You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap) Quotes

“I held on to stuff I didn't need or use because I wanted to hold on to that part of my identity, or my perceived identity. I am writer, a knitter, a doodler, a skier, a hiker, and more. Cool belongings, like fancy skis, seem to represent my personality. But in truth, I hardly ski anymore, so why keep skis? If I accumulate stuff just to prove who I am, or was, it prevents me from doing meaningful things with my life right now, like focusing on health, happiness, and my relationships.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“[L]iving simply isn't about becoming an ascetic; it's not about denying yourself pleasure and joy. It's not about austerity. Instead, it's about building a life steeped in the only precious gifts that can bring lasting happiness: time, freedom, and community. The focus is on life, not stuff.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“As Scott Russell Sanders noted in an article entitled “Breaking the Spell of Money”: “Beyond meeting our basic needs, money cannot give us any of the things that actually bring happiness — family, community, good health, good work, experience of art and nature, service to others, a sense of purpose, and spiritual insight.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“My grandparents taught me that living a simple life isn’t about self-deprivation. Instead, it’s about giving yourself the time, freedom, and money to pursue your dreams.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and best-selling author, said in his book The Joy of Living: “Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“This brief conversation reminded me of my old life: driving everywhere, going to a job I hated, and not spending enough time outside. I was so “busy” then,”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“you can be happier by helping others, donating to charities, and buying a few small pleasures.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Rather than cluttering up your home, stealing your time, and draining your wallet, the stuff in your life should serve a purpose and make you happy. If that isn’t the case, then your stuff owns you.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“The primary asset that comes with a small house is freedom. The world gets a lot bigger when you are living small because I can afford to do a lot more things in terms of cash and time. Now the whole world is my living room.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“How many unexpected, unlooked-for tiny pleasures can you list at the end of each day?”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Jonah Lehrer explains, “Loss aversion is now recognized as a powerful mental habit with widespread implications. The desire to avoid anything that smacks of loss often shapes our behavior, leading us to do foolish things.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“happy. If that isn’t the case, then your stuff owns you.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“stuff in your life should serve a purpose and make you happy.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Accepting and living by sufficiency rather than excess offers a return to what is, culturally speaking, the human home: to the ancient order of family, community, good work, and the good life; to a reverence for skill, creativity, and creation; to a daily cadence slow enough to let us watch the sunset and stroll by the water’s edge; to communities worth spending a lifetime in; and to local places pregnant with the memories of generations.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“increased happiness requires a shift in attention toward time.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Another big joy in my life is accepting other people for who they are and where they’re at. It’s all these little things. It’s not about stuff. There are so many opportunities to practice joy and happiness, and people miss them.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Focusing on being kind and helpful is more than just a tiny pleasure; it adds a tremendous amount of joy and meaning to my life.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Happiness research has shown that people who savor life experiences are less neurotic and more self-confident.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Offer to help your friends and family with child care, pet sitting, or taking care of their garden. Each time we share our time or resources, we avoid buying something new, and we make a meaningful connection with another human.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. — DIETRICH BONHOEFFER”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Most of the time, we only “know” our neighbors on a superficial level. To really get to know someone takes time, and we aren’t always willing to give that kind of time or make that effort. Upon”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Beyond meeting our basic needs, money cannot give us any of the things that actually bring happiness — family, community, good health, good work, experience of art and nature, service to others, a sense of purpose, and spiritual insight.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“To change one’s life, start immediately, do it flamboyantly, no exceptions. — WILLIAM JAMES”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Robert Kennedy explained the problem beautifully. He said GDP doesn’t register “the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Living with less is a life philosophy; it’s not about the number of things you own.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too

“Happiness is always there. If it’s not, you’re allowing something to block you from seeing that it’s there.”
― Tammy Strobel, You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too