Happiness taken into accounts
Money expert’s new book shows how to add passion, joy to money management
Happiness is a column in your personal fiscal balance sheet.
And maximizing your happiness while keeping your finances in line — with informed, practical choices — is what Melissa Leong writes about in her new book, Happy Go Money: Spend Smart, Save Right & Enjoy Life (ECW Press).
Leong, 38, money expert on CTV’s The Social, began her career at the Star and was the personal finance columnist at the National Post. Her book Happy Go Money grew from her desire to help people solve their money quandaries while taking happiness into account.
“The reason people spend the way they do, save or go into debt is usually because they want to be happy,” Leong says.
“Conventional books about personal finance are missing a really huge part of the picture if they only talk about money.”
We asked Leong a few questions about money happiness:
How is fighting “zombies” part of organizing our personal finances?
You can certainly learn how to fight zombie charges — the credit card charges that appear even though the bill has been paid, or when you’ve killed a subscription, but it comes back from the dead to haunt you. They’re examples of why it’s so important to check your financial status regularly to make sure there’s nothing on your bills that shouldn’t be there, such as free trial subscriptions you’ve forgotten to cancel before they start to charge you. Especially these days, since everything is automated, mistakes can happen. So look into these things. Who is my silver fox? How do I keep them happy?
According to research, we see our future selves — our silver foxes — as strangers, so we find it hard to save for retirement, because that person 20 years from now doesn’t really seem like us. The reality is that you will get older and want options in the future, and will want to be happy. I often suggest that people connect in some way to their future selves and the lives they want to live, such as writing a letter to your future self. In one of the studies I read, the people who had seen a rendition of themselves as older were more likely to put money into a savings account than others.
Is it really worth buying pet insurance?
If you care about your fur baby or scaly someone, it’s important to have a fund set up in case they get sick or swallow a bunch of dental floss. Unexpected bills can be quite costly. It’s not something you ordinarily think about, but it can throw you off financially. Pet insurance is an option, but you need to do your research and due diligence. Another option is to take the amount of an insurance premium into a bank account marked Fluffy or Rover so you have money set aside specifically for your animal. Isn’t OHM something I might chant in yoga class? How is it relevant to personal finance?
In my book, it stands for Oh Happy Money and refers to the tribe that people design and benefit from in their lives. Everything is easier with peer support. We need cheerleaders and support; a large part of happiness is to do with connections and relationships. If you can go on your financial journey with a trusted group of people, it will boost your happiness, not just your bottom line. We’re all climbing personal mountains, but it’s rewarding to do it together. We can lend a helping hand to someone who falls. Are side-hustles worth it? Absolutely! Nowadays, they can be used for many things. There’s a huge group of workers in North America who have adopted them. Side hustles can help you fulfil a lot of purposes in life: providing extra money to meet your goals; funds to pay for benefits; or feeding a passion. When you marry work with passion, you can feed your happy tank. If you find your side hustle isn’t bringing you happiness, put a time limit on it — only until you make X amount or — step back or slow down, especially if it’s affecting your full-time job.
To be happier, should I spend money on concert tickets or a cool jacket?
According to research, experiences give us a greater bang for our buck. In the study, people spent 40 per cent of a windfall on experiences. Experiences are something you share with people; items are often enjoyed alone. Experiences will be memorable with stories we can retell friends; they’ll have greater longevity than a jacket.