The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

of control, of efficacy, of responsibility. At times of financial stress in particular, taking control of your finances—even symbolically—can boost your mood because you’retaking steps to control and improve your situation. At a time when I was feeling anxious about the expenditures related to our new apartment, it was comforting to refuse to spend any more in one particular area. (This wasn’t really economically rational, because buying one kitchen chair dwarfed my savings on a stapler, but it was psychologically effective, nevertheless.)
    I asked blog readers if anyone had ever boosted his or her happiness by giving up a category of purchases entirely, and many people posted about their own forfeits: “grabbing a Cinnabon in airports—so expensive and so unhealthy,” “owning a car,” “lottery tickets,” “printed periodicals—now I read newspapers and magazines on-line only,” and “trading up to get the latest cell phone.”
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    W hen I moved into my current place, about a year and a half ago, I didn’t subscribe to cable TV. Which meant I had no broadcast TV at all. Since then, TV watching has been “Netflix or nothing.”
    It was a choice based on frugality that had a philosophical savor to it. When that level of frugality is no longer necessary to reach my financial goals, I’ll re-evaluate—but dollars to donuts, even if I resubscribe to cable I’ll still watch less than I did before.
     
    -bottled water
    -no sugar-based snacks at work
    -eating out at any time other than Friday/Saturday nights
    As a result, the wife and I are losing weight and saving money.
     
    No more buying things on eBay. At first it was fun but then it started to get out of hand. I was ending up with things I didn’t really need or want, because I loved looking around and making discoveries. It was showing up in my wallet however. One day I clicked on the site and said to myself, “No more!” It has really been a relief. Plus I hadn’t realized what an amount of time it was using.
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    Readers also mentioned that they’d been happy to give up things unrelated to spending, such as “sleeping until noon on the weekends,” “checking TMZ.com,” “eating cereal,” and “sunbathing.”
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    I have a story to tell about feeling happier as a result of giving up something.
    About five years ago, I got a job at a local animal shelter. At the time I began my job, I was a big-time carnivore. However, the longer I worked at the shelter, the more I became uncomfortable with the fact that I was eating SOME animals at the same time that I was saving OTHERS. I was being irrational. More importantly, I was also being inhumane.
    A few of my coworkers were vegans, and I soon joined them. I don’t eat meat, dairy products, or eggs. I don’t buy clothing made from fur, leather, or wool. I’ve read Gary Taubes’s book ( Good Calories, Bad Calories ), so I’m not certain whether my diet produces any dramatic benefits in my health. But I do know that my behavior is now more consistent with my moral code. I also know that no matter what kind of a day I had, at the very least I can go to bed knowing that I did not contribute to the exploitation of sentient creatures.
     
    I gave up processed sugar. This has been difficult, but not exactly for the reasons I thought it would be. I am a candy addict. I thought I would miss my Skittles and Starbursts and Life Savers and Twizzlers and Rainblo gum balls like crazy! But because I really went cold turkey—and TOLD PEOPLE about my plan—it has not been so tough. No negotiations, no little bits here and there—just, NO. I am still getting used to taking my coffee black, though. Such a change from 5–7 Splendas! 34 days later, is it worth it? YES! This is my one and only life.
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    Obviously, people’s choices will be different. Just because I’m happier when I don’t buy office equipment doesn’t mean that other people should stop buying highlighters. But although the resolution to “Give somethingup” may sound severe and spartan, it can feel good to choose to forgo something.
     
    Samuel Butler wrote, “Happiness and misery consist in a progression towards better or worse; it does not matter how high up or low down you are, it depends not on this, but on the direction in which you are tending.” This seems the key to understanding the relationship between money and happiness.
    However, because people differ wildly from one another in how they respond to money