SmartyPig

Thanks to Liz Proctor, SmartyPig Account Manager, for today’s guest post.

My first, and least daunting, resolution of 2012 is simple: Find more time to read. I thought it most appropriate to kick start the New Year with a book called The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. Throughout the book, the author shares what she calls “highly idiosyncratic experiences,” in hopes that the reader will learn to create their own form of Happy.

Each month Rubin explores a different facet of daily life, including very challenging topics such as Mindfulness and Attitude that left me thinking for days. July, or Money is titled “Buy Some Happiness” and probes the question: Does money buy happiness? In her studies, Rubin finds that the association between money and happiness is altogether quite ambiguous. Although the matter is not tied up with a pretty bow at the end of the chapter, the author does provide encouraging insight and practical suggestions for amplifying joy while spending or saving.

Rubin brings light to the notion that a lack of money adds much more to unhappiness than an abundance of money adds to happiness. When financial times are difficult, it’s hard to think of anything outside of money. But when finances are not a problem a person doesn’t think much about it one way or another. By planning ahead and expecting the unexpected, challenges with finances can be dealt with before they might occur and, thus, aren’t as challenging.

Lastly, Rubin recommends that you save for a modest splurge that enhances your happiness goals. Save so you can spend more time with friends and family, save for ways to support an important cause, save for experiences and memories. By taking the time to imagine and plan, you will avoid the remorse that clings to impulse purchases and you will form a much longer lasting feeling of happiness.

Whether your SmartyPig goals are for necessity or luxury, we wish you happy savings!