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Small Change: Money Mishaps and How to Avoid Them

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Blending humour and behavioural economics, the New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational delves into the truly illogical world of personal finance to help people better understand why they make bad financial decisions, and gives them the knowledge they need to make better ones.

Why does paying for things often feel like it causes physical pain?
Why does it cost you money to act as your own real estate agent?
Why are we comfortable overpaying for something now just because we’ve overpaid for it before?

In Small Change, world renowned economist Dan Ariely answers these intriguing questions and many more as he explains how our irrational behaviour often interferes with our best intentions when it comes to managing our finances. Partnering with financial comedian and writer Jeff Kreisler, Ariely takes us deep inside our minds to expose the hidden motivations that are secretly driving our choices about money.

Exploring a wide range of everyday topics – from credit card debt and household budgeting to holiday sales – Ariely and Kreisler demonstrate how our ideas about dollars and cents are often wrong and cost us more than we know. Mixing case studies and anecdotes with tangible advice and lessons, they cut through the unconscious fears and desires driving our worst financial instincts and teach us how to improve our money habits.

Fascinating, engaging, funny and essential, Small Change is a sound investment, providing us with the practical tools we need to understand and improve our financial choices, save and spend smarter and ultimately live better.

Published in the US as Dollars and Sense

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2017

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About the author

Dan Ariely

32 books3,734 followers
From Wikipedia:

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He was formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Dan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. In his senior year of high school, Ariely was active in Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, an Israeli youth movement. While he was preparing a ktovet esh (fire inscription) for a traditional nighttime ceremony, the flammable materials he was mixing exploded, causing third-degree burns to over 70 percent of his body.[

Ariely recovered and went on to graduate from Tel Aviv University and received a Ph.D. and M.A. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in business from Duke University. His research focuses on discovering and measuring how people make decisions. He models the human decision making process and in particular the irrational decisions that we all make every day.

Ariely is the author of the book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, which was published on February 19, 2008 by HarperCollins. When asked whether reading Predictably Irrational and understanding one's irrational behaviors could make a person's life worse (such as by defeating the benefits of a placebo), Ariely responded that there could be a short term cost, but that there would also likely be longterm benefits, and that reading his book would not make a person worse off.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 619 reviews
Profile Image for Erikka.
1,997 reviews
August 30, 2017
This seemed to take forever to finish and it was kind of repetitive. It was a lot of good advice and had some nice humorous elements, but I feel like certain things were said 3 or 4 times. I usually like Dan Ariely's works, and while I did learn some things from this one, it didn't grab me the way his previous books did.
17 reviews
November 26, 2017
Disappointing. Largely a regurgitation of ideas from other Ariely books. Repetitious even within the book, with a lot of filler. Would only recommend for those who have not already read Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality.
Profile Image for Christopher Lawson.
Author 10 books126 followers
October 20, 2017
We Are All Inside The Money Volcano

I was hesitant to read this book, as I was pretty sure it would be boring. I assumed it would be one of those “How to Make a Budget” type of books.

Okay, I was completely wrong—it’s nothing of the kind. I enjoyed reading this book. DOLLARS AND SENSE by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler explains how we think about money, with special emphasis on the frequent ways we think WRONGLY about money. It’s not that we are stupid about money; rather, we don’t think objectively, and are easily manipulated in some areas.

I confess I am a bit of a chump and easily tricked by marketers, so this book was especially helpful to me.
For example, I really like those big, “50% OFF!” signs. I’m not alone, says the author. Bargains make us feel “special and smart. They make us believe we’re finding value where others haven’t.”

I completely understand what the authors are saying. Deep down, I know I’m being manipulated by the “Savings” signs, but I still like the feeling of getting a great deal.

The authors discuss the “pain” of buying something. Not surprisingly, if there is little pain, we tend to “spend more freely and enjoy consuming things more.” That’s a big factor in using credit cards—they separate the moment of consuming from the pain of paying. “Credit cards capitalize on our desire to avoid the pain of paying.”

One of the favorite sections is the discussion of “Fairness.” We tend to value things more highly if we know a lot of effort has gone into the product or service. If it seems like the seller is gouging us, we won’t buy their product—even when it is in our best interest to do so.

The later part of the book provides suggestions to help us. First off, realize that some forces in our environment WANT us to make poor decisions. A bad decision by us means more money for them: “We fight a financial environment that actively tries to tempt us to make bad financial decisions. We live in a world where outside forces constantly want something from us.”

I thought this one suggestion was the best advice in the book: “From time to time, let’s stop and question our long-term habits.” Maybe getting that expense coffee every day is not really a good idea.

Here’s an interesting idea that helps us save more money: We can also create a “Ulysses Contract.” (Named after the classic story of Ulysses tying himself up to prevent responding to the call of the Sirens.) A Ulysses contract is a process we setup to “create barriers against future temptation. We give ourselves no choice.” The idea is, have some sort of automatic savings process, to try to fend off future temptations. The authors cite a study showing that savings increased 81% under an automatic savings scheme.

So all in all, I found DOLLARS AND SENSE to be a fun, insightful read. It’s definitely not one of those “Make a Budget and Stick to it” type of financial planning books. The authors write clearly and includes a ton of examples, often citing scientific studies. I liked the funny illustrations by Matt Trower.


Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

Profile Image for Jerecho.
390 reviews48 followers
October 14, 2021
I started reading with a full confidence, I found a book, a good one... A goo one... A goo on... A go on... A go o... A g o... A...

Keep it up it's nice but sometimes too much repetition kinda makes something boring...✌️
Profile Image for JJ Khodadadi.
429 reviews108 followers
September 15, 2022
این کتاب با همکاری جف کرایزلر حقوق‌دانِ فارغ‌التحصیل پرینستون نوشته شده است. او به خاطر کمدی‌های مالی‌اش مشهور است. کرایزلر در کمدی‌هایش رفتارهای مالی مردم و موسسات مالی را نمایش می‌دهد و تصویر طنزآلودی از آن‌ها ترسیم می‌کند.
Profile Image for Ericka Clou.
2,308 reviews198 followers
May 18, 2022
This is a better book if you haven't already read a ton of behavioral economics. For me, it was a compilation of a lot of effects I'd already read about (for example in Ariely's Predictably Irrational). This book would be great for people who don't know that much about behavioral economics and who are interested in personal finance.

I was also uncomfortable with the way the authors veered into territory that was somewhat morality-based without a holistic view of the issue. I fear economics often makes this mistake, but to my mind, behavioral economics is more sophisticated and shouldn't make this error. We've rejected the idea that humans make the most rational economic decisions. We've also learned that morality can be very closely tied to empathy and other emotional systems. So I didn't find the section on "fairness" to be very sophisticated with regards to current economics, psychology, biology, or ethics research. Sure, you should pay the locksmith his rate for the reasons stated in this book, but I disagree that you shouldn't battle large companies like Netflix or Uber when they do something you consider unfair- and certainly when they do unethical things.
Profile Image for Youghourta.
129 reviews203 followers
May 5, 2018
كتاب يتحدث عن علاقتنا بالمال، كيف نُنفق مالنا، كيف نفكّر في إنفاق المال وكيف أننا نُنفق مالنا –في غالب الأحوال– بشكل خاطئ لأننا نقع في بعض الأخطاء المُتوقعة بشكل دائم، وكيف يُمكن الحدّ من ذلك.

الكتاب يُعالج موضوع “الاقتصاد السلوكي” والذي يُعتبر كاتبه دان آريلي أحد أشهر الباحثين والناشرين فيه. الكتاب مُفيد بشكل عام، إلّا أنني أحسست بنوع من التكرار فيه، ربما لأنه ليس الكتاب الأول الذي أقرأه لنفس الكاتب أو في هذا المجال. رغم ذلك فهو تذكير جيّد بمُختلف المفاهيم والأفكار التي سبق وأن صادفتها خلال قراءاتي السّابقة في الاقتصاد السلوكي، رغم أنها تركّز هذه المرّة بشكل أساسي حول أخطائنا المُتعلّقة بإنفاق المال.

من بين النقاط الأساسية التي ركّز عليها الكتاب:

نغفل عن “تكلفة الفرصة البديلة”: المقصود بذلك هو أنه لدى لقيامنا بأية عملية شراء فإننا نفكّر فيها من حيث قيمة العملية المالية (كم سأدفع مُقابل ذلك) وهو ما يجعل من معرفة القيمة الحقيقية للمُنتج في غاية الصّعوبة. أحد الحلول المُقترحة لهذا الإشكال هو التفكير في “ما الذي ستتخلى عنه للحصول على هذا المُنتج“، قد يكون ذلك مُنتجًا آخر، أو رحلة كنت تُخطّط لها لمّدة، كما يُمكن تقدير الأمر بـ “عدد الساعات/الأيام/الأشهر التي يجب عليك أن تعمل فيها لتصبح قادرًا على الدّفع مُقابل تلك السلعة“

النّسبية ومشاكلها: لما تشتري مُنتجًا معروضًا بسعر 100 دولار وبخصم حصري قيمته 40 بالمئة، فلا يجب أن تنظر إلى الأمر على أنّك ستوفّر 40 دولارًا، بل يجب أن تنظر إلى الأمر على أنّك ستدفع 60 دولارًا (لا تُلقِ بالًا للنّسب المئوية فهدفها تضليلك). إضافة إلى ذلك لما تقوم بعملية شراء كبيرة، كشراء سيارة مثلًا بقيمة 10 آلاف دولار فإن شراء جهاز راديو خاص معها مهما ارتفع سعره (100 دولار مثلًا)، سيبدو رخيصًا في نظرك، لأنّك تنظر إلى الأمر على أنه عملية شراء واحدة (السيارة +الراديو المُرفق)، وستنظر إلى أن سعر جهاز الراديو الإضافي هذا ما هو سوى 1 بالمئة من سعر السيّارة الكلي، مما سيدفعك إلى التقليل من شأنه. في حين أنه لو فكّرت في عملية الشراء هذه بشكل مُنفصل فإنّك ستنتبه إلى أنك سـ“تخسر” 100 دولار إضافي. نفس الأمر يتعلق بالمُعاملات والخدمات المالية التي تكلّف نسبة من قيمة المبلغ الإجمالي، انظر إلى القيمة النهائية التي ستدفعها وليست إلى النّسبة المطلوبة.

تقسيم المصاريف إلى أصناف : في حين أن عملية تقسيم المصاريف إلى مجموعة أصناف مُفيد في أغلب الحالات، كأن تقول بأنني سأخصص ميزانية 25 دولار شهرية للترفيه، و 30 أخرى للكتب وما إلى ذلك، فإن هذه الطريقة قد تجعلك تُنفق أكثر مما يجب لأنك تنظر إلى كل صنف/قسم على أن له ميزانية مُستقلة بذاتها، فعلى سبيل المثال قد تشتري فنجان قهوة بـ 4 دولار لما تكون في إجازتك السنوية أو لما تكون في فندق لأنك تنظر إلى الأمر على أنه مأخوذ من “ميزانية الإجازة” في حين أن دفع نفس المبلغ في “الحياة اليومية” مُقابل فنجان قهوة (مهما بلغت فخامة المكان التي سترتشف قهوتك فيه) هو لون من ألوان التبذير. الحل هنا هو أن تنظر إلى الأمر على أنه مأخوذ من ميزانيتك الكلّيّة وليس من الميزانيات الجزئية.

ألم الإنفاق: كلما كانت عملية الدّفع أسهل كلما كنا عرضة للإنفاق أكثر. وعليه تجنّب “الدفع بنقرة واحدة” قدر المُستطاع وتجنّب الدّفع بالبطاقات الائتمانية كلما استطعت إلى ذلك سبيلًا، واعمل جاهدًا على أن تحس بـ“ألم الإنفاق” كل مرة ترغب في شراء مُنتج ما.

نثق في أنفسنا وفي قراراتنا السّابقة كثيرًا: إن سبق لك أن دفعت 4 دولار مقابل فنجان قهوة أكثر من مرّة في السّابق فهذا لا يعني بأن هذا هو السّعر الحقيقي لفنجان القهوة. دفعك لمبلغ مُعيّن مقابل خدمة/سلعة ما في السّابق ليس دليلًا على أن ما ستدفعه لاحقًا هو السعر الأنسب.

نولي اهتمامًا بالغًا للجهد المبذول: تخيّل أنك خرجت من باب منزلك ونسيت المفاتيح في الداخل ولا يوجد أي أحد في المنزل ليفتح لك الباب، تخيّل أنّك اتّصلت بخبير أقفال وفتح لك الباب في ظرف دقيقتين وطلب 100 دولار مقابل ذلك، هل كنت لتشعر بأن السّعر مُناسب، رغم أن تلك السّرعة هي نتيجة سنوات طويلة من الخبرة؟ تخيل الآن نفس السيناريو السابق لكنك اتصلت بخبير أقفال آخر، وبدل من أن يُمضي دقيقتين لفتح الباب، سيمضي أزيد من ساعة ونصف السّاعة في المُحاولة، رغم أنه تسبب في إلحاق ضرر في قفل الباب فمن المُرجّح جدًا بأنّك ستشعر بأن السّعر الذي طلبه (100 دولار) هو سعر مُناسب، لأنّك شاهدت بأم عينيك مقدار الجُهد ا��ذي بذله. كما ترى فإننا أبعد ما نكون من الواقعية وسنشعر بالرضى لدى دفع مبلغ مُرتفع لخبير أقفال غير مُحترف لأنه بذل جهدًا ووقتًا بدل أن ندفع نفس المُبلغ لخبير آخر أكثر احترافية.
قد يكون للأمر تأثير سلبي أيضًا، فقد تقع في فخ أحدهم يُبرز أدقّ تفاصيل عمله رغم عدم أهمّيتها فقط ليُشعرك بمقدار الجهد المبذول في ذلك، وليجعلك تشعر بالرضى لما تدفع السّعر المُرتفع الذي سيطلبه منك.

الأوصاف والطّقوس قد تغيّر من تقديرنا للسلع والمُنتجات: إن رافق المُنتج الذي تشتريه وصف يشرح مزاياه بشكل دقيق أو أنه يتطلب طريقة مُعيّنة (طقوس��ا) في كيفية استخدامه/استهلاكه فإننا سنعطي قيمة أكبر لذلك المُنتج بالرغم من أن تلك الأوصاف/الطقوس لا تؤثّر بشكل مُباشر على نوعية المُنتج أو على النتيجة المرجوة منه.
سبق وأن كتبت حول الموضوع هنا: هل نحتاج إلى خداع أنفسنا؟: قراءة في كتاب "كل المسوّقين كذّابون"
http://www.it-scoop.com/2016/11/all-m...

نعطي الأسعار قيمة مُبالغًا فيها: لدى مُحاولتنا لمعرفة قيمة مُنتج أو خدمة أو لدى المُقارنة ما بين أكثر مُنتج أو خدمة فإننا نُحاول أن نقارن الميزات التي يُمكن مُقارنتها، ولما تكون المُقارنة أمرًا صعبًا (منتجين من طبعتين مُختلفتين) فإننا نلجأ إلى ما تسهل مُقارنته: السعر. وهو ما يجعلنا نركز على الخاصية الأقل أهمية “كم سأدفع مقابل هذا المُنتج” بدل الخاصية الأهم “ما الذي سأحصل عليه لما أشتري هذا المُنتج“

الكتاب –كما سبق وأن ذكرت– مُفيد في مجمله، إن لم تكن لديك أية خلفية عن الاقتصاد السلوكي فقد يكون مدخلًا جيّدا لها. قد ترغب في الاّطلاع على الكتابين التّاليين لنفس الكاتب إن أردت أن تعرف المزيد حول خبايا علم الاقتصاد السلوكي:

Predictably Irrational
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty
Profile Image for Amy Marie.
417 reviews143 followers
February 28, 2022
DNFed this. It started off strongly. This book had some great examples and points. However, I wish it had more examples and would get to the point a little quicker. I ended up DNFing it around 60% in because it didn't hold my attention. Loved the general idea of the chapters, but it needed a little more for me to love it.
5 reviews50 followers
May 2, 2018
One of the best books on Human behavior with respect to money. Dan knows the art of explaining things with examples and personalities that you can relate to be it this book, the books before or the online MOOC. You'll find yourself constantly saying: "Had I been in this situation, I would have done the same thing as this guy did".
One of the good ways this book differ from others in the same genre is how it won't tell you to get rid of the irrationality of human brain but rather how to embrace it.
The theme of this book is not to make you spend less money, or live a frugal life but to make sure you make an informed decision and value(compare) the elements of a purchase that are important and not just elements that are comparable. Gives real life example of how every marketer is trying to confuse us by leveraging the flaws of our brain(like pain of paying OR relative pricing OR anchoring effect) and helps us play the game the other way round.

The best takeaway for me from the book was: It is okay to chose to spend different amount of money on two exactly same things if one of them gives us more pleasure than other, and believe me, you'll get examples in the book where two exactly same things like vacation or wine can give amazingly different pleasure when presented/enjoyed in different ways.
Profile Image for Kami.
170 reviews
January 7, 2024
This book pretty much confirmed to me that I have no sense when it comes to money. I felt frustrated while reading the book as it talked about all the ways we're schemed into spending money- I'm totally one to fall into all the traps. The last few chapters were the best part of the book! Here's some of my takeaways:
-Make a financial plan, small changes matter
- Think about what you're sacrificing for what you're getting. "I would have to work two hours to buy these shoes."
-Try to maintain the "pain of paying"
-Don't trust yourself. Question your habits, your spending, don't trust what you've always done just cause you've always done it
-Only consider where I am now and where I want to be in the future. Sunk costs are gone. Never getting back.
-Change thinking to "Is it valuable to me?" Not, "Is it priced fairly?"
- Don't believe the hype
-Connecting to the future and resisting temptation is how to develop some self-control
-We are our biggest enemy.
-Stop and think!
(Listened)
Profile Image for Danilo Weiner.
208 reviews4 followers
March 16, 2020
Para os iniciados em Economia Comportamental o livro não traz grandes novidades, principalmente aos seguidores de Dan Ariely. O que o livro traz de interessante são algumas novas abordagens focadas de conceitos conhecidos como aversão à perda, efeito dotação, ancoragem, etc, para o mundo financeiro o que, certamente, pode ser inspirador para quem trabalha - como eu - no mundo das fintechs. Talvez a grande novidade do livro foi o DA ter trazido para esse projeto o Jeff Kreisler que com seu background de comediante acaba trazendo mais humor do que normalmente seus livros já tem. De qualquer forma, vale a leitura tanto para neófitos no assunto, como para iniciados.
Profile Image for کافه ادبیات.
252 reviews102 followers
November 15, 2022
 رفتار ما انسان‌ها در مواجهه با پول بر خلاف آنچه بسیاری از ما فکر می‌کنیم، چندان منطقی نیست.
Profile Image for Michel Meijer.
321 reviews1 follower
January 19, 2019
How are our brains fooled by money and how is our behavior manipulated by money. I thought that would be an interesting subject to dive in and this book by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreislerr got some praise on the internet so I gave it a shot. I made 2 mistakes.
1) I bought the Dutch translation. And the translation is not good. The humor conveys poorly and the translator did no effort to link the Amercanisms in the book to Dutchisms. In general, the Dutch do not work a lot with dollars and creditcards in their daily life, and their lifes differ at many details. So seeing these American habits written in a presumely Dutch environment alienated me from the content.
2) Apparently, the book was co-written with a stand-up comedian. Most chapters start with a short story describing how weird we can react when money is involved, and then the authors address the reader in the "we" form with attempts to humor. Did this work? Hell no, it annoyed the hell out of me. The content (phycological effect money has on behavior) became significantly diluted with hypothetical stories and stupid annoying "jokes".

Finally, the book describes for 90% the behavior. Not the stuff I was after (and advertised on the cover): how to use the phycology of money to your own benefit. Just skip to Chapter 14, where the previous chapters are summarized. Then the chapters after give tips. And it all boils down to: "think before you spend". 2 stars, max.
Profile Image for Seamonkey.
175 reviews36 followers
October 31, 2020
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ถึงแม้เศรษฐศาสตร์สายหลักจะพร่ำบอกเราว่ามนุษย์ตัดสินใจด้วยเหตุผล แต่เล่มนี้เป็นอีกเล่มที่ย้ำกับเราว่าเราไม่ได้มีเหตุผลอย่างที่อดัม สมิธบอกเราหรอก เราคิดไปเอง เราถูกหลอกและถูกชักจูงง่ายมาก และไม่ใช่จากใครที่ไหน เราถูกสมองและความคิดของเราเองนี่แหละหลอกลวง

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หนังสือเล่มนี้จะทำให้เรารู้เท่าทันและมีสติมากขึ้น รู้เท่าทันตัวเราเองเนี่ยแหละ ไม่ใช่ใคร ชวนอ่านครับ
Profile Image for David Msomba.
111 reviews31 followers
September 18, 2018
In a nutshell,the author tries to show how our cognitive biases tend to affect our daily financial judgements and decisions.

Again, If you are familiar with Dan Ariely`s previous work then you will revisit many of those ideas again in this book,but the book is still insightful,witful,contains alot of useful tips and I like the comic approach by his co-author,which made the book more interesting and hard to put it down.

I highly recommend this,if you on quest of trying to understand how psychology of money works,I would also recommend another book, MIND over MONEY by Claudia Hammond,it also cover the same subject but on its own unique fantastic way.
Profile Image for Scott Wozniak.
Author 4 books86 followers
November 12, 2017
Another great book on the surprising way we really think. Our decisions about money, it turns out, are very sensitive to the last number we thought about right before that decision, our self-concept, and which category we put the money in. We will go to great lengths to avoid loss but blow off the chance to gain the same amount of money, for example.

It’s not only an important book. It’s a funny book. Very well written.
Profile Image for Carter Hemphill.
399 reviews3 followers
April 9, 2021
It’s a good review of behavioral economics with documented research. Sone of the chapters were too long and some of the humor didn’t land. The application of the findings could have been more actionable, but the strength of the book was the awareness of how one can have blindspots when it comes to money. If you’re new to the subject, it’s a great introduction.
Profile Image for Veselin Nikolov.
586 reviews81 followers
January 9, 2018
I like Dan Ariely and read the book because of his name. This book, however, was a hard read and I didn't enjoy it. It says that thinking about money is hard but why would reading books about money be hard too?

I think that it could only be useful for people who don't often read self-help.
423 reviews
February 11, 2018
I'm not sure who the target reader for this book is, but clearly it is not me.
When it comes to financial advise I want it straight forward and no nonsense. This was nothing but rambling, unorganized, nonsense. Thanks, but no thanks.
Profile Image for Jeimy.
4,942 reviews32 followers
June 11, 2018
A necessary text to understand the basics of financial literacy.
Profile Image for Tarmo Pungas.
144 reviews6 followers
May 27, 2020
Not an amazing book, but makes you think about your past (and future) expenses and how irrationally we think about money.
Profile Image for Revisach.
156 reviews24 followers
Read
March 24, 2021
Review sách Tiền bạc và lý trí - Cuộc chơi dành cho những người sáng suốt
Tôi dám cá rằng ít nhất một lần bạn không thể từ chối mua các món hàng chỉ vì giá thành rẻ và những lời chào mua có cánh. Khi bạn trả tiền cho món hàng mà bạn yêu thích bạn thường đặt cảm xúc lên trên lý trí. Đánh mù suy nghĩ của bản thân rằng chỉ mua duy nhất lần này thôi và những lần sau đó lại tiếp tục như vậy.
Điều gì đã khiến bạn trở nên yếu đuối trước những quyết định về tiền như vậy. Đó chính là những chiêu thức bán hàng hiệu quả mà các doanh nghiệp đánh vào tâm lý khách hàng mà bạn hay bất kỳ ai cũng không dễ dàng từ chối được.
Tiền bạc và lý trí được xem là cuốn sách tâm lý học về tiền của tác giả Dan Ariely nhằm vạch trần sự thật về tiền để chúng ta có cái nhìn thực tế hơn và sử dụng tiền một cách lý trí hơn.
GIỚI THIỆU TÁC GIẢ VÀ CUỐN SÁCH TIỀN BẠC VÀ LÝ TRÍ
Dan Ariely là một chuyên gia tâm lý học với nhiều năm làm giáo sư trường Jame B.Duke. Ông có niềm đam mê nghiên cứu tâm lý của con người.
Đồng tác giả của Tiền bạc và lý trí là tác giả Jeff Kreisler cũng là một chuyên gia trong ngành luật sư có tiếng. Vì niềm đam mê mãnh liệt với văn chương, ông chuyển sang làm tác giả, phát ngôn viên và nhà phê bình văn học và được nhiều độc giả ủng hộ.
Tiền bạc và lý trí giúp độc giả có cái nhìn rõ ràng hơn về mối quan hệ giữa bộ não và tiền bạc trong chính cách ứng xử của chúng ta trước đồng tiền. Vượt qua ranh giới giữa lý trí và cảm xúc, mỗi người sẽ biết cách làm chủ bản thân mình để tiền bạc thực sự đem lại giá trị lợi ích xứng đáng cho mỗi chúng ta.
NỘI DUNG NỔI BẬT CỦA TIỀN BẠC VÀ LÝ TRÍ
Tiền bạc và lý trí là chủ đề trọng tâm mà tác giả muốn nhấn mạnh đến mối quan hệ giữa tiền và cách ứng xử của chúng ta với tiền. Con người thường bị cám dỗ bởi thói quen tiêu tiền dẫn đến cách nhìn nhận của chúng ta về tiền thực ra lại không quá khắt khe dẫn đến việc tiêu tiền thiếu kiểm soát.
Nỗi đau về tiền là điều mà Tiền bạc và lý trí muốn hướng bạn đến khi sử dụng tiền. Dù là tiêu ít hay nhiều tiền chúng ta đều cần trải nghiệm nỗi đau khi tiêu chúng thì bạn mới ý thức rõ hơn trách nhiệm của mình với đồng tiền mình làm ra.
Điều thú vị mà Tiền bạc và lý trí đem lại không phải là mục tiêu đưa bạn đến sự giàu có hay thịnh vượng sau khi trải nghiệm xong cuốn sách này.
Cái hay mà Tiền bạc và lý trí đem đến cho người đọc là ý thức và suy nghĩ của con người mới chính là yếu tố mang lại cho họ sự giàu sang.
Sử dụng lý trí thay vì cảm xúc trước khi tiêu tiền, tránh những sai lầm chúng ta thường mắc phải khi tiêu tiền, cám dỗ mà tiền đem lại thì chắc chắn rằng bạn sẽ có những sự lựa chọn sáng suốt hơn trong tương lai.
GIÁ TRỊ ĐÚC KẾT QUA TIỀN BẠC VÀ LÝ TRÍ
1. BẢN CHẤT CỦA TIỀN
Tiền thực sự có giá trị quan trọng như thế nào đối với cuộc sống của con người. Tiền có giá trị không chỉ đại diện cho bản thân, còn thể hiện cách đối xử của mọi người đối với chúng ta. Dù trong thời đại nào, đa phần người có tiền đều được xem trọng bởi những có giàu ít nhiều đều thông minh và trí tuệ tuyệt vời.
Trong thời đại ngày nay, tiền càng có giá trị hơn khi được định giá bởi hàng hóa, dịch vụ trở nên thiết yếu thay thế những món hàng trao đổi qua lại như trước đây.
Tiền bạc và lý trí đưa ra các đặc tính mà tiền trở thành “món hàng” đắc dụng trong cuộc sống con người
• Tính phổ biến: Ngày nay chúng ta không thể sống thiếu tiền, tiền có thể giúp chúng ta trong cuộc sống, sinh hoạt và nhu cầu thiết yếu của bản thân. Với vai trò cao hơn nữa là giúp bạn đạt được những ước mơ, dự định và kế hoạch dài hạn cho bản thân mình.
• Tính chia phổ: Tiền giúp bạn mua nhiều món hàng hóa với các kích thước và giá trị khác nhau
• Tính hoán đổi: Bạn không cần một đồng tiền cụ thể nào đó, vì nó có thể được thay bằng đồng tiền khác đại diện cho cùng một giá trị.
• Tính lưu trữ: Tiền là “món hàng” đặc biệt không hết hạn sử dụng, không mất đi giá trị dù bạn có sử dụng hôm nay, ngày mai hay tương lai.
Tiền mang lại giá trị lợi ích mà bạn sẽ không thể sống hạnh phúc nếu thiếu đi tiền. Nhưng tiền cũng là con dao hai lưỡi và những nguồn nguy hại nếu không thật sự biết cách chi tiêu phù hợp
2. SAI LẦM TAI HẠI KHI SỬ DỤNG TIỀN
Chúng ta thường sai lầm khi quyết định chi tiêu tiền cho những món hàng sale. Phải chăng hàng sale có sức cuốn hút hay chính cách các nhà doanh nghiệp sử dụng chiêu thức giá trị của tiền để đánh lạc hướng chúng ta.
Bạn có thể không quá thích các món hàng sale nhưng chỉ khi nghe “xả hàng với giá 99k”, “sale upto 50%,20%,...” thì lại đổ xô đi mua.
Chiêu thức này được các doanh nghiệp đánh vào tâm lý cảm xúc của người mua hàng thường thích đồ giá rẻ. Họ tin tưởng rằng với món đồ đắt tiền và tốt như vậy nhưng họ lại lãi nếu mua nó khi đang sale.
Họ đang nghĩ họ thông minh nhưng thực chất món hàng đã được nâng giá gốc lên rất nhiều và giá thực của nó lại là con số sau khi sale, và rồi khách hàng bị lầm tưởng rằng món hàng đó đã giảm giá.
Với số tiền đó bạn có thể mua được món hàng nhưng không được giảm giá thì họ vẫn xem đó là đắt. Ranh giới giữa giá trị món hàng chỉ tùy thuộc vào cách chúng ta định giá món hàng đó.
Tâm lý mua hàng theo cảm xúc khiến con người hài lòng, cảm thấy phấn khích và các nhà kinh doanh cũng được hưởng lợi.
Tuy nhiên xét theo khía cạnh khác, Tiền bạc và lý trí cho rằng chúng ta đang bị cuốn vào tâm lý mua hàng giá rẻ, tạo thành thói quen tiêu tiền theo cảm xúc, thích là mua, không đánh giá được lợi ích và giá trị thực sự của món hàng.
Chúng ta đang vô tình bị cuốn vào sự lựa chọn tồi tệ. Bởi bạn có thể mua một món hàng bạn không cần dùng lắm, hoặc không đẹp lắm, phù hợp lắm với bản thân chỉ vì sợ bỏ lỡ cơ hội hàng đang sale.
Suy cho cùng tâm lý của con người mới quyết định được tiền có nằm trong ví bạn hay không. Nếu bạn dùng lý trí để quyết định mua hay không, không mới thực sự là người tiêu dùng thông minh.
Một dẫn chứng hay của Tiền bạc và lý trí cho rằng chúng ta thường thích dùng tiền thẻ tín dụng thay vì tiền mặt. Tại sao như vậy? Mỗi khi bạn trả tiền mặt cho một món hàng dù đắt hay rẻ bạn thường có cảm giác tiếc nuối. Nhưng thẻ tín dụng sẽ giúp bạn tiêu tiền mà không đem lại cảm giác đau đớn.
Tuy nhiên nếu xét về mặt tiêu cực, thẻ tín dụng như con dao hai lưỡi bởi bạn chỉ cần thanh toán qua mạng, không cảm giác rút mất tiền từ tay mình thì bạn sẽ ít đắn đo khi dùng tiền và tiền sẽ không cánh mà bay.
Nếu vượt qua số tiền bạn được phép chi trả trong tháng sẽ ảnh hưởng đến nguồn tài chính của bạn và đe dọa đến tài sản của bạn nếu sinh ra các khoản nợ.
3. TRỞ THÀNH NGƯỜI CHI TIÊU HỢP LÝ
Tiền đem lại giá trị cho bản thân bạn nhưng bạn mới chính là người quyết định mục tiêu mà tiền hướng đến, có thật sự đem lại giá trị cho cuộc sống của bạn hay không là phụ thuộc ở chính bạn. Chỉ khi bạn thực sự kiểm soát được tài chính bạn mới có thể trở thành người giàu có.
Tiền bạc và lý trí khuyên bạn trong các khoản chi tiêu dù ít hay nhiều bạn nên dành tiết kiệm mỗi tháng thay vì vung tay quá trán cho vừa với số tiền mình làm ra. Ở hiện tại càng tiết kiệm được nhiều càng giúp tương lai của bạn an nhàn và hạnh phúc hơn.
Bên cạnh đó, sử dụng lý trí trước khi quyết định lựa chọn chi tiêu món hàng nào đó. Nguồn gốc của mọi sự giàu có đều xuất phát từ chính bạn và cách tư duy của bạn trước tiền và chỉ có bạn mới làm thay đổi được tương lai bản thân mình.
LỜI KẾT
Tiền bạc và lý trí đưa chúng ta những lời khuyên và những kỹ năng quan trọng giúp bạn không bị cuốn vào vòng xoáy của đồng tiền. Nếu muốn làm chủ đồng tiền trước tiên hãy làm chủ bản thân mình.
Mong rằng sau cuốn sách Tiền bạc và lý trí, bạn sẽ an tâm với những kiến thức về tài chính và trở thành triệu phú trong tương lai.
#Revisach
#review_sach_tien_bac_va_ly_tri
306 reviews11 followers
November 9, 2018
This book is informative in that it lets us know things about ourselves (whether we want to admit them or not) that we never knew. The fact that we are prejudiced and swayed in ways we don't even recognize can be disconcerting. But as is pointed out, knowing about these unconscious biases can help us address them, and even use them to our advantage.
It doesn't just show us the flaws that exist in our programming, it gives strategies to deal with them. But we first have to admit to ourselves that the flaws are there, whether we like them or not. Anyone reading this may want to either take extensive notes, or plan on re-reading it to get the most out of it.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narration is clear and well-paced. Even the mildly sarcastic interjections are well-read, with just a hint of audible devilishness by the narrator.
Profile Image for Annie.
387 reviews13 followers
April 21, 2021
This was a surprisingly good read, found some new blind spots when it comes to money & spending.
Profile Image for Chuy Ruiz.
494 reviews1 follower
January 11, 2019
I have really enjoyed his other books, and this one was interesting as well. Definitely a good read for anyone struggling with money habits.
Profile Image for Athan Tolis.
313 reviews659 followers
March 5, 2018
Some three years ago, I belatedly came around to reading Ariely’s original masterpiece, “Predictably Irrational.” Here’s verbatim the summary of my findings:

1. Among two offerings, a merchant can reliably make us pick the one he prefers by sliding a “decoy” bad choice that is more similar to the choice he wants to steer us to

2. The first price we see for anything is the one we remember forever. Get that high “anchor” in and you can sell anything at a high price (and vice versa)

3. We are suckers for ambience/context. We won’t just pay up for a product if a setting looks upmarket or is sold in an upmarket setting, we’ll enjoy it more too. If something’s presented as expensive, basically, we are drawn to it almost automatically, with a very notable exception:

4. We’re drawn to stuff even more if it’s FREE! FREE! (with an exclamation mark, like Yahoo!) is a law unto itself

5. We can’t deal well with mixing social norms and market norms. We’ll do things for free that you could not possibly pay us to do. Conversely, if a price is put on something that has previously been rationed but free, the magic is gone and we can’t go back to looking at it through the prism of social norms

6. We can do some very stupid things when the “animal” inside us comes to the surface

7. We simply don’t have it in us to delay gratification. We’re not wired like that. We have to find ways to trick ourselves to save for a rainy day, to
get medical checks etc.

8. We value stuff we own higher by dint of owning it. Our house, our stereo, theatre tickets, the lot. It all goes up in our estimation because it’s ours

9. We place immense value on keeping options open and waste disproportionate resources on keeping our options open relative to the potential benefit of exercising them

10. When we think something will be good, we end up liking it and when we think medicine will work it will end up working better!

11. In the same vein, a 50-Cent Aspirin can do things a 1-Cent Aspirin cannot

12. When nobody’s looking, we all cheat, but we don’t cheat too much, lest we end up feeling bad about ourselves

13. The more removed we are from actual cash, the less inhibited we are in our cheating

Small Change covers exactly ZERO new ground, but omits point #5, point #6 and points #12

Funnily enough, that makes it a better book. I guess the author has come to realise that nine of his thirteen points were about… money. So he got a very funny (but impossibly lazy, he could not even be bothered to dig beyond his personal experience for new stories/examples) co-author to repackage those ideas and hey, presto, a better-focused book is on the shelves.

Also, a major beef of mine with psychologists is they have to get sex into everywhere, a fact that makes it impossible to recommend their books to my mom or even to read their work on the tube. With point #6 expunged, this is indeed a book you can recommend to your mom and a book you can read in the tube with little risk of embarrassment. Modulo the jarringly frequent invocation of a dominatrix throughout the text, that is.

So to all those of you who’ve never read Dan Ariely before, you can now skip his original opus. Buy “Small Change” instead, supplement it with “The Honest Truth about Dishonesty” and be on the lookout for his upcoming work on social norms vs. market norms.

On the other hand, if you’ve already read “Predictably Irrational,” I can’t recommend buying this book. Like myself, you’ll feel robbed of your valuable reading time. And of whatever not-so-small change you paid for it, of course.
Profile Image for Dan Connors.
339 reviews51 followers
May 22, 2018
As a CPA, I try and read at least a few financial books per year. Many of the financial books today are unappealing to me, though I do have a weakness for Suzy Orman. This book, which came out in 2017, gives an alternative look at the way we think about money- mainly the irrational mistakes that our brains make when thinking about such an important and sensitive subject.

Dan Ariely is a psychologist and writer, and I loved his book, Predictably Irrational. This one covers much of the same ground, but is completely oriented towards money and the mistakes we make thinking about it. The audiobook version is narrated by a gentleman with a thick British accent, which I found distracting at first, but he adds some humor and emphasis to some of the more absurd findings, like that over 40% of financial planners don't have a financial plan of their own.

Some key findings:

Paying for things is inherently painful, triggering responses in the brain. People who want your money are getting smarter and smarter about hiding and postponing that pain, including such things as credit cards, automatic payments, Apple Pay and more. To control your spending, the authors recommend feeling the pain more readily, paying in cash or check directly.
Anchoring is the depressing phenomenon that when we don't have much knowledge about what a price should be, high numbers, even random numbers, can "anchor" our brain so that other numbers seem fair in comparison. Anchor numbers, such as suggested retail prices, are garbage, as are most sales prices. You should buy something because it fits your budget and answers your needs, period. Whether it's a good bargain is immaterial.
The IKEA effect and the endowment effect are blinding biases that make us think that everything we touch or own is better because it's ours. Even taking a test drive or putting on a dress triggers this effect to such a point that we can't think objectively.
We expect to see lots of effort from people who provide us services, even if that effort is wasted and incompetent. As a tax pro this one hit home because folks see how quickly I can find tax answers and think I'm overpaid, while it took me years and years of practice to get there. We expect prices to be fair based on the outer appearances we observe.
We don't save for the future often because of a present bias. This isn't news, but the extent to which we discount the future still amazes me. It's a struggle we can all identify with.
The solution to all this temptation and irrationality is to control your environment, getting rid of opportunities to make bad decisions as much as possible. They mention the Ulysses contract, taken from the ancient story where Ulysses bound himself to his own ship so he couldn't be tempted by the sirens who wanted to kill him. In such a contract, you lock up your money or your ability to get at it, and bad decisions aren't even on the table because you don't have the ability to give in to temptations.
Great book- food for thought- four of five stars.

Profile Image for Robert Meijer.
45 reviews
April 17, 2022
This book was rather disappointing. Maybe because most things ready knew. Furthermore a lot was focussed on the americsn market, where compulsory retirement funds are not a thing as in Europe. The story is easy to read.
Profile Image for kartik narayanan.
740 reviews214 followers
November 21, 2017
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit

A wise man knows himself to be a fool, but a foolish man opens his wallet and removes all doubt.

What is the book about?
Dollars and Sense is written by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kriesler. Dan Ariely is, of course, best know for his seminal book on psychology Predictably Irrational.

This book explores some of the most common mistakes made when it comes to money and the reasons behind those mistakes. For example: why are we willing to spend more on the same item when on a vacation than at home? Why do we feel it is ok to spend money on options when buying a car when that money is substantial in its own right? Why do we over spend when using a credit card or a digital wallet than when paying with cash? Why do we think Uber’s surge pricing is unfair when local cab companies charge a lot more as their base price?

What does this book cover?
Dollars and Sense has three parts.

The first part discusses basic monetary concepts. The second part (and the longest) discusses all the psychological traps and behavioral quirks that make us unwise when it comes to fiscal sense. We also get to see the reasons behind these behaviors. The third part talks about how to be better at managing money given that we know what to watch out for.

Some of the quirks addressed in the book are as follows

- Relativity (the myth of ‘sales’ or how much we are spending at the same time on something else)
- Mental Accounting (classifying money into buckets)
- Pain of Paying (The ease of payment makes it easy to over spend)
- Anchoring (The first price we see or previous prices we have paid for a purchase)
- Endowment Effect and Loss Aversion (our sense of ownership makes us think that what we own is more precious)

Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
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