Mind Over Money. Claudia Hammond

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Mind Over Money - Claudia Hammond


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      Also by Claudia Hammond

       Time WarpedEmotional Rollercoaster

       MIND OVER MONEY

      The Psychology of Money

      and How to Use It Better

      CLAUDIA HAMMOND

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      Published in Great Britain in 2016

      by Canongate Books Ltd,

      14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE

       www.canongate.co.uk

      This digital edition first published in 2016 by Canongate Books

      Copyright © Claudia Hammond, 2016

      The moral right of the author has been asserted

      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library

      ISBN 978 1 78211 205 1

      eISBN 978 1 78211 207 5

      Typeset in Plantin Light by Palimpsest Book Production Ltd, Falkirk, Stirlingshire

      For my sister Antonia and my nieces Florence and Matilda

      CONTENTS

       Introduction

       1 From Cradle to Grave

       Where our relationship with money starts, why money is both a drug and a tool, why we hate to see money destroyed and how it wards off our fear of death

       2 Holding Folding

       Why we’re so attached to familiar forms of money, why we think coins are bigger than they are, why it’s good to be grumpy if you don’t want to get ripped off and why paying with cash might be better than credit

       3 Mental Accounts

       Why the more an item costs, the more careless with money we are, why we should all use psychological moneybags and how certain budget airlines could have saved themselves a lot of grief

       4 To Have and to Hold

       How we hate losing money more than we like making it, how Puerto Rican monkeys helped a researcher understand the financial crisis and why it’s a mistake to choose the same lottery numbers every week

       5 The Price Is Right

       Why a high price is not always a sign of quality, why your brain is a wine snob, why sometimes we’d rather pay more than we need to, why you shouldn’t be fooled by the ‘mid-priced’ option and why you should never open a café called the Zero Dollar Diner

       5½ Loose Change

       Tips for waiters, why a light touch is best and the problem of the shared bill

       6 Money the Motivator?

       How money makes you run to catch that train, why paying children to do better in exams has mixed results, why it’s only worth introducing financial incentives if you can keep paying them long term, and why small payments can help people quit drugs and cigarettes

       7 Just Rewards

      Why if you pay someone they might be more likely to turn to Playboy in their break, why praise is often a better motivator than money (but don’t overdo it), why you should never pay friends for favours and why the England football team always loses in the penalty shoot-out

       8 Money Tips for Bankers

       Why it’s best not to empty your wallet in front of friends, why a free gift of thousands of pounds can be insulting and why large bonuses might be counterproductive

       9 Money, Money, Money

       Why some people have lots, why most of us want more, why enough is never enough and how having more can make you happier (sometimes)

       10 Poverty of Thinking

       Why being poor can reduce your IQ and lead you to make bad financial decisions, and how you won’t get a lot of sympathy from everyone else

       11 Bad Money

      Why rich people would be the first to jump in the lifeboats on the Titanic, why envy is bad sometimes but not always, why we’ll tell lies for money (as long as it’s a substantial sum) and why some people can’t resist throwing money away

       12 Good Money

       Why giving money away (and even paying tax) increases our happiness, why we don’t always like generous millionaires and why charity campaigns might do better with less pretty children

       13 For a Rainy Day

       Why speaking German could help you to save more, what Odysseus can teach us about saving and how piggy banks are helping in the fight against malaria

       14 The Joy of Spending

       Why, if you want the good life, you should spend your money on experiences not things (while allowing yourself a bit of retail therapy), why buying high-quality prosciutto that you don’t need might not be extravagant and why it’s better not to know your hourly rate

       15 Money Tips

       Notes

       Recommendations for Additional Reading

       Index

       Acknowledgements

      INTRODUCTION

      ON THE EVENING of 23 August 1994, in a small abandoned barn on the island of Jura in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, a fire was burning. Had you stepped inside you might have thought that a newspaper archive was being destroyed. Great bundles of printed paper were alight, sending smoke and ash billowing up into the air.

      You’d also have noticed that there was something a little odd about the way the paper ignited. It took a while to catch and then burned sluggishly. Eventually you’d have realised that the paper was denser than the


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