They say money can’t buy you love — but can it buy happiness? That’s up for debate, but a new study says that using your funds to purchase time — something we all wish we had more of — can lead to increased happiness. [More]
happiness
Everything You Need To Know About Personal Finance Fits Onto 5 Business Cards
By 10.14.10
Trent has fit everything you ever needed to know about managing personal finance onto the backs of five business cards. Really! That’s it! [More]
Force Field Protects Cake From Feline Menace
By 7.14.10
There is no reason we should post this other than we are happy about it and want you to be happy too. [More]
Fighting About Money Frequently Increases Risk Of Divorce
By 5.25.10
You already know that it’s not healthy to fight about money all the time, but it might be a bigger risk factor for divorce than you think. A 2009 University of Virginia study found that couples who argue about finances every a week are 30% more likely to divorce than those who argue less frequently. In addition, a couple that marries with no assets are 70% more likely to divorce in three years than a couple bringing $10k in assets into the union. [More]
Expensive Purchases Are Like Peacock Feathers, Except They Don't Work
By 5.25.09
Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, says marketers are trying too hard to find a working model of why people spend money the way they do. It really comes down to the human equivalent of “cost signaling” in the animal world—a sort of “peacock feather” display that’s supposed to tell peers and prospective mates how smart or sophisticated we are. The only problem is, other people never fall for it.
Dalai Lama On The Recession: See, Money Can't Buy You Love
By 4.25.09
Is the recession making you sad? Then go hug a friend because your money doesn’t care and can’t make you happy, the Dalai Lama reminded us yesterday. The exiled Tibetan leader said that if nothing else, the economic crisis is doing an excellent job showing people the limit of money.
5 Tips For Getting Unstuck From A Miserable Job
By 4.9.09
There are two common feelings that many of us have regarding our work lives: happiness that it’s Friday (TGIF!) and dread that it’s Monday. In other words, we’re less than thrilled with the satisfaction we get from our jobs. Trent at The Simple Dollar brings up this age-old issue and suggests five steps for making the move to a career/job you might actually enjoy (though you’ll likely earn less doing it) as follows:
If You Save Too Much — You Might Regret It Later!
By 3.24.09
We’re always telling people to save their money — but that’s just because we’re overcompensating for a society that spends too much. It is possible to be too frugal and you risk regretting that you didn’t have a little more fun while you had the chance.
Money Can Apparently Buy Happiness
By 4.5.08
Feeling down? Money might help, according to Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers. The Wharton economists released a paper arguing that countries with higher gross domestic products have happier citizens. The study shatters the conventional wisdom known as the Easterlin Paradox, which holds that GDP and happiness are largely unrelated.
Pepsi Loves You And Sends You Replacement Mountain Dew
By 5.18.07
The result is a customer happy enough to write a mean old website about it.
Zappos Has Otherworldy Customer Service
By 5.17.07
My wife had ordered a pair of sandals from Zappos. When they arrived, she found that they didn’t fit. She tried to order the right size, but Zappos was sold out of her size. So here’s what the company offered: she could return the sandals (for free), Zappos would refund the purchase price and they’d send her a $25 coupon toward her next purchase.
Holiday Shopper Survey: Netflix Top, CDW Bottom
By 12.27.06
A survey of 10,000+ consumers ranked the best and worst shopping sites during the the 2006 holiday season.
KitchenAid is Awesome; Replaces 4 Year Old Mixer
By 12.1.06
Robin recently had a terrible experience with a broken Roomba and the unhelpful people at iRobot, so she was shocked and amazed by the helpful customer service of KitchenAid. From her email:
Bed, Bath and Beyond Will Let You Return, Like, Anything
By 9.25.06
Reader John bought a Eureka vacuum cleaner from Bed Bath and Beyond in March. When the vacuum stopped working in August, John called Eureka. They asked that he get the vacuum repaired himself. John took said appliance to a local Brooklyn hole-in-the-wall repair place where it was “repaired” and by “repaired” we mean “stored for several days and returned.” From John’s email:
