From Here to Financial Happiness

Day Seventy Six What Money Buys

How can we use money to make our lives better? Obviously, money allows us to buy goods and services, both today and in the future. But much of the time, we end up running in place: We get a brief thrill from our latest purchase, only to find our happiness falls back to where it was. We have a moment of relief when we pay the latest crop of bills, only to find there's a new batch to deal with. We manage to save some money, only to wish our account balances were even larger.

How can we get off this treadmill and get more happiness from our money? I would focus on three broad areas.

First, we should strive to put our financial worries behind us. I think money is sort of like health. It's only when we're sick that we realize how great it is to feel healthy. Similarly, it's only when we're broke that we realize how great it feels to be in good financial shape. In short, we want to get to the point where money isn't a regular source of anxiety. That'll mean something different for each of us. But we might find that financial peace of mind lies in a fat emergency fund, no credit card debt, and the knowledge that we're regularly saving toward retirement and other long‐term goals.

Second, we should design a life for ourselves where we can spend our days doing what we love. Relaxing can be enjoyable. But for most of us, the real pleasure lies in work – as long as it is work we think is important, we find challenging, we are passionate about, and we feel ...