tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314824362012-02-01T13:56:14.605-05:00Fiscal FitnessMy thoughts about the creation of financial well-being, incorporating ideas from psychology and behavioral finance.Elissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12774206168802474666noreply@blogger.comBlogger41100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31482436.post-82467658458185390702009-07-14T13:56:00.002-05:002009-07-14T13:58:42.477-05:00Reducing Spending: Helpful bits of Psychology to Know1. We are poor at “affective forecasting,” or predicting how we’ll feel—in large part because we tend to project our present emotions into the future. As a corrective, hink not just about how you will feel about getting the item, but think about how you’ll feel after you’ve had it for a while. Remember those items of clothing in your closet that still have the tags on them, or the books or Elissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12774206168802474666noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31482436.post-38452604928153464582008-05-18T10:27:00.003-05:002008-05-18T10:50:39.254-05:00My Rules for Creating a Solid Financial FutureYesterday's (5/17/08) New York Times featured an article by Ron Lieber titiled, "Five Basics for Building a Solid Financial Future.") This reminded me of other "summary rules" posts I've seen, most notably the two below:http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/29/everything-you-ever-really-needed-to-know-about-personal-finance-on-the-back-of-five-business-cardshttp://blog.mint.com/blog/finance-coreElissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12774206168802474666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31482436.post-1153665299606221672006-07-23T08:52:00.000-05:002006-07-27T08:56:48.756-05:00You always want to try to get the best deal, right? NOT!On the face of it, it sounds like trying to get the best deal is a good thing. Who wouldn't want to get the best possible product for the least possible price? But economic theory and psychology research show that this isn't what you always want to do.From economics, one relevant concept is opportunity cost. The cost of a decision includes not only its price, but also the cost of the time and Elissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12774206168802474666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31482436.post-1153538252639492102006-07-21T22:17:00.000-05:002006-07-22T14:44:38.416-05:00The conflict between psychology and economicsOne of the underlying assumptions of economics is the idea of human rationality--that people will attempt to maximize their own well-being, or "utility." In contrast, some perspectives in psychology--most notably the psychoanalytic--have presumed the fundamental irrationality--the "psycho-logic" (as opposed to logic) of human beings.The conflict between perspectives has eroded over the last 20 Elissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12774206168802474666noreply@blogger.com4