Cha-Ching: Money and Happiness

Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? You can check out my post from last April with some tools and resources for managing your money and a great guest portion from my MIL, Libbie, on teaching financial literacy to kids.

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To celebrate Financial Literacy Month this year, I am sharing some excerpts from Happify’s Infographic: 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness. They say, “from what kind of purchases make us happiest to the guaranteed way to get a quick mood boost from your cash, [they] created an infographic with everything you need to know about money and happiness.” 

The first section is “Focus on Experiences Not Things.” They present research that shows that people are happier with memories of experiences over time than “stuff they buy”. Here is an excerpt:

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

The American Dream – Money makes up happy – right? Well, not exactly! They say that more money might not make us as happy as we think it would because:

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

And here’s one for the husband from that section:

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

Time is Money – This is interesting! The more money you make the more rushed you feel. Would you agree? I TOTALLY agree on the commuting.

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

Treat Yourself – They say that if you pay for something in advance you will enjoy it more since you will worry less about your wallet. I agree with this one. I love the feeling of pre-paying for our vacations and not coming back  to big bills. Here is another tip that I wish I was better at employing:

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

Spending Money on Others Makes Us Happy – Research shows “the more money people spend on someone else, the happier they are.” Even $5 donated or gifted will make us happier.

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Source: Happify.com Infographic 17 Things Everyone Should Know About Money and Happiness

Check out the full infographic HERE. Do you want fun exercises to help you get the most happiness “bang for your buck?” You can join Happify’s Maximize Your Money—and Your Happiness track for four weeks of fun, science-based activities designed to help you spend smarter and happier. This track is built from information in the book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton. Looks great!

Be happy and don’t forget about my NoGii Paleo Bars giveaway and Yumbutter giveaway, too!