Budget Snob

The Money and Happiness Relationship

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I have an unexpected fascination with money and happiness. Unexpected because I didn’t realize how far my quest to learn about the subject would take me. I’ve written about it before here, here, and here.

A recent Bucks Blog article by Carl Richards resumes my fascination with money and if/how it impacts our overall happiness.

Mr. Richards cites a recent study by Princeton University quoted in Time magazine.

According to the study,

people reported an increase in happiness as their incomes rose to $75,000 a year. Then, the impact of rising income on happiness levels off.

What’s odd about this statement is that it pegs happiness at a specific number—75K per year.… Read the rest

How to Blow $70,000 in 8 Months

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I don’t think anyone ever intends to torpedo their finances. Nobody wakes up one day and says, “yeah, I think today I’ll flush everything I’ve worked on the last 10 years down the toilet.”

But do the reasons matter after it’s already happened? At some point I became comfortable with the fact (at least on a superficial level) I was becoming nauseatingly deeper in debt. Debt that would have made me revolt with sickness just a few years prior.

Surprisingly, I don’t have expensive addictions. No gambling. No drinking. Zip on Golfing. And I still own the first car I ever bought (going on 14 years).… Read the rest

One Skill to Get out of Debt

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Budgets. Collection agency agreements. Credit card negotiations. Debt reduction plans. Canceling cable. Eating Ramen Noodles for the rest of your life. These tips are all part of the getting out of debt echo chamber. Forget all that. What if there was one thing you could do to get out of debt? One thing that, if you stuck with it for an extended period, would truly help you get debt free? David Bakke from MoneyCrashers states that, yes, getting out of debt boils down to one principle…

“Understanding the difference between wants and needs with pure objectivity.”

What the heck does that mean?… Read the rest

How Men and Women View Money

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Differently, of course. Thankfully, my better half is the bargain hunter. I, on the other hand, think that higher price = better value. According to GoBankingRates.com,

“Men and women have very different attitudes toward saving for retirement, levels of bargaining ability and confidence when dealing with investments. Not only that, but on average, women make a significantly lower amount of money than men, even when they work in the same position.”

Men Women and Money
See the full-size infographic at GoBankingRates.com.… Read the rest

How Optimistic are You?

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That question was posted on the BankRate Wealth Blog on Friday. Here are a few highlights according to a poll  1,002 Americans:

65 percent of Americans are more concerned about their finances today than they were at the beginning of the financial crisis two years ago.

37 percent expect to see their personal finances improve in the next six months, versus less than half (46 percent) who expect to hold onto what they currently have and 16 percent who expect to lose money.

80 percent of Americans say that Congress and regulators have not done enough “to deal with the financial market problems and their impact on American investors.”

… Read the rest