WEBVTT - 2023-01-27-before-breakfast-Budget for happiness

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to budget for happiness. While it might

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<v Speaker 1>be considered normal to spend certain proportions of your income

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<v Speaker 1>on certain categories, there is no law that says you

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<v Speaker 1>have to do that. Consciously, choosing to spend less on

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<v Speaker 1>certain big categories can open up space for all kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of happiness if you are smart about it. Lots of

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<v Speaker 1>folks resolved to take control of their finances in the

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<v Speaker 1>new year. When the holiday spending bills hit in January,

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<v Speaker 1>it can definitely be a sobering moment. People who are

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<v Speaker 1>new to budget tend to go online to search for

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<v Speaker 1>sample budgets, and these tend to suggest spending somewhere around

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<v Speaker 1>of your income on housing and ten pc on transportation. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>there is nothing wrong with these particular numbers, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is a little funny if you think about it. People

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<v Speaker 1>make wildly varying amounts of money. Why should someone who

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<v Speaker 1>makes dollars a year and someone who makes five thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars a year both spend on housing. A person with

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<v Speaker 1>a more modest household income might need to spend a

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<v Speaker 1>fairly large percentage to find someplace safe and comfortable, but

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<v Speaker 1>someone with a higher income could find someplace safe, comfortable,

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<v Speaker 1>and quite nice for a lower percentage. Choosing to do

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<v Speaker 1>so would open up space for all sorts of other priorities.

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<v Speaker 1>In a recent episode of Best of Both Worlds, my

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<v Speaker 1>other podcast, my co host Sarah hart Unger mentioned that

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<v Speaker 1>her family is budgeting more money for travel this year

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<v Speaker 1>then for housing. Now. It would be pretty tough to

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<v Speaker 1>do that if they were spending their income on housing,

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<v Speaker 1>but they aren't. She and her husband elected to purchase

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<v Speaker 1>a home that was considerably less expensive than they could

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<v Speaker 1>have afforded. As a result, they can go to some

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<v Speaker 1>fabulous destinations while still staying on track with savings goals.

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<v Speaker 1>The conversation doesn't go towards should we take this cruise

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<v Speaker 1>or should we save for retirement? They can do both.

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<v Speaker 1>In general, spending money to buy experiences, to buy connection,

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<v Speaker 1>and to buy time tends to make people happiest, and

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<v Speaker 1>most normal budgets these all tend to be smaller categories

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<v Speaker 1>money for activities and travel, or to get together with

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<v Speaker 1>family and friends, or to pay for date night, babysitting

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<v Speaker 1>or housekeeping services if we budget for happiness, though, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>they should be larger categories. People with more modest incomes

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<v Speaker 1>don't have much flexibility, of course, but as people earn more,

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<v Speaker 1>keeping basic expenses low allows for indulging in quite a

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<v Speaker 1>few adventures and pleasures, the sorts of things that can

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<v Speaker 1>make life feel pretty blissful while still living within your

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<v Speaker 1>means and saving for the future. Now, to be sure,

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<v Speaker 1>most people can't immediately change how much they spend on

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<v Speaker 1>housing or transportation for that matter, but if the goal

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<v Speaker 1>is budgeting for happiness over the long term, it might

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<v Speaker 1>be possible. One straightforward way to do this is that

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<v Speaker 1>if your income rises, you don't automatically keep the same percentages.

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<v Speaker 1>A better job might mean you could buy a nicer car,

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<v Speaker 1>or you could keep the same car and throw fabulous

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<v Speaker 1>parties for family and friends every month in lieu of

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<v Speaker 1>a car payment. There's a reasonable chance that the latter

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<v Speaker 1>would lead to a lot more joy and connection, and

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<v Speaker 1>the old car it will most likely still get you

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<v Speaker 1>where you need to go. In the meantime. This is Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four, then

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more

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