýchlo vyprchá. Kupujte si zážitky a míňajte peniaze tam, kde to bude znamenať, že vďaka nim môžete ušetriť čas. (Napríklad: luxusný dom s bazénom za mestom versus skromnejší v centre - potešenie z luxusu rýchlo vyprchá, ale dlhé dochádzanie vás bude ubíjať každý jedeň deň stále rovnako. All other things equal, kúpte si v meste.) Dávajte peniaze a darčeky iným ľuďom. Takisto: Prestaňte hovoriť, že čas sú peniaze, škodí vám to.
tl;dr potešenie z čohokoľvek materiálneho strašne rýchlo vyprchá. Kupujte si zážitky a míňajte peniaze tam, kde to bude znamenať, že vďaka nim môžete ušetriť čas. (Napríklad: luxusný dom s bazénom za mestom versus skromnejší v centre - potešenie z luxusu rýchlo vyprchá, ale dlhé dochádzanie vás bude ubíjať každý jedeň deň stále rovnako. All other things equal, kúpte si v meste.) Dávajte peniaze a darčeky iným ľuďom. Takisto: Prestaňte hovoriť, že čas sú peniaze, škodí vám to.
August 6, 2015
I really, really enjoyed this book. Having gone through quite some material on behavioral economics, both in its pop-psych version and through academic journal articles that I studied and taught, there wasn't so much that felt new in terms of the quoted experiments or their conclusions on how we (often irrationally) act. But Dunn and Norton did a great job in gathering a variety of material and transforming it into an very light, very practical and very funny read.
In order to get "the best happiness bang for your buck", in their words, you apparently should follow one or more of the 5 principles they identify:
- buy experiences - between the slightly-larger TV and the exotic vacation, the latter will create happier memories and won't get you saving for an even-slightly-larger-than-that TV;
- make it a treat - by jumping to every purchase you (think you) want, you're just getting yourself used to everything and slipping into wanting more;
- buy time - if time is money (and if you can afford it), hire help with cleaning and buy yourself time to do what you like;
- pay now, consume later - get the arguably painful parting with your money out of your way, and you can pretty much trick yourself into feeling like the (delayed) consumption is free;
- invest in others - people have built-in altruism; we love knowing our money (including the taxes we have to pay anyway) will help others.
And did I mention the book was funny? Here are a few samples:
You really should read this book. You'll go through it in a few hours, laugh out loud a few times and find yourself assessing your next purchases in terms of happiness - which, in my book, is an all-round win.
In order to get "the best happiness bang for your buck", in their words, you apparently should follow one or more of the 5 principles they identify:
- buy experiences - between the slightly-larger TV and the exotic vacation, the latter will create happier memories and won't get you saving for an even-slightly-larger-than-that TV;
- make it a treat - by jumping to every purchase you (think you) want, you're just getting yourself used to everything and slipping into wanting more;
- buy time - if time is money (and if you can afford it), hire help with cleaning and buy yourself time to do what you like;
- pay now, consume later - get the arguably painful parting with your money out of your way, and you can pretty much trick yourself into feeling like the (delayed) consumption is free;
- invest in others - people have built-in altruism; we love knowing our money (including the taxes we have to pay anyway) will help others.
And did I mention the book was funny? Here are a few samples:
Remarkably, though, the length of an experience has little impact on the pleasure people remember deriving from it. Perhaps Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords was on to something when he sang in "Business Time" that "when it's with me you only need two minutes, because I'm so intense."
If you awaken happiness researchers in the middle of the night and ask them to tell you (quick!) what matters most for human well-being, you'll get the same response: get the hell out of my house.
So, unlike honeybee costumes for dogs, the emotional benefits of investing in others aren't simply the product of societies with excess cash.
You really should read this book. You'll go through it in a few hours, laugh out loud a few times and find yourself assessing your next purchases in terms of happiness - which, in my book, is an all-round win.
June 19, 2013
I am a big fan of books which help me maximize my life based on my limited span and resources. Happy Money is one of these books, based on 5 simple principles embodied in their chapter headings:
1) Buy Experiences (BUY that concert ticket, plane ticket, adventure, etc)
2) Make it a Treat (RATION those things which bring you pleasure, and you will intensify the pleasure you experience)
3) Buy Time (outsource those tasks you despise)
4)Pay Now, Consume Later
5)Invest in others.
Actually, just typing "invest in others" gives me a little warm glow inside, and I do wish our capitalistic culture could incorporate that in our national narrative.
This book was written in a breezy, friendly style, and although I can accept their points, I found at times disagreeing with the implied pleasure=happiness formula. Which is actually problematic with many of these "happiness" texts.
Des Zamorano, author of HUMAN CARGO
1) Buy Experiences (BUY that concert ticket, plane ticket, adventure, etc)
2) Make it a Treat (RATION those things which bring you pleasure, and you will intensify the pleasure you experience)
3) Buy Time (outsource those tasks you despise)
4)Pay Now, Consume Later
5)Invest in others.
Actually, just typing "invest in others" gives me a little warm glow inside, and I do wish our capitalistic culture could incorporate that in our national narrative.
This book was written in a breezy, friendly style, and although I can accept their points, I found at times disagreeing with the implied pleasure=happiness formula. Which is actually problematic with many of these "happiness" texts.
Des Zamorano, author of HUMAN CARGO
August 3, 2013
I wasn't sure how many stars to give this one because it isn't the type of book I usually dig into. I decided to hover over each star to see what they actually meant and settled on two because it means, "it was ok." And it was "ok." I certainly didn't like it, but I did find some parts to be interesting. I read this after receiving it for free through the website Bzzagent.com. I wasn't asked to write a review on here, but I decided since I had to sit through it and will have to put a review on their website, I might as well slap another review on goodreads.
This is broken into five chapters (if you don't count the prologue, epilogue, notes, index, etc.), which are as follows:
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make It a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest In Others
Buy Experiences
This was probably my favorite chapter because I agreed with a lot of what was being said. To sum it up: We will remember experiences from twenty years ago with more fondness than we will remember a material object like a watch or a shiny toaster that we purchased twenty years ago. They talked about an absurd $200,000 to go into space for 6 minutes, but they also mentioned doing Tough Mudder. While I haven't done Tough Mudder (I did take their quiz online, however, which did not sugar coat that I would probably fail miserably), I did do the far more easy Color Run with my sisters and had one of the best times of my life. Was it a cold rainy day with lots of mud puddles that splattered my skin and would have made me miserable any other day of the year? Absolutely. Did the pink color stain my leather seats in my car and put me into a panic that it would never come out? Heck yes (and after much scrubbing and some magic cleaning solution from Jake's shop, it did finally come out - thank god). But it was fun. And it was a great memory. And it's one we plan on repeating every year. I completely agree in spending money on experiences. But I also like to buy a kick ass sweater that makes my boobs look great.
Make It a Treat
If you don't do things all the time, they are more exciting. If you eat chocolate every day, it will become less exciting to have and won't seem like as much of a treat. Yes, there is a reason we call treats treats. One thing I liked about this chapter was that it mentioned the Disney Vault. When Jake and I first started dating, and I told him I needed to get a particular dvd "before it went back in the vault," he laughed and laughed and told me I was making that up. I made sure to read that part of this book out loud to him. And then I said something mature like, "Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it."
There were also a couple things I disagreed with.
1. "But research suggests that taking breaks between episodes can increase your enjoyment." This was referring to buying a box set of a television series. Research schmesearch. Clearly these authors have never sat down to seven hour Sex and the City marathons with their sister after her boyfriend broke up with her. We enjoyed it just find with no breaks at all, thank you very much. Well, unless you count pausing it for 30 seconds to run to the fridge for our second pint of Ben & Jerrys.
2. "But that irksome '$5 Footlong' Subway ad makes the show more enjoyable once it comes back on." Pfffttt. I found myself singing the Februany theme song on my way to work. Last week. IN JULY.
Buy Time
Moral of the story: Buy a robot vacuum, so you don't have to spend time doing it yourself unless you are a crazy person who actually enjoys spending time vacuuming. I'm down with this idea. I'll bring it up to Jake when he's in a good mood.
Pay Now, Consume Later
I'll admit it, by this time I was doing some heavy skimming because I was getting really, really bored. There was some bits about credits cards (potentially evil), some parts about pre-paying for things months in advance (like a vacation after your wedding - er...aka a "honeymoon") because it will make it more enjoyable because it will feel free because you paid for it so long ago, and then an annoying part where they mention the Postal Service. The band not the mail man. Annoying because I really like the Postal Service and the line from "Such Great Heights" was not really relevant and more of a "look at the cool music we know" name drop. Moving on...
Invest in Others
Giving to others feels good. The end.
Each one had a lot of "duh" moments; there were a lot of no brainer concepts that were repeated over and over and over and over and over and...did I mention over?
Also, one of my biggest annoyances what the cover. It looks like the Wal-Mart rollback smiley - especially with that Wal-Mart blue background. And Wal-Mart is not even any part of this book in case you were wondering. It looks cheap and has a waxy, greasy feel. Ok, now I'm just getting on a hater roll.
As I mentioned, this is not the type of book I would usually just pick up randomly as enjoyable reading. This may be the reason that I am only giving it a couple stars and the reason I spend 99% of the book going:
This is broken into five chapters (if you don't count the prologue, epilogue, notes, index, etc.), which are as follows:
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make It a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest In Others
Buy Experiences
This was probably my favorite chapter because I agreed with a lot of what was being said. To sum it up: We will remember experiences from twenty years ago with more fondness than we will remember a material object like a watch or a shiny toaster that we purchased twenty years ago. They talked about an absurd $200,000 to go into space for 6 minutes, but they also mentioned doing Tough Mudder. While I haven't done Tough Mudder (I did take their quiz online, however, which did not sugar coat that I would probably fail miserably), I did do the far more easy Color Run with my sisters and had one of the best times of my life. Was it a cold rainy day with lots of mud puddles that splattered my skin and would have made me miserable any other day of the year? Absolutely. Did the pink color stain my leather seats in my car and put me into a panic that it would never come out? Heck yes (and after much scrubbing and some magic cleaning solution from Jake's shop, it did finally come out - thank god). But it was fun. And it was a great memory. And it's one we plan on repeating every year. I completely agree in spending money on experiences. But I also like to buy a kick ass sweater that makes my boobs look great.
Make It a Treat
If you don't do things all the time, they are more exciting. If you eat chocolate every day, it will become less exciting to have and won't seem like as much of a treat. Yes, there is a reason we call treats treats. One thing I liked about this chapter was that it mentioned the Disney Vault. When Jake and I first started dating, and I told him I needed to get a particular dvd "before it went back in the vault," he laughed and laughed and told me I was making that up. I made sure to read that part of this book out loud to him. And then I said something mature like, "Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it."
There were also a couple things I disagreed with.
1. "But research suggests that taking breaks between episodes can increase your enjoyment." This was referring to buying a box set of a television series. Research schmesearch. Clearly these authors have never sat down to seven hour Sex and the City marathons with their sister after her boyfriend broke up with her. We enjoyed it just find with no breaks at all, thank you very much. Well, unless you count pausing it for 30 seconds to run to the fridge for our second pint of Ben & Jerrys.
2. "But that irksome '$5 Footlong' Subway ad makes the show more enjoyable once it comes back on." Pfffttt. I found myself singing the Februany theme song on my way to work. Last week. IN JULY.
Buy Time
Moral of the story: Buy a robot vacuum, so you don't have to spend time doing it yourself unless you are a crazy person who actually enjoys spending time vacuuming. I'm down with this idea. I'll bring it up to Jake when he's in a good mood.
Pay Now, Consume Later
I'll admit it, by this time I was doing some heavy skimming because I was getting really, really bored. There was some bits about credits cards (potentially evil), some parts about pre-paying for things months in advance (like a vacation after your wedding - er...aka a "honeymoon") because it will make it more enjoyable because it will feel free because you paid for it so long ago, and then an annoying part where they mention the Postal Service. The band not the mail man. Annoying because I really like the Postal Service and the line from "Such Great Heights" was not really relevant and more of a "look at the cool music we know" name drop. Moving on...
Invest in Others
Giving to others feels good. The end.
Each one had a lot of "duh" moments; there were a lot of no brainer concepts that were repeated over and over and over and over and over and...did I mention over?
Also, one of my biggest annoyances what the cover. It looks like the Wal-Mart rollback smiley - especially with that Wal-Mart blue background. And Wal-Mart is not even any part of this book in case you were wondering. It looks cheap and has a waxy, greasy feel. Ok, now I'm just getting on a hater roll.
As I mentioned, this is not the type of book I would usually just pick up randomly as enjoyable reading. This may be the reason that I am only giving it a couple stars and the reason I spend 99% of the book going:
February 6, 2017
كتاب رشيق وخفيف وممتع، يحاول الإجابة على سؤال أزلي وهو علاقة المال بالسعادة وهل من الممكن شراء السعادة بالمال، أو كيف يمكن زيادة السعادة بتغيير طريقة تعاملنا مع المال.
December 30, 2017
A self-help book gifted to me by my investment advisors Halbert Hargrove. Good read that I would like to think re-enforced the spending strategies I have followed over the years. Two examples were our relatively modest home purchase in 1995 and our long-standing strategy to own our cars for long periods of time (currently 13 years for E and 11 years for me). Here is a summary of the lessons if you don't want to read the details in the book:
1. Buy experiences not stuff.
a. The experience brings you together with other people, fostering a sense of social connection.
b. The experience makes a memorable story that you'll enjoy retelling for years to come.
c. The experience is tightly linked to your sense of who you are or want to be.
d. The experience provides a unique opportunity, eluding easy comparison with other available options.
Mark Twain - the biggest single regret is one of inaction, of passing up the chance to buy an experience when the opportunity came along. The opposite was true for material goods; most people’s biggest regret was buying something that they wish they hadn’t.
2. Make it a treat. Abundance is the enemy of appreciation. The more we are exposed to something, the more its impact diminishes.
Maybe money can’t buy love, but it can buy novel, exciting activities. And given the central importance of romantic relationships for human happiness, anything we can do to make time with our partners a treat is money well spent.
Oprah Winfrey - The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have.
Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.
3. Buy time. Hard to summarize but one matter to focus on is the illusion of busyness. Too bad time-wasters that should be better managed are commuting and watching televisions.
4. Pay now, consume later. I was always fairly proud about the fulfillment I achieved in taking the vacation time allotment provided to me by PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of my tricks was to make non-refundable payments for trips. You can be assured that I was going to take the trip and not forfeit the payments I had made. That for sure is pay now and consume later. Another examples is Bruin Woods - UCLA's family camp at Lake Arrowhead. The all-inclusive one week experience must be paid in full 6 weeks or more prior to arrival. The experience of the week then was enhanced as we have always just totally enjoyed it without thinking about the cost at all. It had already been paid for in full. A final example is a season ski pass. A good friend of fine who has always skied a lot said that the first run of every season cost $800, the price of an annual ski pass. The entire rest of the season was free!! For the accountants out there, this is the ultimate example of a sunk cost which can be a good thing.
5. Invest in others. This is one of my favorites.
a. When prosocial spending is done right - when it feels like a choice, when it connects us with others and when it makes a clear impact - even small gifts can increase happiness, potentially spurring a domino effect of generosity.
b. For those (either individuals or companies) that are managing these prosocial activities, enabling donors to see the specific impact of charitable initiatives carries a huge potential payoff. Three personal examples. I love to give to UNICEF as there is a feeling of a direct connection with explicit projects benefiting children in need throughout the world. We are part of a family scholarship fund for UCLA and we get to meet the specific recipient of the Holman, Juline, Lescoulie and Lilly Scholarship Fund. Finally, is the experience with KIVA. Making loans that are directly linked to needy people has been very fulfilling. Our principle focus has been on loans to women in Africa engaged in agricultural activities (especially dairy when we can find them).
One closing thought from the authors. Each of the principles offer a scientifically validated means of increasing happiness. Like surgical experts performing a heart transplant, we're pretty confident that following these principles might be better that just winging it. And luckily, spending money is a lot easier and much less messy than major surgery.
1. Buy experiences not stuff.
a. The experience brings you together with other people, fostering a sense of social connection.
b. The experience makes a memorable story that you'll enjoy retelling for years to come.
c. The experience is tightly linked to your sense of who you are or want to be.
d. The experience provides a unique opportunity, eluding easy comparison with other available options.
Mark Twain - the biggest single regret is one of inaction, of passing up the chance to buy an experience when the opportunity came along. The opposite was true for material goods; most people’s biggest regret was buying something that they wish they hadn’t.
2. Make it a treat. Abundance is the enemy of appreciation. The more we are exposed to something, the more its impact diminishes.
Maybe money can’t buy love, but it can buy novel, exciting activities. And given the central importance of romantic relationships for human happiness, anything we can do to make time with our partners a treat is money well spent.
Oprah Winfrey - The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have.
Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.
3. Buy time. Hard to summarize but one matter to focus on is the illusion of busyness. Too bad time-wasters that should be better managed are commuting and watching televisions.
4. Pay now, consume later. I was always fairly proud about the fulfillment I achieved in taking the vacation time allotment provided to me by PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of my tricks was to make non-refundable payments for trips. You can be assured that I was going to take the trip and not forfeit the payments I had made. That for sure is pay now and consume later. Another examples is Bruin Woods - UCLA's family camp at Lake Arrowhead. The all-inclusive one week experience must be paid in full 6 weeks or more prior to arrival. The experience of the week then was enhanced as we have always just totally enjoyed it without thinking about the cost at all. It had already been paid for in full. A final example is a season ski pass. A good friend of fine who has always skied a lot said that the first run of every season cost $800, the price of an annual ski pass. The entire rest of the season was free!! For the accountants out there, this is the ultimate example of a sunk cost which can be a good thing.
5. Invest in others. This is one of my favorites.
a. When prosocial spending is done right - when it feels like a choice, when it connects us with others and when it makes a clear impact - even small gifts can increase happiness, potentially spurring a domino effect of generosity.
b. For those (either individuals or companies) that are managing these prosocial activities, enabling donors to see the specific impact of charitable initiatives carries a huge potential payoff. Three personal examples. I love to give to UNICEF as there is a feeling of a direct connection with explicit projects benefiting children in need throughout the world. We are part of a family scholarship fund for UCLA and we get to meet the specific recipient of the Holman, Juline, Lescoulie and Lilly Scholarship Fund. Finally, is the experience with KIVA. Making loans that are directly linked to needy people has been very fulfilling. Our principle focus has been on loans to women in Africa engaged in agricultural activities (especially dairy when we can find them).
One closing thought from the authors. Each of the principles offer a scientifically validated means of increasing happiness. Like surgical experts performing a heart transplant, we're pretty confident that following these principles might be better that just winging it. And luckily, spending money is a lot easier and much less messy than major surgery.
April 23, 2025
This is a good book. Much of what it covers I already knew about, but it was good to read it in more detail, to drive the messages home.
Each chapter starts with an illustrative mini-story, making the book quite readable.
Recommended.
Each chapter starts with an illustrative mini-story, making the book quite readable.
Recommended.
February 22, 2015
The author's wrote this book to bring awareness of the ways we can spend money that will bring us happiness via common sense methods (which to be fair, the authors allude to how "uncommon" common sense may be). The five principles the authors discuss are outlined below-
1. BUY EXPERIENCES
Instead of spending your hard earned cash on material objects (even that BMW), the author's found that you will be happier with experiential purchases, since they will be more likely to connect you with others and produce more positive memories over time. The ideal way of purchasing this experience would be to involve doing something that can be discussed in a future point in time and that cannot be compared to any other experience. For example, in 2012 me and three friends flew to Miami and attended the Ultra Music Festival; we still talk about it to this day!
2. TREAT YOURSELF
Robert Cialdini talked about this in his book Influence, where he discussed the scarcity cognitive bias. When things are not readily available, we tend to allocate a higher premium to these items versus an item that is constantly available. In other words, the harder it is to obtain something (for example that slice of Cheesecake)- the more impact it will have.
3. BUY TIME
We have a tendency to be penny wise but dollar foolish. As we learn to value our time accordingly we note that sometimes it's worth to pay that extra $100 for the direct flight versus the 3 hour lay over. These decisions to have the choice to allocate our time as we see fit seems to bring more happiness to the research subjects. Another example would be reallocating the time we spend watching TV, or sitting in traffic, to doing something else thst brings more joy like reading an empowering book and/or living closer to work. The takeaway from this chapter is for us to be mindful of how any given purchase affects our scarcely limited time.
4. PAY NOW, CONSUME LATER
This chapter explored the psychological effects of delaying gratification and how the build up in anticipation makes us value an item more. For example, a person buying an item on lay away and the effects of how it motivates that person to work towards that item as they dream of all the places they'll go.
In sum, waiting for things will make them more enjoyable when the wait makes you dream about how good it will be, when it makes you 'drool' (like a cheat meal you can only have during a specific day given your diet), and when the consumption period has a limited time frame.
5. INVEST IN OTHERS
Lastly, investing in others can be with your time and with your money. While the goal isn't to pressure us to give money- the goal is to get us started while us being mindful of connecting with the benefactor(s) and/or the cause.
If we were to maximize our happiness we would seek to stack all of these items. For example, we could pay in advance for two tickets to a theater, to watch a special performance, one which we treat a close friend at a future point in time.
1. BUY EXPERIENCES
Instead of spending your hard earned cash on material objects (even that BMW), the author's found that you will be happier with experiential purchases, since they will be more likely to connect you with others and produce more positive memories over time. The ideal way of purchasing this experience would be to involve doing something that can be discussed in a future point in time and that cannot be compared to any other experience. For example, in 2012 me and three friends flew to Miami and attended the Ultra Music Festival; we still talk about it to this day!
2. TREAT YOURSELF
Robert Cialdini talked about this in his book Influence, where he discussed the scarcity cognitive bias. When things are not readily available, we tend to allocate a higher premium to these items versus an item that is constantly available. In other words, the harder it is to obtain something (for example that slice of Cheesecake)- the more impact it will have.
3. BUY TIME
We have a tendency to be penny wise but dollar foolish. As we learn to value our time accordingly we note that sometimes it's worth to pay that extra $100 for the direct flight versus the 3 hour lay over. These decisions to have the choice to allocate our time as we see fit seems to bring more happiness to the research subjects. Another example would be reallocating the time we spend watching TV, or sitting in traffic, to doing something else thst brings more joy like reading an empowering book and/or living closer to work. The takeaway from this chapter is for us to be mindful of how any given purchase affects our scarcely limited time.
4. PAY NOW, CONSUME LATER
This chapter explored the psychological effects of delaying gratification and how the build up in anticipation makes us value an item more. For example, a person buying an item on lay away and the effects of how it motivates that person to work towards that item as they dream of all the places they'll go.
In sum, waiting for things will make them more enjoyable when the wait makes you dream about how good it will be, when it makes you 'drool' (like a cheat meal you can only have during a specific day given your diet), and when the consumption period has a limited time frame.
5. INVEST IN OTHERS
Lastly, investing in others can be with your time and with your money. While the goal isn't to pressure us to give money- the goal is to get us started while us being mindful of connecting with the benefactor(s) and/or the cause.
If we were to maximize our happiness we would seek to stack all of these items. For example, we could pay in advance for two tickets to a theater, to watch a special performance, one which we treat a close friend at a future point in time.
February 19, 2017
I hovered between giving this book 2 or 3 stars; I've landed on 3 because I found a majority of the book fairly fascinating (until the end). I find that I did skimmed or skipped parts that described heavily the studies and science behind every spending principle.
The five principles are:
Buy Experiences
Make it a Treat
Buy Time
Pay Now, Consume Later
Invest in Others
The thing that knocked a star off this book is the Epilogue (Zooming Out Chapter) where the authors delve into government spending/distribution of wealth. I feel like many of the examples cited assume that the government ought to make the spending decisions because individuals aren't capable of doing that on their own. This book came out in 2013, so the examples make me wonder if we're in this political predicament in 2017 because of the thought that the government is capable of fixing societies problems by determining how to best spend our money. Some examples in the book include:
"According to a recent survey of some five thousand Americans, people in the United States would ideally like the richest 20 percent of American's to own 32 percent of the wealth and the poorest 40 percent to own 25 percent...These results suggest that Americans broadly support more equal distribution of wealth. But not completely equal..."
In regards to making things a treat...government can encourage this by taxing the things that should be a treat (ie. Cigarettes, soda, etc). My issue with this suggestions is who ultimately determines what should be a treat.
Pay Now, Consume Later: "In the United States, the income tax system is structured such that many people overpay during the year and then receive a tax refund when April rolls around." "Over-collection helps ensure that people pay up front rather than devoting all their dough to immediate consumption and then being left short handed when the tax bill is due."
The only line that saved that whole chapter is...
"And for libertarian-minded readers horrified at some of the government interventions we outlined in the previous sections, raising awareness offers a middle ground. Governments can provide accurate information on the determinants of well-being and ten leave it up to citizens to decide how to best implement that knowledge in their own choices"
I'd be interested to hear about more recent studies as the political climate has changed so drastically since this book was written.
While I am cautious about purchasing material goods as I agree they don't typically bring me happiness, I do think that this book will help me focus more on spending my money more wisely in the Buy Time and Pay Now -Consume Later categories.
Read this one at your own risk...as I am leaning towards not recommending this
The five principles are:
Buy Experiences
Make it a Treat
Buy Time
Pay Now, Consume Later
Invest in Others
The thing that knocked a star off this book is the Epilogue (Zooming Out Chapter) where the authors delve into government spending/distribution of wealth. I feel like many of the examples cited assume that the government ought to make the spending decisions because individuals aren't capable of doing that on their own. This book came out in 2013, so the examples make me wonder if we're in this political predicament in 2017 because of the thought that the government is capable of fixing societies problems by determining how to best spend our money. Some examples in the book include:
"According to a recent survey of some five thousand Americans, people in the United States would ideally like the richest 20 percent of American's to own 32 percent of the wealth and the poorest 40 percent to own 25 percent...These results suggest that Americans broadly support more equal distribution of wealth. But not completely equal..."
In regards to making things a treat...government can encourage this by taxing the things that should be a treat (ie. Cigarettes, soda, etc). My issue with this suggestions is who ultimately determines what should be a treat.
Pay Now, Consume Later: "In the United States, the income tax system is structured such that many people overpay during the year and then receive a tax refund when April rolls around." "Over-collection helps ensure that people pay up front rather than devoting all their dough to immediate consumption and then being left short handed when the tax bill is due."
The only line that saved that whole chapter is...
"And for libertarian-minded readers horrified at some of the government interventions we outlined in the previous sections, raising awareness offers a middle ground. Governments can provide accurate information on the determinants of well-being and ten leave it up to citizens to decide how to best implement that knowledge in their own choices"
I'd be interested to hear about more recent studies as the political climate has changed so drastically since this book was written.
While I am cautious about purchasing material goods as I agree they don't typically bring me happiness, I do think that this book will help me focus more on spending my money more wisely in the Buy Time and Pay Now -Consume Later categories.
Read this one at your own risk...as I am leaning towards not recommending this
January 1, 2024
Rule 1: Buy experiences
Material possessions just become part of the background; experiences get better with time. There is little evidence that buying a house makes people happier.
Rule 2: Make it a treat
Abundance is the enemy of appreciation. Remember the Benjamin Effect - whereby adults are more cheerful around strangers than with their partners. The lesson, quality not quantity of time spent with a partner is the most rewarding feeling.
Rule 3: Buy time
Taking a job with a 60 mins commute undermines happiness, despite it providing access to a better house. As people have spent less time on house chores, more people spend time watching TV/social media. The lesson, restrict usage of these things and do things that involve people to make your spare time happier. Rewarding people by paying them by the hour reduces the happiness of free time as they feel an urge to earn more capital. By focusing more on time (working effectively) and less on money, people become happier.
Rule 4:
Pay now consumer later (the opposite of the current societal trend of consume now, pay later). The Sunday syndrome of people not enjoying Sunday because they are thinking about Monday, with Friday being most people’s favourite day of the week. The ability to generate positive thoughts about the future is a hallmark of good health. The feeling of anticipation is enormously underrated, hence why delaying the consumption of gifts often provides greater appreciation when consumed.
Rule 5: Invest in others
Asking people to buy products that see 10% of the cost go to charity does not raise as much money as actually directly asking for a donation. People derive huge pleasure and pride from feeling that their money has directly achieved a goal.
Epilogue:
1. Starbuck’s gift card of allowing people to buy a coffee for someone else, while accompanying them provides huge personal satisfaction from a personal investment.
2. America has very low tax rates, creating mass in equality, yet Americans are also one of the largest charitable donors, which is another form of distribution.
3. The key to successful taxation, is allowing people to see the benefits it creates. Imagine how many more people would pay more tax if they could see their money buying new equipment for the NHS.
Material possessions just become part of the background; experiences get better with time. There is little evidence that buying a house makes people happier.
Rule 2: Make it a treat
Abundance is the enemy of appreciation. Remember the Benjamin Effect - whereby adults are more cheerful around strangers than with their partners. The lesson, quality not quantity of time spent with a partner is the most rewarding feeling.
Rule 3: Buy time
Taking a job with a 60 mins commute undermines happiness, despite it providing access to a better house. As people have spent less time on house chores, more people spend time watching TV/social media. The lesson, restrict usage of these things and do things that involve people to make your spare time happier. Rewarding people by paying them by the hour reduces the happiness of free time as they feel an urge to earn more capital. By focusing more on time (working effectively) and less on money, people become happier.
Rule 4:
Pay now consumer later (the opposite of the current societal trend of consume now, pay later). The Sunday syndrome of people not enjoying Sunday because they are thinking about Monday, with Friday being most people’s favourite day of the week. The ability to generate positive thoughts about the future is a hallmark of good health. The feeling of anticipation is enormously underrated, hence why delaying the consumption of gifts often provides greater appreciation when consumed.
Rule 5: Invest in others
Asking people to buy products that see 10% of the cost go to charity does not raise as much money as actually directly asking for a donation. People derive huge pleasure and pride from feeling that their money has directly achieved a goal.
Epilogue:
1. Starbuck’s gift card of allowing people to buy a coffee for someone else, while accompanying them provides huge personal satisfaction from a personal investment.
2. America has very low tax rates, creating mass in equality, yet Americans are also one of the largest charitable donors, which is another form of distribution.
3. The key to successful taxation, is allowing people to see the benefits it creates. Imagine how many more people would pay more tax if they could see their money buying new equipment for the NHS.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2014
For as long as I waited for this book on the hold list, it is surprisingly simplistic, offering basically nothing new. I also wasn't thrilled about how the authors tried to make it "relatable" by overusing self-anecdotes, to the point that it didn't seem at all scientific.
There was also some advice that just doesn't work--instead of spending $200,000 on a house, buy an experience! Except...not buying a house doesn't mean that you have $200,000 to blow, it just means that you're spending a fairly similar amount of money on rent as you would have on a mortgage (depending on the rent vs. buy market). In talking about whether to buy a house, they seriously did not acknowledge that you will have housing expenses whether you rent or own. Since this "analysis" was in the first section, the oversimplification colored me skeptical for the rest of the book.
Their basic advice is sound. The five major premises are: buy experiences, not things; make it a treat; buy time; pay now, consume later; and invest in others. I could write more, but I think you can figure out what there is to glean just from the section titles. Good advice, but basic, and not backed up by science/economics the way I felt the book was marketed.
There was also some advice that just doesn't work--instead of spending $200,000 on a house, buy an experience! Except...not buying a house doesn't mean that you have $200,000 to blow, it just means that you're spending a fairly similar amount of money on rent as you would have on a mortgage (depending on the rent vs. buy market). In talking about whether to buy a house, they seriously did not acknowledge that you will have housing expenses whether you rent or own. Since this "analysis" was in the first section, the oversimplification colored me skeptical for the rest of the book.
Their basic advice is sound. The five major premises are: buy experiences, not things; make it a treat; buy time; pay now, consume later; and invest in others. I could write more, but I think you can figure out what there is to glean just from the section titles. Good advice, but basic, and not backed up by science/economics the way I felt the book was marketed.
August 18, 2013
The book would have done better as a magazine article. The authors offer five ways to spend money that would make you happier:Buy Experience, Make It a Treat, Buy Time, Pay first - consume later, Invest in Others. Their research and conclusions are not radically new ideas. Some material such as a rant against using your time to watch TV -- seemed dated. In their final chapter :Investing in Others, they offer a detailed description of a specific web site Donors Choose.org and a weak case for forced wealth distribution.
I had looked forward to reading spending differently might impact my happiness positively. This book was not quite the discussion I was hoping for. I might choose to have more experiences. Saving premium products as occasional treats seems cost effective and wise.Paying for a vacation ( or anything) before I take the trip might feel good -- or not. That one is a neutral. I might donate to more charities. I certainly will continue to pay to have my lawn done. And if I decide to while away the time I saved on a TV marathon -- I will go right on feeling happy about it.
I had looked forward to reading spending differently might impact my happiness positively. This book was not quite the discussion I was hoping for. I might choose to have more experiences. Saving premium products as occasional treats seems cost effective and wise.Paying for a vacation ( or anything) before I take the trip might feel good -- or not. That one is a neutral. I might donate to more charities. I certainly will continue to pay to have my lawn done. And if I decide to while away the time I saved on a TV marathon -- I will go right on feeling happy about it.
March 11, 2021
I heard about this book from the Yale online course "Science of Wellbeing".
It makes interesting points. E.g. People feel pain when paying, so they enjoy experiences more if the payment is separated from the time of experience.
Experiences feel more special if it's not a habit.
The anticipation of a delightful experience is better than the actual experience. Suspense and a bit of uncertainty make the anticipation exciting.
Spending on others makes us happier. Even spending $5 on others boosts our happiness.
But the book also praised a woman who spent her $200k life savings on a ticket to Virgin Galactic instead of buying a house, because "experiences make people happier than things". This seemed irresponsible.
The book also praises billionaires for giving away money even when it is a tiny amount of their wealth.
The epilogue analyzing countries' inequality is good.
It makes interesting points. E.g. People feel pain when paying, so they enjoy experiences more if the payment is separated from the time of experience.
Experiences feel more special if it's not a habit.
The anticipation of a delightful experience is better than the actual experience. Suspense and a bit of uncertainty make the anticipation exciting.
Spending on others makes us happier. Even spending $5 on others boosts our happiness.
But the book also praised a woman who spent her $200k life savings on a ticket to Virgin Galactic instead of buying a house, because "experiences make people happier than things". This seemed irresponsible.
The book also praises billionaires for giving away money even when it is a tiny amount of their wealth.
The epilogue analyzing countries' inequality is good.
February 7, 2017
Here are the five principles in the book:
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make it a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest in Others
All fine and dandy- tho a bit of common sense makes it unnecessary to read. Still, good to keep in mind. But then, out of the blue they go into how the government needs to do happiness studies, monitoring the things that make its citizens the happiest, etc. (tip:don't waste our money) and how we need better wealth distribution. ugh. Their diatribe discredited them, and the point of the book became muffled, messy and lost.
1. Buy Experiences
2. Make it a Treat
3. Buy Time
4. Pay Now, Consume Later
5. Invest in Others
All fine and dandy- tho a bit of common sense makes it unnecessary to read. Still, good to keep in mind. But then, out of the blue they go into how the government needs to do happiness studies, monitoring the things that make its citizens the happiest, etc. (tip:don't waste our money) and how we need better wealth distribution. ugh. Their diatribe discredited them, and the point of the book became muffled, messy and lost.
May 17, 2013
With celebrity tips and other measures this book is by far one of the best books I've found on money and making it stretch. The five principles are very easy and are some that you would have never thought to use. If you are ready to stop throwing money away and start living a little more freely with more money in your pockets I highly recommend picking this book up and adding it to your collection.
June 11, 2021
Good, but a bit dry.
December 15, 2024
Reread this one. Good concept but I can imagine that there’s some new research on the topic and some studies might have been questioned.
January 28, 2025
Happy Money
The Principles:
1. Buy Experiences - buy things we can enjoy, rather than things. We can pay for a concert to enjoy with friends versus a stuffed animal. Research has shown that paying more for houses and cars does not bring us more happiness than when we spend our money on experiences.
2. Make it a treat – turn our favorite things into a treat. Make coffee into a special indulgence rather than a daily necessity. Limit our favorite things like chocolate so we can truly indulge and enjoy.
3. Buy Time – how will this purchase change the way I use my time? Choose activities that promote well being. Figure out a shorter commute time to and from work. Spend more free time bonding with others, volunteering, reading, relaxing.
4. Pay now, consume later – delayed gratification. The wait and the anticipation helps us feel happier when we finally get the thing. For example, planning a trip, we feel more enjoyment anticipating the trip. Credit cards are a trap because it allows us to enjoy now and pay later.
5. Invest in others - spend money on other people and spend time with them. Something as little as donating or buying gifts for others with $1 or $5 increases our happiness. Buying gifts for others gives us greater happiness than when we spend it only on ourselves. People are happier to give when it is a choice, they are able to connect with others, and when they feel they made an impact.
I enjoyed how this book posed interesting research questions on how we can spend our money effectively to maximize our happiness, and then presented thorough research and summarized it into 5 main principles. I also loved how accessible this writing was and that this book was a quick read. I didn’t agree with some of the points made, but maybe I fell under the category of people who think they know what brings them happiness but reality is much different. There were also other parts I already knew and agreed with, as well as a couple of points that reminded me to be more mindful.
The Principles:
1. Buy Experiences - buy things we can enjoy, rather than things. We can pay for a concert to enjoy with friends versus a stuffed animal. Research has shown that paying more for houses and cars does not bring us more happiness than when we spend our money on experiences.
2. Make it a treat – turn our favorite things into a treat. Make coffee into a special indulgence rather than a daily necessity. Limit our favorite things like chocolate so we can truly indulge and enjoy.
3. Buy Time – how will this purchase change the way I use my time? Choose activities that promote well being. Figure out a shorter commute time to and from work. Spend more free time bonding with others, volunteering, reading, relaxing.
4. Pay now, consume later – delayed gratification. The wait and the anticipation helps us feel happier when we finally get the thing. For example, planning a trip, we feel more enjoyment anticipating the trip. Credit cards are a trap because it allows us to enjoy now and pay later.
5. Invest in others - spend money on other people and spend time with them. Something as little as donating or buying gifts for others with $1 or $5 increases our happiness. Buying gifts for others gives us greater happiness than when we spend it only on ourselves. People are happier to give when it is a choice, they are able to connect with others, and when they feel they made an impact.
I enjoyed how this book posed interesting research questions on how we can spend our money effectively to maximize our happiness, and then presented thorough research and summarized it into 5 main principles. I also loved how accessible this writing was and that this book was a quick read. I didn’t agree with some of the points made, but maybe I fell under the category of people who think they know what brings them happiness but reality is much different. There were also other parts I already knew and agreed with, as well as a couple of points that reminded me to be more mindful.
December 26, 2024
This book is a compendium of a lot of social science research that I was already familiar with. There were a few novel insights, such as the idea that pro social spending increases employee happiness, but that sounded like an idea that could be used for an excuse to lower wage growth. The book’s initial problem was not answered, we didn’t get a meaningful way to understand how to make your money help you other than give it away (which is sort of obvious) and then the book advocated for some rather dubious ways to give money away that are not shown to make meaningful impacts on people’s lives.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2018
It's surprising not how much you have earned makes you happy, but how you spend does. And spending for others can make a longer lasting happiness than spending for yourself.
Besides, this book is against the motto to consume now, pay later. Instead you should plan and save up for stuff you would buy. The gratification of having the things you want right now can end up a big debt in future, and your ego grows up as well.
But... actually I am working on solution like that, should I stop? :D
Besides, this book is against the motto to consume now, pay later. Instead you should plan and save up for stuff you would buy. The gratification of having the things you want right now can end up a big debt in future, and your ego grows up as well.
But... actually I am working on solution like that, should I stop? :D
July 9, 2020
"If you think money can't buy happiness, you're not spending it right."
I love learning about money. I love budgets, learning about retirement plans, wealth management strategies, etc. This book took an approach to money management that I had never seen - rather than looking at how to save or invest money, instead Dunn and Norton discuss how to spend our money well.
It turns out spending money well is not as intuitive as you would think! Here are the five main principles:
1. Buy experiences
2. Make it a treat
3. Buy time
4. Pay now, consume later
5. Invest in Others
Absolutely worth the read! This book has changed my perspective on spending and I am excited to implement some of their strategies.
I love learning about money. I love budgets, learning about retirement plans, wealth management strategies, etc. This book took an approach to money management that I had never seen - rather than looking at how to save or invest money, instead Dunn and Norton discuss how to spend our money well.
It turns out spending money well is not as intuitive as you would think! Here are the five main principles:
1. Buy experiences
2. Make it a treat
3. Buy time
4. Pay now, consume later
5. Invest in Others
Absolutely worth the read! This book has changed my perspective on spending and I am excited to implement some of their strategies.
August 26, 2020
Not too short, not too long (it seems many books these days could stand to cut 1/2 the text out and lose none of the substance). Lots of humor (actual funny stuff not cringe worthy dad style jokes) sprinkled throughout, practical advice on how to apply the information, really nothing not to like about this book.
July 26, 2021
Mhmm 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed it for the first half and then was trying to rush through the second half.
I'm a big fan of the topic and leaning into more books and podcasts on the topic of happiness and positive psychology really helped me a lot throughout the pandemic. Quick and easy ready, I think by the end I just felt like "I get the point already" haha. You can technically derive the main points of the book from the chapter titles though the anecdotes and backing evidence is pretty interesting. Reminds me of an extended and more palatable version of a research report.
I'm a big fan of the topic and leaning into more books and podcasts on the topic of happiness and positive psychology really helped me a lot throughout the pandemic. Quick and easy ready, I think by the end I just felt like "I get the point already" haha. You can technically derive the main points of the book from the chapter titles though the anecdotes and backing evidence is pretty interesting. Reminds me of an extended and more palatable version of a research report.
September 17, 2018
Some good stuff here.
1. Buy experiences rather than stuff (longer lasting happiness)
2. Make it a treat (don't drink every day, make it a treat)
3. Buy time (Limit your commute time, less TV, more socializing
4. Pay now, consume later (its more pleasurable if you've already paid for it, think all inclusive)
5. Invest in others (it makes us happier than spending on ourselves except we forget this all the time)
1. Buy experiences rather than stuff (longer lasting happiness)
2. Make it a treat (don't drink every day, make it a treat)
3. Buy time (Limit your commute time, less TV, more socializing
4. Pay now, consume later (its more pleasurable if you've already paid for it, think all inclusive)
5. Invest in others (it makes us happier than spending on ourselves except we forget this all the time)
February 13, 2024
A well-written, funny and practical guide to getting the biggest bang for your buck in terms of happiness. Five top tips about how to spend your money more wisely for a happier life.
December 26, 2019
I know many people who could benefit from reading this book. Light, humorous, easy reading.
October 30, 2023
Some good laughs. A few interesting good points, but not a book that had me spellbound. I will recommend it because, I found myself quoting from it while I was reading.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
November 29, 2024
Great book. Super practical. Read because my husband gives them away as gifts but I have never read it.
Simple strategies for happier spending backed by a ton of research.
Full disclosure - it’s not a “story” although there are examples in the book. As far as factual, financial books go- it didn’t put me to sleep. Lol
Simple strategies for happier spending backed by a ton of research.
Full disclosure - it’s not a “story” although there are examples in the book. As far as factual, financial books go- it didn’t put me to sleep. Lol
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