Buy, give and give again!

Is there someone in your life who’s ‘impossible to buy for’?

Or a person who deserves an extra special gift?

How about the gift of happiness?

Do Something Different (the movement co-founded by Professor Karen Pine) has teamed up with Action for Happiness to create Do Happiness. It’s all about less moaning and more appreciating.  Less rushing around and more stopping and smelling the mince pies. More turning frowns upside down.

And when you buy one happiness programme you automatically create a free one for someone who can’t afford it. So it’s smiles all round.

Do Happiness is a six-week programme of small personalised actions (Do’s) designed to supercharge your happiness levels - and spread happiness to others.

Do Happiness

How does it work?

It’s simple. The Do-er does a quick online happiness questionnaire. Then they are sent daily Do’s: powerful actions designed by psychologists, and picked especially for them, to act upon. And access to a Do Zone in which to log and share them.

Do's are small positive actions that arrive by text and/or email

How much does it cost?

Do Happiness costs £15 for a six-week programme – a total of 32 daily Do’s sent by email and/or text. That’s less than the cost of a massage for something that lasts much longer and isn’t so oily. Each programme that’s started automatically releases one free of charge to a less-fortunate person on the list. That’s the first act of kindness. And there are more smile-generating acts to follow.

Show your friends and family some happy love

Plant some extra happiness in your own life, or that of friends and family, and watch the happiness blossom and grow right into next year, one Do at a time.

Find out more

Moments of Weakness: Five Impulse Spending Triggers

Do you know what your weak spot is? Is it the shoe section in Harvey Nicks or those racks of beauty products at the airport? Do you buy more food when you're hungry (who doesn't)? More clothes when you're stressed? More gifts when feeling guilty? More of anything-that-isn't-nailed-down when you're pre-menstrual and have just been paid?

People rarely buy stuff for utilitarian reasons. Buying is more often the result of mind-boggling marketing tricks, seductive store layouts and a whole host of biological, psychological and even evolutionary factors.  

Purchasing decisions aren't always made rationally

We aren't always in as much control as we'd like to be, as the growing number of people with credit card debts or compulsive shopping disorders will testify. And men and women shop differently, with more women inclined to spend on impulse.

Impulse buys are a buyer's curse and a seller's dream. 

A recent article on the excellent Huffington Post website has captured the Five Big Moments When You're Most Likely to Overspend. 

According to their writer Candace Braun, those moments of weakness are when:

You're Mindful of The Time:  A slogan that urged people to "spend a little time, enjoy C&D's lemonade," resulted in more people buying a drink, and paying 51% more for it (compared to a those who saw a sign that asked them to "spend a little money"). This 2008 study from Stanford University showed that  'spending time' feels more like buying an experience, not just handing over hard-earned cash. Slogans linked to time, like 'thank Crunchie it's Friday' work in the same way.

If the time seems right.....

You're Trying to Avoid The Crowds: You may feel super-organised shopping at 7 a.m. on a Wednesday, when Tesco is blissfully quiet, but your purse could take a bigger hit.  Being in a crowd makes us less likely to overspend, according to a Journal of Consumer Research study. We are more focused on getting out unscathed than on making another purchase.

I know you didn't come out to buy this, but here you are!

You've Got Money in Another Account: That offer of the £100 bonus for opening an extra account seems a no-brainer. However, a May 2013 study found that people tend to save more when they have just one place to deposit money.  Researchers say that with one account it's easier to keep track of how much is in there -- and how much you're spending. When we have multiple accounts, it's easy to spend from one while feeling reassured there's money in the other account too.

You've Got to Buy Something Embarrassing: To try and mask the embarrassing item in their basket, almost 80 percent of people will pile in unnecessary extras to divert the cashier's and other shoppers' attention, a Journal of Consumer Research study found. Online shopping could be the answer here!

Gift purchases are less guilt-ridden

You Need Some Retail Therapy: It's common to feel the urge to splurge when emotions are high or mood is low. My research has also shown that 75 percent of women are more likely to overspend or impulse buy when treating someone else. Feeling low can lead to us literally trying to buy happiness and buying gifts for those we care about can help us feel more connected to them, as we say in Sheconomics. Of course, buying for someone else doesn't induce as much guilt either when money is tight.

Thanks again to the Huffington Post for bringing these spending triggers to light, and for including Sheconomics in their article - it's always nice to reach out to our US readers - issues with money cross cultural boundaries and oceans too.

Can happiness be bought, and how much does it cost?

Finally. Sunny days have arrived. People everywhere are wearing less and smiling more. A bit of sunshine certainly does wonders for our happiness. But what does money do for our happiness levels? 

Does money make you happy?

Generally, the research shows that - above a certain level of income - having more money doesn’t make people any happier. Having more friends and better relationships does. But there is a link between financial health and mental wellbeing.

And a lack of money often causes unhappiness. 

So can we spend money in a way that will boost our happiness levels? 

It seems that we can, in these ways:

•      Spend money on experiences rather than material goods and you’ll be smiling more. Happy times leave positive memory traces that we can call up when we’re feeling down; they also connect us to other people which is critical to our happiness. Just going outside for 20 minutes a day has been shown to boost positive mood.
•      Spend money on other people and you’ll feel happier. Yes, even happier than if you spent it on yourself. Treating a friend to breakfast at a local brasserie and having a good chat will bring more joy than another pair of shoes. Being more socially involved has been shown to be worth up to £85,000 extra income. Or spend money on a stranger by paying it forward and see how good that feels.
•      Spend money now that will bring future returns. Most people consume now and pay later. Pay now, consume later and life will seem a whole lot better, spiced up with the anticipation of the joy to come. The brain releases happy chemicals when we are anticipating happy times ahead so max out on lots of those. Even if you can't afford a holiday, just planning a break from work will make you feel happier.
•        Spend on things you love now and again. If something is a special treat rather than part of the fabric of your life, you’ll feel happier if you indulge yourself occasionally. We all like a little luxury now and again.
•             Spend money in ways that brings you more quality time. If your precious spare time is spent cleaning the house, spend money on a cleaner not on a better car. Big house, long commute? A shorter commute and smaller house could be the answer.Or just consider getting rid of your TV and instantly giving yourself more time.

COMING LATER THIS YEAR: In conjunction with Action for Happiness we at Do Something Different are launching a Do Happiness programme, an online programme to boost and spread happiness. Watch this space for more info!