It is an oft repeated axiom that money cannot buy happiness. While this is certainly true, poverty will not buy happiness either. Some people become very wealthy, yet struggle to enjoy their lives. On the other hand, others manage to go through life with very few money problems simply because they are able to make the most of what they have.
Ideally you should try to combine both prosperity and happiness. To do this I recommend the following steps:
1. Learn to Value Simplicity
The aim of life should not be to accumulate as many possessions and as much wealth as possible. We should learn to be content with what we have and appreciate the benefits of simplicity. For example, if we clear out our unnecessary clutter we will achieve a greater feeling of space and freedom.I'm
If you feel happiness is directly related to material possessions, you are making a mistake. Happiness can be gained just through being content with a small amount of possessions. Our inner wealth is not just about what we have, but what we are content to live without.
2. Do Not Be Attached to Your Money
Does it pain you to spend your own money – even if it is for something useful? Even someone like Bill Gates can feel uncomfortable spending his billions; it is said he used to always travel economy class because he didn’t see the need to spend more money on first class. The problem with this, however, is that if we are always reluctant to spend money we miss the whole point of earning it.
A good attitude is to see money as a circular flow – that is, spending money enables more to come into our lives. It is not like a big dam where we just try to hold onto it all. We need to let the money out by spending on useful and necessary things. It is no good having a stockpile of water unless we use it to generate power; similarly it is no use accumulating large savings if we we feel miserable spending it.
3. Minimize Money Worries
We will be happiest if we can make money a small part of our lives, and think about money issues as little as possible. To be able to do this we need to avoid creating situations of debt as getting out of debt can be difficult and stressful. Learn to live within your means by avoiding impulsive overspending. If you do need to go into debt, plan ahead and find a loan which is clear and manageable to repay.
Try to avoid complicated and risky investment plans; these give you the potential to gain more, but you will also have the potential to lose a lot more. Good financial planning should be simple and well balanced; this means your nerves will not be affected by worrying about the outcome of your investment. It is better to invest and save in something secure so you can forget about it and not worry endlessly.
4. Avoid Jealousy
No matter how much money you have, do you still envy people who have more? A recent survey asked people whether they would prefer to have a salary above the national average. Alternatively, they could choose to have a higher salary, but this higher salary would be lower than the average. A surprising amount of people chose to have a lower salary as long as it meant they were relatively better off than the rest of the population.
To me this makes no sense. If other people become wealthier than you, that is no reason to be unhappy. If other people are prosperous that is good; don’t feel miserable just because you cannot keep up with the Joneses.
5. Don’t Live to Work.
Do you find yourself working overtime in the evenings and at the weekend? If you spend all your time working, you will have no opportunity to spend your earnings. Don’t feel guilty for turning extra work down; it is important to give leisure time as high a priority as work. It is good if we can gain satisfaction from work, but if we only spend time working then our life lacks a proper balance.
6. Understand Why Are Some People Always Poor
I’m sure most people will have good friends who always seems to have money concerns. No matter what happens they always seem to be short of money and they frequently share tales of financial woe. The lack of money makes them unhappy, but they don’t know how to change the situation. Giving them money doesn’t solve the problem because they continue to make bad financial decisions.
Part of the problem lies in their mindset. It is easy to become accustomed to being poor and then half expecting the poverty to continue. With this mindset, it becomes difficult to attract money into our lives and easy to develop feelings of self pity and regret. However, while we might be unfortunate it won’t do anything to resolve the situation. The secret is to try and change our habits and approach to money. Also, be wary about trying to convert others to better financial habits – it is almost guaranteed to fail.
7. Ignorance is Not Bliss
Another attitude to money is to try and avoid thinking about it. We ignore the true extent of our debts, spending and leaving unpaid bills. We frequently miss out on moving to better financial deals and make late payments which harm our credit rating. By ignoring money like this, we merely create more serious problems for the future.
Also, when we put off dealing with financial problems we carry the problem in the back of our mind. We can get no peace of mind because we permanently have a long list of things to deal with. It is better in these circumstances to promptly deal with things like paying bills and sorting out your accounts – then we can forget about them.
8. Develop A New Perspective
The following are some money related questions you should ask yourself:
Am I happy with my financial situation?
Would more money make my life better?
Do I always have financial problems hanging over my head?
Is money the most important thing in my life?
Is the pursuit of money making me miserable?
Would I sacrifice principles to make more money?
Even just answering these questions honestly may encourage a new perspective towards money.
Tejvan Pettinger works as an economics teacher and writer. He writes on issues of personal finance at his blog Simple Finance – helping to simplify finance. Images from Velo City and iStockPhoto.
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钱，不能买到幸福（为什么金钱不能买到幸福），这是众所周知的道理。虽然这是绝对正确的，但是贫穷同样也不能换来幸福。有些人很有钱，然而还是苦于得不到幸福；相反，另一些人只有很少的钱却也满意地度过了一生，那是因为他们懂得最大限度的享受他们所拥有的。
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还是既拥有财富又拥有幸福最让人满意，为了实现这样的目标，我推荐如下步骤：
珍惜简单朴素的生活
生活的目的不是拼命积累钱财，我们必须学会珍惜我们所拥有的，并且感恩已有的生活。举个例子：如果我们把房间里不必要的杂物扔去，房间就会让人感觉很空很自由。
如果你认为幸福来自对财产的占有的话，那你就错了，要是一点儿财产就能让你感到满足，你也能获得幸福。我们的幸福不在于我们拥有什么，而是在于我们内心的满足感。
不要成为钱的奴隶
你会不会因为花钱而心痛，如果那些是为了买一些有用的东西？甚至像比尔盖茨先生也会因为花钱而感到不高兴，有人说他乘飞机时都选择经济舱而不是头等舱。然而实际问题是：倘若你不愿意花钱，那就失去了挣钱的全部意义了。
看待金钱的一个好的态度是把它看成是循环流动的——也就是说，去花钱会把更多的钱带进我们的生活，不要像修个水坝一样把所有的钱存在里面；我们应该把钱花出去，花在有意义的事情上，蓄水没有意义，除非我们用它来发电；同样的，如果我们存钱是因为花钱太痛苦的话，那也同样是没有意义的。
尽可能的不去担心钱的问题
如果我们仅仅把钱当作我们生活当中很小的一部分，几乎不去想钱的问题，我们会变得很快乐。为了实现这一点，我们必须尽量避免欠债，因为通常身负债务会很难摆脱。学会按你的计划而不是冲动消费，如果你确实要借债，首先得有一个完善的计划，然后选择一个可以接受的合理的贷款项目。
尽量避免复杂的高风险的投资计划，这种投资可能有高回报，可是同样有很大的失败的风险。一个好的财政计划应该是简单的能保持平衡的，这样你就不会因为收益的问题而担心了。所以应该找一个比较安全的投资方式，这样就可以放手不管了，也不用害怕深陷其中。
不要嫉妒
不管你有多少钱，你是不是仍然非常嫉妒那些有更多钱的人呢？最近的一项调查是询问人们是否愿意选择一份比国家平均水平高的薪水，他们本可以选择在某个国家获得一份较高的工资，但是这份工资是低于该国平均水平的，然而出人意料的是他们绝大多数都选择在一个平均水平较低的国家拿一份并不是那么高的薪水，只是这份薪水高于平均水平而已。
我觉得这个没有道理，别人比你富裕不应该成为你不幸福的理由。别人过得很充实那是一件好事情，不要仅仅因为自己没有超过自己身边的人就感到痛苦不堪。
工作不是生活的全部
你是不是经常在晚上和周末加班？如果你花费所有的时间在工作上，那你用什么时间去消费你赚的钱呢？不要因为放下手边额外的工作而有罪恶感，休闲时间和工作时间同等重要。从工作中得到满足感的确是令人高兴的事情，但是我们只是埋头工作的话，我们的生活会失去应有的平衡。
理解为什么有些人总是很穷
我知道很多人都有一些爱抱怨钱的朋友，不管什么情况下他们的钱总是不够花，他们总是诉苦，缺钱让他们很不开心，但他们不知道怎么改变这种状况，即使给他们钱也不能解决他们的问题，因为他们在财政方面总是在做错误的决定。
部分的问题来源于他们的潜意识，他们很容易就习惯了贫穷，甚至潜意识里有点希望贫穷的到来，带着这个想法，很难挣到钱，却很容易感到自我怜悯和后悔。不过，如果我们什么都不干可能还是会倒霉，所以解决问题的秘诀是尝试让他改变习惯和想法。当然，尝试改变别人的习惯是要谨慎一些，因为这很容易失败。
置之不理不能解决问题
另外一种对钱的态度是置之不理，我们不理会欠债问题，不理会账单问题，我们经常不去找更好的解决方案而是选择拖延支付影响信誉度，其实这样的态度，只会给我们将来添更多麻烦。
因为，当我们在拖延时实际上是把问题放在了脑子里，脑子里全都是这种头疼的问题会让我们不得安宁，所以，我们还是尽快的处理好这种事情吧，这样就可以忘掉它们了。
重新审视金钱
下面这些与钱有关的问题是你应该问一问自己的：
我对我现在的财政状况满意吗？
再多点钱我能活得更快乐吗？
我的脑子里是不是始终有财政的问题？
钱一直是我生活最重要的东西吗？
对钱的追求一直让我感到不安吗？
我会舍弃原则去挣更多的钱吗？