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Special needs kids and care costs; Extreme consumerism and radical frugality; Get a handle on your emotions; A shareable economy; How to buy happiness

Personal Finance
Special needs kids and care costs; Extreme consumerism and radical frugality; Get a handle on your emotions; A shareable economy; How to buy happiness

By Amanda Morrall

1) Special needs and care costs

A revealing piece from Ron Lieber of the New York Times on the financial costs and psychic toll of raising a child with special needs. Given the long-term planning and specialised care involved, couples in this situation will benefit from having a financial checklist, writes Lieber. You'll also find some practical tips and encouraging advice from financial planners with experience in these matters.

2) Saving and spending

As if we needed any new reality TV shows. A U.S. network by the name of "Oxygen" this week is premiering My Shopping Addiction featuring all manner of oddballs suffering from consumeritis. One of them is a dollar store addict who spend $300 a week on plastic 99¢ doodads. Another is a designer loving fashionista who cherishes Louis Vuitton (anything) more than sex. To balance the scales, The Learning Channel is going to opposite extremes with "Extreme Cheapstakes" a show dedicated to toilet paper scorning penny pinchers whose religion is radical frugality. Time magazine previews this quality programming here.

3) Get a handle on your emotions

Don McNay, a financial advisor specialising in sudden wealth, sheds some light on why people featured in the aforementioned shows behave the way they do. Most financial behaviour is triggered by emotion, writes McNay in the following Huffington Post column.

4) Shareable economy

Collaborative consumption could be an antidote to the current consumer driven model that is wreaking havoc on the environment. It's all about sharing what rich resources we do have and bringing networks of like minded people together through the internet. Rachel Botsman, in her book 'What's Mine is Yours' champions this model.

New Zealand websites like Pocket.JobsCityhop.co.nz and borrowmine.co.nz are a few examples of how collaborative consumption is starting to take hold here. Other start-ups based on this model or philosophy may want to take part in an upcoming meeting in Wellington Nov.8.

5) How to buy happiness

On that theme, here's Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton giving a TED talk on how to buy happiness. In a nutshell, it's by spending money on others.

"The specific way that you spend on other people isn't nearly as important as the fact that you spend on other people,” says Norton.

 

To read other Take Fives by Amanda Morrall click here. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @amandamorrall

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2 Comments

i have always been happy spending money on myself.

after working long shifts and o/t when required for 18 years i think i deserve  it.

Thats not to say i don't spend it on others but it certainly doesn't leave me happy doing it.

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Gosh what a sad character you are.

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