Book Review: Dollars and Sense by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler

Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter
by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler (332.024 Ari)

Modern life has given us endless financial instruments: credit cards, mortgages, car payments, buy-now-pay-later, and student loans, to name a few. All of these often purposefully obscure our ability to understand how we are spending our money now can affect our future.

 

This book discusses human economic behaviors in a humorous way, citing many studies and anecdotes that cause one to take a look at their own spending habits. Such as, Why do we pay $4 for a coffee at a cafe when the same basic drink is available for $1 in a convenience store next door? Why would a vacationer who decided to save the money on breakfast by “just having the bagel” in the hotel, then turn around and spend $5 on a soda at the museum gift shop? Why does the man caught in the rainstorm refuse to pay the price when the convenience store has a “rain special” that ups the price of an umbrella from $5 to $10?

 

Why did the JCPenney shoppers throw a fit when, instead of coupons and discounts off of artificially inflated prices, the new CEO set a “Fair & Square” policy where every item was simply marked with the price to pay? Why is it that in our minds $100 is a greater cost than half off of $200? Are we really the savvy shoppers we think we are?

 

These topics and more are discussed in an easy to read way. If you are pressed for time, and not so interested in the anecdotes, even though they are engaging, the final chapter is a quick and understandable guide to “tricks of the trade” with many useful hints that one can apply to their own spending habits.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending by Elizabeth Dunn, or The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things With Money by Carl Richards.)

 

( official Dollars and Sense page on the official Dan Ariely web site )

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received

The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received
by Liz Claman [332.6 Cla]

Liz Claman, has compiled a collection of stories and general investment advice from Suze Orman, Warren Buffet, Steve Forbes, and others. There isn't anything new or earth-shattering in this book, but it is a great refresher course on some steadfast investment advice: retirement, investing, and general finance. The stories and anecdotes have a little more power and credibility coming from big name experts. A surprisingly quick read, the bulk of which come from smaller personally shared stories. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Suze Orman Money Book (series); How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie; and the Morningstar Investment Research Center online database.] -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Wikipedia page for Liz Claman ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke

The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke
by Suze Orman [332.024 Orm]

I received this as a graduation gift from college and find myself continually referring back to it. This is a great resource for the age 20-30+ crowd who has graduated high school or college and really lacks financial know-how. While it can be read from cover to cover, it works also as a go-to-guide for various financial situations, like buying a house, buying a car, saving, retiring, investing, dealing with debt and credit. Be advised this book was written before the economic crisis of 2008, so some of the information-- particularly the chapter on investing should be taken cautiously-- she has since changed her stance on some of this advice. However, the entire book provides a lot of steadfast financial advise that provides timely information, presented in a way that speaks to the young and young at heart. Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young attempts to prove that you don't have to be filthy rich to live fabulously. -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in book-on-cd format.]

[ official The Money Book web site ] | [ official Suze Orman web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.