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Happy Money

the Science of Smarter Spending
Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Port Moody Public Library.
Mar 29, 2014john_doh17 rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Contends spending correctly brings happiness. The authors have 5 contentions that they say science can show us how to spend our money more efficiently to achieve happiness. I think they miss the mark in that they seem to still cling to the belief that spending money is what we should focus on to find happiness. I guess if that is how you make yourself happy this is the book for you! The authors did irk me by I believe miss-stating that the slow movement says we have less time than we did in the past. That is not the thrust of down shifting and the slow movement. Downshifting is about spending more time on things that we find important and enjoying the moments in life rather than rushing from one thing to the next. The authors say that we really don't spend more time working than we did in the 60's. The contention is that when surveyed people say they are working more than they did in the past but people are prone to error so a better way to determine if we are working more of less is to have people keep a time log and compare that to a similar study from the 60's. This is problematic to me from a number of angles. They still rely on people recording data which is subject to the same errors as other studies that show we work more than in the past. Another problem is that the nature of work has changed vastly since the 60's both what is done and how it is done. A waitress or landscaper job is probably pretty similar to the 60's but an accountant or engineer has changed vastly. How are hours worked but not recorded captured? I can't easily find the backing data for the study they rely on so at this point I can't say if it is valid or not. Finally even they admit that commute times are a lot longer compared to the past although apparently that doesn't factor in to overall work time.