Morgan Housel's The Art of Spending Money provides context for the read how to think how they can spend money in a way that fosters happiness. Many of spend money on the wrong things for the wrong reasons. All of us judge other people's money decisions. Most of the actions we take don't make us happier.

What I love most about this book is that many of the examples are not about money. This is not a financial planning book. The goal is not to make more money or save more money. The goal is to help readers understand how to make their money work for them instead of working for money.

The non-money examples make the book more accessible. Housel has a wide funnel for the books he reads, but he's also okay with not finishing a book. Maybe he got everything needed out of the introduction or maybe it wasn't what he expected. Trying lots of things gives us exposure to new things, some of which might be unexpected sources of happiness, finishing books we don't like can make reading tedious and reduce the amount we read.

Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn is a similar book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't have to know what this book was all about. Just the name of the author, Morgan Housel gave me a surety that I would be learning something new that I did not know before. As a continuation of the author's earlier books and especially 'The Psychology of Money' which without question is one of the best financial books that anyone shall ever read, this book is about the 'art' of spending money. As the title itself suggests, spending money is not a science with well established rules, formulae and equations. It is an art like cooking with customizations based on one's tastes, available resources and personal priorities.. More importantly, this book tells us what not to do with money and/or in the pursuit of money and also helps us obtain insights from the lives of other people and learn from their mistakes instead of reinventing the wheel for ourselves. Definitely 5 stars.

Interesting anecdotes and straightforward advice on how to spend well. Focus on the important things and less of the keep up with the Jones. It might appeal to those who haven’t thought about the topic too much. Long form narrative style. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Morgan Housel has quietly become one of the most important voices in personal finance—not because he teaches you how to get rich, but because he helps you understand why you even want to.

In The Psychology of Money, Housel reframed wealth as a behavior, not a 47-tab excel tracker. In his second book, Same As Ever, he made the case that while the world changes, human nature doesn’t. And now, in The Art of Spending Money, he takes on the most underexplored part of personal finance: not how we make money, but how we use it.

This isn’t a how-to guide or a budgeting manual. Rather, it’s a mirror. Instead of shaming you about buying expensive lattes, Housel asks better questions: Why do you spend money the way you do? Is it about freedom or fear? Status or security? Validation or revenge? The result is part therapy session, part philosophy class, wrapped in bite-sized stories and anecdotes that land with a lasting impact.

The best part is that he doesn’t preach. He just lays out the human side of money—flaws, contradictions, and all—and lets you decide if your current habits are actually getting you where you want to go.

It made me think twice about how I spend, and even more importantly, how I judge others for how they spend. Because, as he says: “All behavior makes sense with enough information.”

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.4 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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This is one of the best books about money I’ve ever read, no exaggeration. I haven’t read any of Housel’s other books, but I definitely will be after how much this book has affected me. It throws out the cliched advice of countless other finance books that sing the praises of saving for the future while avoiding jumping to the opposite end of the spectrum of living only for today (because YOLO!). I’ve always struggled with my relationship to money, due to having grown up poor. This book has given me so much food for thought and has covered a philosophy I never thought to consider. I will immediately be purchasing and reading the authors other books and will happily add this one to my physical library upon publication as well. This is a book that everyone can benefit from, rich or poor, to make you reflect on how you think about money.

This is Morgan Housel’s best book yet! I went in thinking it might repeat ideas from his earlier work, but it didn’t at all. The Art of Spending Money brings a fresh and powerful perspective on how we think about money and what we choose to spend it on.

I not only learned a lot, but also found myself reflecting on my own spending habits. I'm also less inclined to judge the way other people spend their money after reading this book, after all, "all behavior makers sense with enough information" (Housel, 2025). It’s the kind of book that sticks with you long after you finish it.

I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy when it comes out. I can see myself coming back to it again and again. Highly recommend for anyone interested in making more intentional, thoughtful financial choices.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of The Art of Spending Money in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone who has ever been tempted to “keep up with the Joneses” should read this book. Housel first describes why it’s titled “the art” and not the science because the best way to spend money may be different for everyone. Some need to buy the Ferrari and some shouldn’t because they would only do it for the wrong reasons. But it’s not just Ferraris, mansions, yachts and so on, we can be careful about how we spend on the little things as well.

The author starts with a distinction between rich (easily measured income and assets/net worth) and wealthy which is wisely using riches for your goals and purposes and not being “owned” by your wealth and things. So the main advice is to ask why you’re spending the money the way you are: to gain admiration, seek approval, garner influence and power, satisfy an appetite or itch, overcome some past hurt or snubbing, succumb to the familial or peer expectations, and so on. For example, he writes about the Vanderbilts, once one of the richest if not the richest families in the world. Within a few generations, the family was bankrupt because grandchildren and great-grandchildren followed an expressed dictum of “spending no matter the pleasure” whereas other socialites were seeking pleasure no matter the expense. So we need to be aware of some hidden social, emotional and expectation costs to how we spend our money. What are we telling others about us by how we decide to buy or not buy?

It’s not a new idea but it’s valuable that Housel puts here. Don’t look up at others and figure out what you don’t have; be content. In another research study, silver Olympic medal winners are more unhappy than bronze medal winners. Silver medal achievers seem to only look at how close they were to gold while bronze winners are delighted they weren’t fourth or fifth. Similarly, people (especially CEOs) can get trapped into believing their and their organization’s successes are due to their own efforts, without acknowledging that “luck” may have had a part in it, while poor results or disasters (loss of job, e.g.) are caused by others and so people often end up with victim mentality. People can often fail to recognize when a behavior or decision has stopped providing positive results because something has changed. And vice versa, something has changed and what was giving you less than satisfactory results now starts working. Housel counsels against this hubris of believing you’re the champion or the victim.

Interestingly, he does not give advice but suggest aspects to decide for yourself if your current habits are working or not. Additionally, Housel writes about some paradoxes of finances and wealth. One example: paying attention to the bigger expenses will help you save money and you should ignore smaller expenses; yet, paying attention to the small things can lead to big savings over time. While he highlights some of the super-wealthy and their mistakes and regrets, he also illustrates principles with ordinary, everyday middle income examples. In every case, spend with purpose. This book will help you determine what that purpose is (or purposes are) and how content you are with that goal.

The book reminded me of Thorstein Veblen’s hundred year classic, “The Theory of the Leisure Class” and its corollary that the upper socioeconomic caste is obsessed with “conspicuous consumption.” Some of Housel’s ideas are not new but he has pulled a lot of financial threads together.. Also, I found the author’s perspective helpful in reminding me of some past experiences. I had a friend, an executive, who continued to drive a 20-year-old, rusty Corolla because “it still gets me to work, no worse than a new car.” Meanwhile, as a fellow executive, I was advised to upgrade my vehicle—not to any ostentatious or excessively luxurious model—to show my staff that desiring to be in my position was capable of providing the means for improving their lifestyle. Again, there can be hidden social, emotional and expectation costs to our decisions.

If you’re struggling to maintain a budget, this book will be helpful. If you have financial peace, this book might help you redirect some spending to areas that do provide pleasure. Or satisfaction.

I’m appreciative of the publisher providing an advanced copy.