Episode-by-episode discussion of The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel — how to buy a life instead of things. Each episode takes one chapter and turns it into something you can use today. Part of The Ambition Podcasts.
One chapter per episode, in the book's own order. Each episode stands on its own.
A woman has LASIK, ditches her glasses, sees perfectly for the first time in years — and comes back to Dr. Dan Goodman despondent. She had assumed her husband would find her more attractive and her colleagues more intelligent. When neither happened, she was crushed. "You have a problem I can't help you with," he told her. Nothing is worse than getting what you want but not what you need.
Housel's brother-in-law is a social worker with children pushed in and out of foster care. They skip class, fight, cannot think about the future — and the saying inside that system is that all behaviour makes sense with enough information. Once you know what those kids survived at home, it all adds up. Money works the same way: there is no universal right answer, only people with different pasts talking past each other.
Housel wrote letters to both his children saying: you think you want a nicer car and a bigger house, but you don't — what you actually want is respect and admiration, and you assume the stuff will buy it. Then the reverse obituary. Write what you want yours to say and live up to it. Nobody writes about horsepower, square footage, or carats.
A young man spent his days aching over the lives of rich aristocrats, wandering museums gawking at mansions. Proust sent him to study Chardin, who painted food, animals, ordinary rooms — so that walking through his own kitchen he would think, this is grand, this is beautiful. If your expectations grow faster than your income you will never be happy. The happiest people are simply the most content.
We discuss it chapter by chapter, but nothing replaces reading it. This is an Amazon affiliate link — it costs you nothing extra and it helps pay for the show.
4 episodes in this show, 1,100+ across the whole network, and a new one every day.
More chapter-by-chapter shows: The Psychology of Money · Rich Dad Poor Dad · The Millionaire Next Door · I Will Teach You to Be Rich · Think and Grow Rich
Educational commentary and review only — not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Morgan Housel or the publisher. All discussion is transformative and used under Fair Use. No copyright infringement intended. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.