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| Queer Eye for the Financial Guy |
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| Written by Nina Smith | |||||||
| Tuesday, 14 August 2007 | |||||||
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Photo:Bob The Lomond, Creative Commons, Flickr David Neubert invited me to write for The Panelist after I forwarded a post from Queercents about the Economics of Burning Man. A few days earlier, I had asked one of our contributing writers to tackle the topic since I’ve never ventured out on the playa. I figured someone should find the answers to my burning questions about money and the Burning Man experience. Allow me to explain my philosophy about spending money on experiences: I’m all for it! Just not the camping-in-the-desert kind of experience. I have nothing against Burners. At this stage in my life, I want shelter that wasn’t erected temporarily and a real bed to crawl into at night. It’s a matter of personal preference. I’ll gladly spend my hard earned dollars on an Esalen or Tassajara type of experience, but you’ll never convince me to buy a ticket to Black Rock City. So what’s the point? Experiences, whatever they might be, make people happy. Jean Chatzky, editor at large for Money Magazine, agrees with my experiential buying philosophy. She writes, “The pursuit of money and the pursuit of happiness often get equated, especially in our success-addled culture. But over the past decade or so, science has set us straight on two points: First, once you have escaped poverty, more money won’t buy you more happiness. There’s little difference in the overall happiness of millionaires and the middle class. And second, if you are going to spend your money in search of greater happiness, you’re better off buying experiences rather than things.” Things don’t make people happy. Penelope Trunk, author of the Brazen Careerist, points to similar research and writes, “Happiness is dependent on being able to meet basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing. After meeting those needs you need to turn to something other than consumerism. Because additional money has negligible impact on how happy you are. Your level of happiness is largely dependent on your outlook.” So what’s my outlook when it comes to money? For me personally, money offers comfort, security and an opportunity to participate in the world at large. It’s not about being able to afford more stuff. Rather it’s about feeling safe and self-sufficient. This is what money means to me and it’s the tone in my writings over at Queercents. It’s unlikely you’ll get any hard hitting investment coverage out of me. Instead, I tend to focus on the emotional aspects of money. For example, I like to interview people and discover how the early money messages received in childhood impact their relationship with money today. As adults, we have to relate to money on multiple levels. Whether we’re buying shares of Netflix or deciding between a Prius or a luxury automobile, money typically touches our day-to-day decisions. My friend, Colleen Wainwright, describes similar sentiment when she wrote, “Ultimately, I want from my money what I want from every other aspect of my life: happiness. But it’s not the money that will do it; it’s my relationship to the money. If I approach it with fear (or avoid dealing with it at all), like most relationships, things aren’t going to go so well. If, on the other hand, I approach it with respect, awareness and care, I’m pretty sure it will flourish.” Most people want to thrive and prosper! I’m on a quest to achieve this with integrity, balance and grace. The posts I'll write are about this journey and my decision making process. So check back and feel free to join the conversation. ----------- Nina blogs about money at Queercents. Disclaimer Comments
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written by David Neubert , August 15, 2007
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written by communicatrix , October 23, 2007
Wow--I can't believe I said something so smart about money. Thanks for reminding me, Nina. That's what friends are for, right?
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written by Debt settlement , April 15, 2008
We could use sharing some insights with him specially know that all people complain about handling their finances. In fact we could use some more financial education in general.
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I'll be at Burning Man this year reporting first hand. So we can discuss that event later.
Money is not even a vehicle to happiness for many. Happiness is a state of mind and never permanent. Money provides some security but it only improves happiness to those on the edge of survival. Once you have your basic needs covered almost every study has confirmed that money doesn't make anyone happy or sad - it's a non-factor. Happiness depends on something within.