Happy Money by Liz Dunn and Mike Norton

[ch12]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/20/opinion/dunn-norton-money-happiness-time/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
Excerpt:

The logic is so simple: If I work hard now, the money I earn will give me the opportunity to do all the things that make me happy later.

What's the catch? It turns out that when we get into the habit of working and earning, it can be hard to stop. Instead of using our time to get as much money as possible, new research suggests that we'd be better off using our money to buy happier time.

Remarkably, wealthy people -- despite having access to everything money can buy -- end up spending at least as much time as the rest of us on pursuits they don't enjoy. Like commuting. And, of course, working too much.

Researchers have had no difficulty luring people into the trap of overworking and underenjoying. People in a recent study were told that their only goal in the study was to maximize their happiness. They could engage in "leisure" by listening to pleasant music or "work" by pushing a button to trigger an annoying noise.
For every 10 pushes of the button, they were paid with a Hershey's Kiss. For five minutes, they could press the button as much as they wanted, and earn unlimited Kisses. They weren't allowed to eat any chocolates during this part of the study, but afterward. they got five more minutes to gorge on their earnings, with just one rule: They weren't allowed to take any leftover treats home.

This simple study captures the predicament of modern life. With enough talent and hard work, we can earn more and more money, but we never get more than 24 hours in a day to enjoy the fruits (or chocolates) of our labor.

The researchers discovered that most people worked really hard to earn chocolates in the first five minutes -- so hard that they couldn't possibly finish all of them in the second five minutes. This is the curse of work for all of us. We get so caught up earning money that we forget to leave ourselves time to enjoy it.

Another excerpt:

On average, Americans spend two hours a day working just to afford their cars. Commuting ranks among the unhappiest activities in a typical day. When researchers in Germany did the math, they found that the average worker would need their income to go up by a third just to offset the happiness cost of tacking on a 20-minute commute.

It may seem reasonable to solve the commuting problem by investing in a nicer car. Wrong. Sinking more money into a car is a bad deal for happiness.
Although people expect to enjoy driving a BMW more than a Ford Escort, research shows that drivers get no more pleasure from commuting in an expensive car than a cheap one. As a result, Americans spend two hours of each day working just to afford cars that do little to improve their happiness.

Even if it means taking a pay cut, many people would benefit from living closer to work -- or closer to public transit -- and getting rid of their cars altogether.

These are studies mentioned in the full book, Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending. It's a pretty deeply Mustachian book and I would highly recommend it.

[Jamesqf]

Even if it means taking a pay cut, many people would benefit from living closer to work -- or closer to public transit -- and getting rid of their cars altogether.

That seems like a pretty narrow view of life, assuming that the only thing people use cars for is commuting, and that all things which produce happiness are reachable by public transit.

[ch12]

The point of that section was more "don't waste money on fancy cars" than an anti-car tirade, although I will acknowledge that the authors are huge advocates of Zipcar and other car-sharing services.

You are right - not everything is reachable by public transit in most areas.

[totoro]

I would agree that many people (not all) would benefit from this.  I moved within walking distance of amenities and work from home and the happiness benefit was well worth the relocation. 

[Gerard]

Just finished the book (I posted on it somewhere else in the forums, but I forget where!). It's basically a listing of research findings that support a mustachian lifestyle. And yeah, living close to work (or transit to get to work) is definitely part of it, given their numbers on how much the average person spends on transportation.

Plus, there's a big gap between "many people would benefit from living closer to work" (the authors) and "all things that produce happiness are reachable by public transit" (Jamesqf). Is there actually an imperative to be able to reach all things that produce happiness?

[Jamesqf]

Is there actually an imperative to be able to reach all things that produce happiness?

But if you can't reach the things that produce happiness, then where's the happiness come from?  As for example, if I can't get out frequently to hike, ski, ride the horse, take the dogs to the lake to chase tennis balls, etc, then I am not going to be happy.

In a conventional job, it seems as though I'd have to choose between living close to work and commuting to happy places, or living in a happy place and commuting to work.  Fortunately, I've solved this dilemma by telecommuting :-)

[jrhampt]

Ha!  Yes, telecommuting solves many problems.

[Gerard]

But if you can't reach the things that produce happiness, then where's the happiness come from?  As for example, if I can't get out frequently to hike, ski, ride the horse, take the dogs to the lake to chase tennis balls, etc, then I am not going to be happy.

But how likely is it that all one's happiness-producers would be reachable only by a car that one owns and drive oneself?

In a conventional job, it seems as though I'd have to choose between living close to work and commuting to happy places, or living in a happy place and commuting to work.  Fortunately, I've solved this dilemma by telecommuting :-)

Much more satisfying than trying to tele-horseback-ride!  :-)

[Jamesqf]

But how likely is it that all one's happiness-producers would be reachable only by a car that one owns and drive oneself?

I don't know about likely (tastes differ), but I have lived in a number of cities at various times, sometimes without a car, and was pretty miserable.  Only one I liked at all was Lausanne (in Switzerland), but that was because I was close to the edge of the city, and even without a car, I could quickly bike out of the city itself. 

It also helped that I eventually found a place that was a 5 minute walk from my work.