If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right. Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness—if you follow five core principles of smarter spending. If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right. Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness—if you follow five core principles of smarter spending. Happy Money offers a tour of new research on the science of 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 explains why you can get more happiness for your money by following five principles, from choosing experiences over stuff to spending money on others. And the five principles can be used not only by individuals but by companies seeking to create happier employees and provide “happier products” to their customers. Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton show how companies from Google to Pepsi to Crate & Barrel have put these ideas into action. Along the way, the authors describe new 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 book, readers will ask themselves one simple question whenever they reach for their wallets: Am I getting the biggest happiness bang for my buck?

The book develops and applies a modelling framework that enables consumers' expenditure and portfolio behaviour to be analysed in an integrated manner. It extends and applies the Yale approach to financial model building associated with James Tobin. The basis of this approach is surveyed with particular emphasis on the empirical implementation of portfolio models in the UK, US and other countries, appropriate econometric estimation techniques and comparisons with other monetary modelling strategies. Empirical application of the model is particularly addressed to testing whether the composition of wealth holdings is important for expenditure and asset demands, whether concentration on 'money' at the expense of other assets and liabilities is acceptable, and whether the interrelationships stressed by Tobin's general equilibrium approach are statistically important. The results have important implications for the recent literature on wealth effects on consumption and the overemphasis on 'money' at the expense of other financial assets and liabilities.

The bestselling mother/daughter coauthors of "The Two-Income Trap" now pen an essential guide to the five simple keys to lasting financial peace.

“Cagan makes the case that a budget isn’t a buzz killer. It’s financial salvation.” —The Washington Post Don’t break the bank—learn to create and stick to a budget with this comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to saving money sensibly in this edition of the popular 101 series. Sometimes, it can seem like saving money is impossible. With everyday expenses, from groceries and gas, to the electric bill and lunch money, as well as those unexpected expenses, like car repairs and medical bills, getting—and keeping—control of your finances can feel overwhelming. With Budgeting 101, you can start saving now. This clear and simple guide provides tons of practical advice for keeping track of your finances. With useful tips on setting financial goals, reducing debt, finding ways to save money, and creating and following a budget plan, you’ll have your dollars and cents under control in no time. Why spend more of your hard-earned money on a financial advisor? Filled with expert advice on a wide range of the most common financial concerns and step-by-step instructions to managing your money both now and in the future, Budgeting 101 has you covered.

Ferguson tells the human story behind the evolution of money, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest Wall Street upheavals. The author shows that finance is, in fact, the foundation of human progress.

How the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite, and how their consumer habits affect us all In today’s world, the leisure class has been replaced by a new elite. Highly educated and defined by cultural capital rather than income bracket, these individuals earnestly buy organic, carry NPR tote bags, and breast-feed their babies. They care about discreet, inconspicuous consumption—like eating free-range chicken and heirloom tomatoes, wearing organic cotton shirts and TOMS shoes, and listening to the Serial podcast. They use their purchasing power to hire nannies and housekeepers, to cultivate their children’s growth, and to practice yoga and Pilates. In The Sum of Small Things, Elizabeth Currid-Halkett dubs this segment of society “the aspirational class” and discusses how, through deft decisions about education, health, parenting, and retirement, the aspirational class reproduces wealth and upward mobility, deepening the ever-wider class divide. Exploring the rise of the aspirational class, Currid-Halkett considers how much has changed since the 1899 publication of Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class. In that inflammatory classic, which coined the phrase “conspicuous consumption,” Veblen described upper-class frivolities: men who used walking sticks for show, and women who bought silver flatware despite the effectiveness of cheaper aluminum utensils. Now, Currid-Halkett argues, the power of material goods as symbols of social position has diminished due to their accessibility. As a result, the aspirational class has altered its consumer habits away from overt materialism to more subtle expenditures that reveal status and knowledge. And these transformations influence how we all make choices. With a rich narrative and extensive interviews and research, The Sum of Small Things illustrates how cultural capital leads to lifestyle shifts and what this forecasts, not just for the aspirational class but for everyone.

The bestselling mother/daughter coauthors of "The Two-Income Trap" now pen an essential guide to the five simple keys to lasting financial peace.