Money Happiness

The Last Three Of The Jean Chatsky
Ten Commandments Of Financial Happiness

As Summarized By The Author Of This Website

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Onward towards money happiness ...

8. Spend sensibly

Of the ten commandments, not spending more than you can afford is arguably the hardest to follow for money happiness.

That's because you first need to recognize which items you spend money on are the things that are responsible for your inability to live within your means. These may be frequent coffee dates, regularly entertaining friends at home, buying magazines, having high car repayments or being overly generous with birthday gifts. Once you’ve identified what they are, then - one by one – take action to start cutting back.

Spending no more than you can afford on big items like a car is important for financial happiness. But those ‘little things’ add up too, and spending no more than you can afford on the less-noticed items is just as important as spending no more than you can afford on the bigger items.

However, your approach should be from a frame of mind that says you are doing this because you want to be in control of your financial life.

You want your finances to be orderly; you want your income to cover your expenses, not be gobbled up totally and more. It won’t serve you to approach this with thoughts of: I can’t afford this. I don’t have enough money, and so on. These thought patterns simply help to perpetuate the belief in financial struggle. They prevent money happiness from being experienced.

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9. Start working toward your goals

Money happiness is not about the achievement of goals. It is about making concrete progress towards them. Life is never ‘done’; it is an ever-going journey. If you're at least halfway to your goals, you've got a much better shot at happiness than if you're just meandering toward them -- or worse still, if you haven't set any goals.

As Jean says, “... the bottom line of our research is encouraging: You don't have to hit your marks to be happy, you just have to see results.” So, set yourself interim goals too, not just the long-term ones. This makes reaching the milestones easier, and this in turn triggers more happiness along the way.

10. Communicate

Constantly arguing with your spouse or partner about money is draining and a waste of creative energy. Involve each other in the important spending and borrowing decisions. And if you don't do this personally at the time of spending, at least consider the partnership implications at the time you’re about to have your credit card swiped through the checkout or at the ATM.

Jean suggests you first think: How will Joe feel about this? Should I put this $400 snowblower on hold and talk about it with Gina? When you borrow money without first discussing it with your partner (which is in fact precisely what you're doing when you buy with a credit card, or increase the overdraft), it is directly related to financial unhappiness. So is spending more that was agreed upon during your family financial planning sessions.

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Money Happiness: Conclusion

These, then, are the ten commandments of financial happiness according to Jean Chatzky. They make good sense.

Jean’s book, The Ten Commandments of Financial Happiness, obviously covers these ten points in more detail, and with more practical examples to help in their implementation.

Recommended books on experiencing financial happiness >>

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