Money Musings 💭 when money does buy happiness 🤗
In January, we had our first in-person Money Party! 🎉 It went so well that we plan to host them monthly and roll them out in more cities this year. I couldn’t be more excited!
A few hours before the Money Party, I dropped my stuff off at the venue and proceeded to run around the neighborhood grabbing wine, cookies, and other things needed for the party. By the time I had taken the elevator up for the third time, I had worked up a sweat and was probably looking pretty disheveled.
A woman who was at the door checking in people for another event said (and I quote) - “Girl, you need to Task Rabbit that shit.”
💡 Wow. Brilliant. Hold that thought…
I’ve talked a lot about a study that shows that after we reach a certain level of income (accounting for cost of living where we live), our happiness doesn’t actually increase as we earn more money. And I’ve experienced it first hand. Every time I received a raise at work, I thought it would make a meaningful difference in my quality of life and financial goals. But it never happened.
Could I have been spending the additional money wrong? A new study says that’s probably the case.
According to researcher Elizabeth Dunn, money can buy happiness (1 point on a 10 point happiness scale) when we use it to buy us time rather than things.
Would spending $40 for the Task Rabbit to run around for me before my event have increased my happiness? Hell yes. I’d also have started off the event feeling less frazzled and with more energy.
If you could spend $40 per week to buy yourself some time, what would you use it for? Would it increase your happiness?
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Prepare to file your taxes. Whether you work with an accountant or file your taxes yourself, there are some very helpful things we can do to prepare and set ourselves up for as little stress as possible during tax season. We have you covered with a checklist for preparing to file as well as ways to minimize your tax bill (all very legal 😂). If you are a freelancer or entrepreneur, there are some other important tax things to consider. Next week we’ll talk about how we can set ourselves up for success with our taxes for next year.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
The Man. Eli and I are big fans of Taylor Swift’s song, The Man. He hasn’t really explained why it’s one of his favorites (for him it definitely ranks third after Beyonce’s “Diva” and Lizzo’s “Juice”) but but for me, I was excited by what some are calling Taylor’s most feminist song yet and the lyrics really resonate with me. In the recently released video, Taylor is the director, writer, and star. The video highlights so many of the double standards Taylor has faced in her career and calls out a lot of the shared experience of being a woman (everything from manspreading to male-dominated media and the low expectations of dads). She spares no detail in getting her message out there. Check out the video and - if you’re interested - get the full breakdown of every “easter egg” she left for us.