3 Ways to Live a Rich Life

Living a full, happy, and rich life isn’t all about money. In fact, sometimes it’s not about money at all. As Coco Chanel once said, “There are people who have money and people who are rich.”

Some of the things we cherish most in life like our family, our friends, and the experiences we’ve had or have yet to have, have little to do with money. Even so, most of us feel that we’d be able to be a little happier if we did have at least a little more money coming in every month.

With that in mind, here are 3 ways you can live a rich life by spending your money wisely to end up with more in your pocket in the end.

Give Creatively

Finding creative ways to open your wallet and give even small amounts of money is a great way to build some self-confidence and good karma. How? When you are worried about money, you are less likely to give it away to charity, those in need, or just to brighten someone’s day. But by deciding to give a little money even when times are tight you are symbolizing self-reliance and the confidence that what goes around comes around.

Here are a couple of creative ways you can give small amounts of money to make someone’s day special:

• Tuck a $1 bill into several children’s books at the library.
• Give someone a tip who you normally wouldn’t. For example, the carhop at the drive in who isn’t really a waitress and doesn’t usually get tips.

Giving creatively is a great way to get started on the track to live a rich life.

Pay it Forward

You’ve heard of the pay it forward movement haven’t you?  The pay it forward movement is supposed to be an act of charity (although that has been debated) which in turn helps you earn some good karma.

There are ways to pay it forward besides just paying for someone else’s latte at Starbucks, including passing on jobs to other people in your industry when you simply don’t have time to take them on yourself. For instance, when I started as a freelance writer, I got a couple of jobs via recommendations from more established bloggers who weren’t looking for any more jobs. They could’ve chosen to work more hours and take the job themselves, but instead they paid it forward.

Paying it forward is also about pursuing something besides just money, like happiness and a work-life balance.

Invest in Happiness

The final way you can live a rich life (and hopefully more monetary riches too) is to invest in your happiness. We all like to say that “money can’t buy happiness”, but is that totally true? I’d argue that sometimes money can indeed buy some happiness.

As I pointed out above, when someone is struggling and you decide to pay it forward, they probably feel happiness. When a child opens a library book and finds a $1 bill they will probably feel happy. So can money buy happiness?

Another example where money can buy happiness can be found in a research project from Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert Ph.D. Here is some of what his study says according to Business Insider:

“This sentiment is lovely, popular, and almost certainly wrong,” says Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert in a paper he coauthored.

Money provides an “opportunity for happiness” the authors say, since moneyed people can live longer and healthier lives, enjoy financial security, have leisure time, and control what they do every day.

Gilbert and his colleagues suggest spending on the following in order to live a rich life:

• Experiences, not things.
• Helping others instead of yourself.
• Many small pleasures instead of few large ones.
• Buy less insurance.
• Pay now and consume later.
• Think about what’s it’s really like to own the things you want to buy.
• Stop comparison shopping.
• Ask your friends’ advice.

Do you live a rich life? Do you practice any of these 3 things so you can live a rich life? What do you think about Dan Gilbert’s study and suggestions for aligning your spending to create ultimate happiness?