From Amazon:

Exploring a wide range of everyday topics—from the lure of pain-free spending with credit cards to the pitfalls of household budgeting to the seductive power of holiday sales—Ariely and Kreisler demonstrate how our misplaced confidence in our spending habits frequently leads us astray, costing us more than we realize, whether it’s the real value of the time we spend driving forty-five minutes to save $10 or our inability to properly assess what the things we buy are actually worth. Together Ariely and Kreisler reveal the emotional forces working against us and how we can counteract them. Mixing case studies and anecdotes with concrete advice and lessons, they cut through the unconscious fears and desires driving our worst financial instincts and teach us how to improve our money habits.

From Me

This isn't a budget book. This a relationship book: you and your money are probably in need of a therapy session.

Anyone who wants to understand what they don't understand about the way they think about money.

This is a revealing behavioural psych book.

It's clarity and accessibility. It's not a slog to read, and it presents the material in a way that will appeal to a broad audience.

Let's be real, nobody wants to think they might not know what they're doing. The book doesn't make you feel like an idiot - it shows that it's common thinking and helps provide ways to break away from the herd.

Consider one-quarter of people ready to retire have no savings, it's a book worth looking at (even if you're not close to retirement, it explains how to avoid ending up that way!)

I found the sections on "Anchoring" (the first price we see) and "Emotional accounting" (you launder your own money, folks) particularly interesting.

The book has a good dose of humour as well, to keep the material from becoming too dry.

If you've read other books by the author, this is going to seem like a rehash, though specifically applied to money, so there is some added benefit.

Some sections within the book were a little repetitive after a while.

Pull out my previous books by the author!

Dan Ariely is best know for his work within the psychology field, and his book Predictably Irrational is highly recommended.

you're being manipulated by just about everyone when it comes to money, it's going to get worse and you're manipulating yourself into some pretty wild mental money gymnastics.

You think you behave rationally.

You don't.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter   from Amazon.Com!

Created Feb 04, 2018 at 5:53pm • Submit your own review...