Psychology of Money
How Much Would It Take To Feel Rich?
Monday, August 9th, 2010
CNNMoney.com recently posed that question among a random sample of people and financial advisors. Most people based their answer on an overarching objective of having enough money so that they would not have to work. Individuals said that would require anywhere from a couple thousand dollars a month to a billion dollars. Advisors put the ... [Read more]
Is an iPad a Luxury or Necessity?
Monday, August 9th, 2010
An Internet connection. An annual vacation. The financial freedom to shop for birthdays and other special occasions. Are these essentials or luxuries? For many of today’s baby boomers, they are essentials. According to a survey conducted by MainStay Investments and reported by MarketWatch, 84 percent of boomers consider an Internet connection a necessity, 66 percent ... [Read more]
Money & Marriage: Knowing Where You’re Coming From
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
God’s vision and intention for marriage is oneness. Unity. Each person making sacrifices, dying to self, for the good of the other and the good of the relationship. There are countless factors that get in the way of oneness: There’s our natural tendency toward selfishness. There are in-law issues, debates about who will do what ... [Read more]
Superstar Savers Share Their Secrets
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Do you find it tough to save money? Money Magazine and CNN recently profiled some super savers, and they offer great lessons for all of us. Ed Haskell and Debbie Chasteen save a whopping 50 percent of their after-tax income. How do they do it? They have a clear, compelling goal of retiring before age ... [Read more]
Still Stressed About Debt
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Americans are paying down their debt, but that hasn’t eased their stress. Some 46 percent of American adults say they are stressed about their debts, according to a new Associated Press-GfK survey. That’s about the same as last year. Those feeling the most stress are women, married couples, people age 30-44, and the poor. Key ... [Read more]
What We Didn’t Give Up During the Recession
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Recessions have a way of helping people distinguish needs from wants. However, analysis from U.S. News & World Report has resulted in a somewhat surprising list of products and services where sales over the past few years have either grown or at least have not declined, including: Notebook computers. Sales have skyrocketed over the last ... [Read more]
The Master(’s) Principle
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
In the late 1960s Stanford University researchers conducted an experiment among hundreds of four-year-olds. One at a time, the children were brought into a room and told they could eat one treat such as a marshmallow right away, or if they could wait until the researcher returned from a brief errand, they could then have ... [Read more]
“Go” Toward a Better Financial Life in 2010
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Have you ever noticed how often personal finance advice is about what not to do? Many are the stories about our lack of savings, high debt loads, and short-term thinking. We are constantly warned that we shouldn’t spend so much, shouldn’t take on so much debt, and shouldn’t focus on today with no regard for ... [Read more]
Smart Shopping at the Grocery Store
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
For most families, the grocery store is one of the most frequently visited retail stores. That’s why it’s so important to be proactive in spending wisely when doing what can feel like a routine chore. As pointed out on MSNBC recently, “Marketers have put more thought into grocery stores than any other type of store ... [Read more]
Curbing Your Enthusiasm to Spend
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
Spending money wisely takes more than a budget and a stack of coupons. It takes some self-knowledge. A good article on Oprah.com highlighted several ways to keep our emotions from trashing our finances. For example, researchers have found that when we run up big tabs on a single trip to a single store, which can ... [Read more]
How Outlet Malls Promote Overspending
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Outlet malls may not be the money-savers they appear to be. As noted on Consumerist.com, the new book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, describes manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, against which the outlet store prices are compared, as “often fabricated to give consumers the impression that they are getting bargains.” The book also notes ... [Read more]
Choosing What to Take In
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8 Right after our five-year-old watches a DVD, he’s often eager to act out whatever he saw. If there was singing on the DVD, he ... [Read more]
Sleeping Well During the Recession
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
If you’ve been losing sleep over your finances, you’re not alone. According to a new survey, more than two-thirds of people say money issues are keeping them up at night. As reported on the Walletpop blog, more than one-fifth of respondents blamed credit card debt for the dark circles under their eyes. A prime cause ... [Read more]
Thriving After the Recession
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
While a lot of people are still deeply impacted by the recession, a number of post-recession articles are starting to emerge, including one from US News & World Report that suggested 10 ways to “thrive” after the recession. It described the new “evolved consumer” who “shops with more discipline and focuses on buying products with ... [Read more]
Don’t Touch, Don’t Buy
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
A recent Time magazine article summarized the latest findings from the increasingly sophisticated science of retailing. Researchers have found that touching a product in a store increases a shopper’s sense of ownership (the “endowment effect”), and that increases the likelihood that he or she will buy the product. One retailer that maximizes this approach to ... [Read more]
Of Calories and Cash
Monday, February 9th, 2009
There are a number of parallels between the worlds of nutrition and finance. On the negative side, people tend to describe a budget in the same terms they use to describe a diet – it’s something one goes on, as in, “Poor Brian, he’s on a budget.” However, as was pointed out in a New ... [Read more]
Irrational Money Moves
Monday, December 22nd, 2008
Some of the most interesting (and odd!) research about money comes from behavioral economists and psychologists. As noted in a recent Economist article, one study found that diners tend to spend more in a restaurant named “Cafe 97″ than one named “Cafe 17.” Another study looked the behavior of people who carry a balance on ... [Read more]
Deals That Delight
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
One upside to a down economy is that lots of products are on deep discount before Christmas. But which deals will truly satisfy? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, behavioral economists and psychologists have found that products that enrich your relationship with friends or family members rate the highest on the satisfaction scale. ... [Read more]
Penny Wise and Artichoke Foolish
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Like many of us, a grocery shopper named Jill is paying more attention to the cost of food these days. So, as described in a New York Times article, when one store’s price on cauliflower seemed too high, she went to another store, and then another. Finally, she found a good price, only to discover ... [Read more]
Learning From Marketers’ Playbooks
Friday, October 24th, 2008
Some of the best insights about shopping smart come from marketers. The trick is to learn their strategies for separating us from our money, and then play defense. That was the focus of a great post on the Get Rich Slowly blog, which reviewed the book, “Why We Buy.” For example, retailers do what they ... [Read more]
Why We Feel So Bad
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, nearly 60 percent of Americans believe a depression is “somewhat likely” (38 percent) or “very likely” (21 percent). However, the CNNMoney.com article that reported on the findings noted that economists “generally don’t believe another depression is likely.” If “irrational exuberance” helped drive the market up, “loss aversion” may ... [Read more]
Name Your Price
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Haggling has long been an assumed part of the home- and car-buying experience. But in a down economy more and more retailers, including Best Buy and Home Depot, are going along when people ask for a better price. And not just on big-ticket items. One clothing store shopper profiled in a New York Times article ... [Read more]
Raising Money-Smart Kids
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal had some good ideas for helping kids cultivate wise money management habits. Whenever your son or daughter tells you about something they desperately want, add it to a written wish list. A few days or weeks later go over the list to see what they’d still like ... [Read more]
