The True Cost of Happiness

One of my favorite tasks for Ms.Money is to review books. My most recent, The True Cost of Happiness by Stacey Tisdale and Paula Boyer Kennedy. Stacey tackles in this book what I most often think about as founder of Ms.Money - how to move people from awareness about financial bad habits into inspiration to make a change.

It is one thing to educate someone how to do financially planning and money money management, and an entirely another thing to motivate them to actually take on the task themselves. People are filled with the best intentions when they start something but often once the excitement of something new fizzles, so does the resolution to complete the task.

Millions of people every year make it their New Year's Resolution to be smarter about their money and come February as they start opening their credit card statements a fog of disappointment sets in around their goal and they begin to feel like a failure before they have even begun.

What they don't realize is that they should plow through and they will find sunshine on the other side. Happiness does lie on the other side of too much debt. And though the authors were very careful to point out that money does not buy your happiness, they do say (and I agree) that the removal of debt can remove a lot of unhappiness and grief.

This is an amazing book and one of the few books that completely resonates with my vision right now of empowering people about financial health. We both agree there has to be that aha moment before one if ready to implement lasting change. I believe reading this book will provide that kind of experience for many and it is well worth the small price tag to purchase it.

Some of my favorite chapters were:
The Songs we Play in Our Heads
Teach Your Children Well
The Truth About Change
Staying on Course

Pick up a copy today of The True Cost of Happiness at Amazon.