Buying Happiness: Learn to invest your time and money better by Kate Campbell is a finance book offering ways to build a life you love. Photo: Supplied.
Everyone has their own definition of happiness, though typically it’s described as an emotional state characterised by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment and fulfillment.
For financial educator Kate Campbell it’s a by-product of a well-lived life, not a destination.
“People use many words to describe happiness, such as ‘satisfaction’, ‘wellbeing’, ‘fulfilment’ and ‘contentment’, but I’d like to add a few more — especially in the context of money,” Kate said.
“Happiness is freedom. It’s the ability to make choices and know when you have enough. It’s about being satisfied with life right now, while still growing as a person. It’s about not postponing your life to a future date. It’s piecing together a tapestry of small moments that compound over time to form a good life – and that, in my view, is a lifelong journey.
“Money is a tool that you get to choose how you wield. While having more money won’t solve all your problems, you can certainly use it to smooth the road ahead and achieve your goals. The more you learn about your money story and the better you manage your finances, the more choice you’ll have – because money gives you the freedom to choose.”
In Buying Happiness, Campbell shares tried-and-tested ideas to use our time and money wisely. The host of the top-ranking Australian Finance Podcast knows better than most how to make her money work for her.
Her strategies help us develop a robust money mindset, and sort out the building blocks of our finances by using our time and money prudently. Kate notes that taking risks and making mistakes are a valuable part of the process.
According to the founder of Rask and host of the Australian Finance Podcast Owen Rask, Buying Happiness is designed to help you to stop, reflect, recharge and start using money to improve your life.
In the foreword, he says the book was written after they studied the data from the podcast and found that ‘Eight ways to buy happiness: Rethinking how we spend our money’ was one of the most popular Australian Finance Podcast episodes ever.
“It had to be a book about behavioural finance and about helping people who use money intentionally to build happiness,” Owen said.
“Now after hundreds of episodes, thousands of hours of planning, research and practice, and countless discussions with experts in Australia and around the world, it all comes together in a book designed to help you do just that: stop, reflect, recharge and start using money to improve your life.
“Kate distills the best bits of what others have already figured out about using money to increase your happiness. After a crash course in money and laying your foundations, Kate explores techniques, strategies and methods to help you find your own answers to your real money problems and plan for the future.”
By thinking more deeply about the way you use your resources, you can be instrumental in enhancing your lifestyle. Remember these helpful five key ideas: it’s your money; it’s OK to talk about money; you can buy happiness; take small actions, many times and take healthy risks.
Here is the ultimate guide for anyone who is ready to live, dream, travel and grow – perfect for readers at the very start of their personal finance journey or those already encountering bumps along the road.
Campbell’s book offers all of us an optimistic roadmap to build a life we love by making small, but meaningful changes in our life, including tactics to set monetary goals we’re excited to achieve and begin working towards financial freedom.
Buying Happiness: Learn to invest your time and money better, by Kate Campbell, Major Street Publishing, $32.99
