Numerous studies have demonstrated weak correlations between happiness and wealth. (The sole exception are the truly impoverished, who are most likely to report being unhappy.)  Still, once you are out of poverty, there is very little relationship between happiness and financial stature.

Before I had children, I learned the most from my parents, grandparents, and other mentors of my personal and professional life.  Nearly all were at least several years older than me.  Yet, since I had my first daughter in 2005, I have to come to appreciate just how much I can learn from both her and her sister (who was born nearly two years ago).

For example, did you realize:When you spend less, you get more value out of life or How Kids Save You Money?  Did you know that, while Money doesn’t fall from trees, leaves do or How a Swing Set Can Keep You in Balance?  These are some of the most important lessons in life.  Far less important is Why the government is subsidizing golf carts. Still, the latter is among my most popular posts of late and was featured in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance. While reading through many of the carnival’s, I discovered Enemy of Debt’s Enjoy Frugal Entertainment Without Breaking The Bank, an article after my own heart.  The enemy provides a solid, though by no means exhaustive, list of family-oriented legitimately enjoyable activities available for little or no cost. It’s a good reminder of what’s really important.

In my own life, I continue to see this everyday from my two girls.  The older one wants to play Chutes and Ladders almost every night.  (In less than a year, I think we’ve amortized the cost of the game to under a dime per play – a rate that is sinking fast).  Better yet, she’s getting better at counting and we’ve created a bit of a ritual, even a memory that will stay with us for years to come.

My youngest one’s joy comes from even simpler pleasures.  While I was playing with her at the playground over the weekend on a vintage New England fall day, the wind suddenly picked up.  Leaves were blowing everywhere and her face was beeming as she felt the breeze upon her little body and could see little things flying through the air.  You could see she was experiencing a sensory overload but was thrilled by the moment.  A few seconds later the wind calmed down. Immediately, she looked at me and asked “More?”

It’s too bad that I don’t have the power to make wind.  On the other hand, I am glad no amount of money could change that – perhaps I would have been tempted.

Remember what really counts in life.  If you ever forget, spend time with a child or a senior citizen, who often have very different perspectives.  Recall this isn’t about being cheap. Rather, it’s about being fiscally responsible. Want more examples? Here are Five ways to be (or not to be) fiscally responsible.

Thoughts?

The post you are now reading is my 400th post at the Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck blog.

You: Is that a lot?

It is to me.

You: Do you like blogging?

Do you like vegetables?

You: Usually, but not always.

Blogging is like eating vegetables.  Blogging today is more enjoyable than unusual, however, since, it’s my first post with the new blog re-design.  What do you think?  Please let me know in the comments field.

#      #      #

This week’s carnival of personal finance, hosted by Money Crashers, features many excellent reads including my recent post about how the First time home buyer tax credit may actually expire. Another great piece, written by Patrick at CashMoneyLife, discusses The Early Adopters Tax.  Patrick describes his decision to delay purchases, particularly those made by Apple (iPod, iPhone), and the hardware savings which result from his choices.  No doubt, early adopters, particularly those in technology, pay a steep price for buying first generation products, as manufacturer runs are short and the resulting costs passed on to consumers are high.

Doubt me?

Just think about how much your first laptop cost.  How many (significantly more powerful) laptops could buy today for the same amount of money? For me, the answer is about five.

Of course, delaying unnecessary purchases can save you money in an number of circumstances.  Several months ago, I brought my car to a free safety inspection and was told of a myriad of recommended repairs and services.  Nothing was super time sensitive but, given my intention to drive my car until it drops, it’s age (8 yrs), and current mileage (about 90K), routine maintenance is a good investment.  Nonetheless, I’ve been waiting for the right time to get the work done.  Yesterday, I received the best coupon by email I’ve ever received from the place I get most of my repairs done – 20% off so long as it’s done this week (they must have a slow period).  So I shuffled a few things around on my schedule and I’ll save a big chunk of money in the process.  Furthermore, the routine maintenance should delay the amount of time it will take before I have to, one day, swallow the pill and replace this car.  In the meantime, I’m doing everything I can keep the car in good shape at the lowest possible ownership cost.

What purchases have you delayed, but ultimately made, in which your waiting saved you some money?

You have to love the lesson Matt from Taking Charge shares in his Blogger wakes corporate giant, helps secure long-sought refund.  It’s my favorite article from this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Studenomics.  My article, Welcome to the fourth quarter: Five suggested tasks before New Year’s, was also featured.

In Matt’s brief article, he reminds us that the same old ways of dealing with big company buracracies often no longer work.  Although Matt is a blogger who may have more distribution channels for his unresolved problems than the otherwise normal people who do not spend countless hours sharing their views with whomever might read them, anyone can reach out to a blogger or other media source for assistance.

It’s easy to believe that the customer service 800 number is your only option. In my opinion, it should be only your first. However, if you receive unsatisfactory service after a polite but firm explanation of your rational case, move on.

This applies not only in Matt’s failure to receive a refund but also when trying to negotiate a lower credit card bill, or as my brother has perfected, receiving compensation from airlines for their mishaps.

Remember, the old rules don’t apply.  Often, in unexpected situations.

Saturday night, just before bed, I felt like something was in  my eye. I couldn’t get it out so I went to bed, hoping it was nothing. Long story short, it kept me up several hours the last two nights (although the daytime hours of Sunday weren’t too bad).  Still, had Sunday been a workday, I would have seen my eye doctor – it just didn’t seem bad enough to warrant an emergency room visit.

Still, I got an appointment first thing this morning. Upon seeing my eye, now red enough to anger a bull, the eye doctor immediately says, “You know we have someone on call all weekend, right?”

A failure to think out of the box can occur in just about every part of your life.  Make sure you look for it.

I enjoyed CreditCards.com’s fantastic effort with this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.    My article discussing a previous fantastic yet inexpensive weekend was included, striking the fancy of The Consumerist, which featured it in their article titled Where To Find Great Personal Finance Writing Online, a nice gesture from the same company that brings you Consumer Reports magazine.

My favorite article of the carnival, however, is Good Financial Cents’ Four Fifteen-Minute Financial Fixes.  In addition to the alliterative title, Jeff describes some important yet non time consuming behaviors to consider doing.  It makes for a stark contrast with Ron Lieber’s article in the NY Times last month.  Mr. Lieber describes a fiscal health day (That’s right – an entire day!).  Not many of us ever get a whole day for fiscal clean-up (or would use it in such a way if they did), but both Jeff’s 15 minute tips and Ron’s day-long fiscal adventure log are filled with suggestions you ought to consider – whether you have just a few minutes to spare or an entire day.

Either way, the key is to get started, don’t you think?

I enjoyed this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Mary at SimplyForties.  Of course, I was happy to see my post Take Advantage of The Rules to Save a Few Bucks – an article highlighting one of the few remaining truly free services left in travel -included.

My favorite article from the carnival is Gone Phishing: How To Avoid Being Caught By Scammers, by Get Rich Slowly.  Partially by luck (both good and bad), the author nearly falls for a common phishing scam. Learn why it almost worked and why it did not.   When you fall for a phishing scam, you’re about to have your identity stolen, so this is an important read.

Finally, my article How I Scored a Big Labor Day Deals Without Shopping was included in Jeremy’s Friday round-up at Gen X Finance, where you can see other top articles from the last week.

Happy Wednesday!

Are you on the Do Not Call list?

You: Signed up the first day a few years ago.

Me too.  But I still get calls.

You: You do?

Yes.  Not as often as I once did. I estimate that signing up for the Do Not Call list cut down my calls over 90%, but definitely not 100%.

You: Why not?

Some of the calls I receive are fund raising efforts by charities.  Many other calls are political in nature.

You: Why do you get so many political calls? Are you running for office?

No.  It’s just that I live in New Hampshire, home of the nation’s first primary.

You: That’s not for another three years.

Indeed, but trust me, those calls will start within two.

You: Wow,  Who’s bugging you now?  I mean, who else can call you once you put your number on the Do Not Call list?

According to the Do Not Call web site:

Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls.

Alas, so I still get some calls.  I previously wrote about when $print tried to save me money by calling. I thought it was a pretty good story (and one reader added his own which had me laughing pretty hard).

I was reminded of all of this earlier this morning when, while reading this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, a carnival that featured my article Where do you get value? I discovered Taking Charge’s What part of “do not call” don’t you understand?

Tyler’s highly amusing account of several firms intense desire to try to get him out of debt he didn’t have is a must-read for anybody a) getting endless calls from a certain toll free number regardless of their level of debt or b) thinking about debt consolidation because they actually are overwhelmed with their debt burden.

#     #     #

So, what are the most annoying phone calls you still get?

Although I graduated from college well before David from Money Under 30 began his work as a college textbook salesman, I know first-hand of the pain he details in Confessions of a Textbook Salesman, a highlight of this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Adam of Your Money Relationship.  (Adam was kind enough to list my post Bank Fees and Billing Errors as one of his editor’s picks – thanks Adam!)

The former textbook salesman tells of lavish parties and the wining and dining of professors; all in the spirit of getting the publisher’s book adopted as the required textbook for the  next term.

You:  Where does all this money come from?

From the students, of course.

You: Ugh. More debt.

Indeed, student loans make this all possible, and you get to pay them back.  Now don’t get me wrong – I love capitalism and I don’t see anything illegal about what the publishers are doing (from bundling of class notes to the rapid-fire creation of marginally different new editions, both of which make it far more difficult for students to get a “used” version of a textbook.). Heck, such practices are arguably not even immoral.

You: But?

But they sure are greedy.  And it is, I believe, short-sighted.  For, as I commented on David’s post,

Where there is too much greed (and I believe there is in the textbook publishing world), the economics of the alternatives, by definition, become more attractive. As such, by playing these games, the textbook publishers will accelerate the speed at which competing sources of information (which is what a textbook is), replace it.

Would you rather sell 10 books at $100 a pop (while 40 people find a way to get by without or find a used book), or sell 50 copies new, at $25 each?

As a publisher and an author, I know the answer to that question for me.

Your thoughts?

It’s remarkable how much psychology plays a role in money-related decisions.

You: In everything, really.

True, there’s a psychological element to nearly every choice you make.

By the way I just got an email that Total Candor won an award from the US Commerce Association.

You: Congratulations!

No.

You: No?

No.  It didn’t pass the smell test.

You: How did you know?

First off, I’m always incredibly skeptical of winning any award I don’t apply for. Second, the name sounded scam-worthy.

You: Scam-worthy?

I’m just saying: it sounds big and impressive yet no one has ever heard of it.  Two seconds on google later, I pressed the delete button.

You: Still, short of telling folks you won an award that might not have been all that impressive, what’s the harm?

None, but no doubt other businesses purchased the little plaques the US Commerce Association is hawking.  Worse, some prospective customers probably became actual customers of such businesses thinking that the awards displayed were impressive.

You have to be careful.  Just because someone has initials after his name, doesn’t mean the person is impressive – or has done anything relevant to your decision-making process. Just because a website is called freecreditreport.com doesn’t mean it’s a place you can get a credit report for free without any strings attached (Visit annualcreditreport.com for that).

You: You forgot to put the link to the first web site.

No I didn’t.  Want more psychology?

I just finished breezing through this week’s carnival of personal finance, which featured my Negotiate your cable bill – How I lowered my cable bill. A great article which takes the ups and downs of psychology and decision-making to a most humorous yet effective level is Realm of Prosperity’s The Infomercial Copycat Method of Debt Reduction.

The infomercial article was one of my recent favorites. I think you’ll enjoy it as well.

H0w has psychology or re-framing a decision affected your course of action?

You: Cheesy title.

Monday morning.

You: You too?

Yup.  Anyway, I thought I’d take this fine Monday morning to highlight some of my best recent articles from around the web:

• Twelve Crazy Myths of Personal Finance was a ton of fun to write. Pretty sure you’ll enjoy it too, evidenced by its selection as an editor’s pick at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Almost Frugal in France.

• At the recently relaunched Mint.com blog (now called Mint Life), I wrote Understanding Roth IRA Conversions.

• You might recall I also guide the Retirement Planning site at About.com.  Recently, I published Contributing to a 401(k) and a Roth IRA: You Can Do It! as a reminder that these two fantastic options aren’t mutually exclusive.

• At ING DIRECT’s We The Savers blog, I guest posted How can you save more money? Spend more time!

• This just in:  I’m quoted on The Wall Street Journal’s blog “The Wallet,” discussing Credit Card Rules For Under-21s: Wise Idea or Ticket To Financial Hardship?

Hope you enjoy! Questions? Comments?  Anywhere else you’d like to see my writing?

As my wife and I continue to search for a home –

You: What’s going on with that?

We bid on a home a few weeks ago and didn’t get it.

You: Any follow-up?

There was another opportunity to bid higher and become a firm back-up, but we decided not to.

You: So now what?

We’ve basically exhausted all of the homes currently for sale in our price range in our desired locations so we’re waiting for something new to come on the market.

You: That’s it?

Yes, although it’s also possible that something will fall in price so that it enters our price range.  We’re being patient.

Since we’re eventually going to buy a home and because I’m in the field I’m in, I watch housing numbers carefully.  I also watch what people are saying and feeling, since so much of our economy is psychological.  To that end, here are two different articles I came across in the last few days that I recommend you check out.

High-End Homes Frozen Out of Budding Housing Rebound is a great page 1 article from The Wall Street Journal from a few days ago. It remains one of the most popular articles on their web site.  It discusses the lack of a bottom for the high-end homes and offers up some potential reasons including:

• The lack of a homebuyer tax credit for upper income individuals
• Significantly higher interest rates for loans which are not conforming (greater than $417,000) regardless of income or affordability
• Higher down payment percentage requirements for bigger loans

If you’re considering buying or already own a home north of $400K, consider this required reading. If your current home ownership or aspiration is less, I’d still recommend  you take a gander, since what happens at the high end of the economy affects everyone.

I came across another article related to the housing market in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.  The Continued Slow Deflation of the Housing Bubble is a discussion of how the aging of America may have a long-lasting impact on housing prices.  Based on a 2007 study at USC, it’s an interesting take by Tough Money Love. I say that even though I don’t agree with some of its conclusions, as you’ll see from my comment at the end of the article.

#     #     #

What do you think about home prices now? In the near term?  Long-term?