99 And A Flake – It’s The Small Things In Life That Give Us True Happiness Per Pound This Summer!
It’s the first day of the school holidays and therefore, in my eyes, Summer has officially begun. This is a time where we can find true happiness. Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t caught on this fact as it’s literally pouring down as I type this… Eurgh, come back sun!
Now I’m a firm believer that money can’t buy you happiness and for sure the best things in life are free but this research by Zopa, the FeelGood MoneyTM company, reveals that it’s the small things in life that give us true happiness per pound this summer and I am inclined to agree with many of their findings.
99 And A Flake – It’s The Small Things In Life That Give Us True Happiness Per Pound This Summer!
They commissioned behavioural analyst Darius Lucas to carry out ground breaking research to help people make the most of their money over the summer months. The unique research asked Britons to consider 100 summertime spends and give them a happiness rating out of 1,000. Items ranged from the simple – a humble ice cream, to the extravagant – a £1,000 weekend in New York – how fabulous!
Turns out that eating chocolate and donating to charity give British people the most happiness per £1 during the summer months. Now, as a female the chocolate eating I can 100% relate too…maybe a little too much and who doesn’t love the feel good fuzziness of helping others?
The science of how they came to these conclusions get even more interesting when the scores were then weighted alongside the cost of the items to reveal summer’s top list of feel good purchases in the ‘Ice Cream Index’ ( Snazzy name, huh?) The score was also influenced by how long it took people to decide; hovering over an item for a longer time led to a lower score – fascinating stuff!
The results show that it’s the little things in life that give us the biggest feel good factor. With items such as ‘a book’, ‘a home-cooked family meal’ and ‘cocktails at happy hour’ scoring higher than ‘a high-tech drone’ and ‘a holiday in New York’. Not sure I prefer an ice cream to a holiday but not everyone has the same has the same wants in life!
Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer at Zopa, said: “This just goes to show you don’t need lots of money to feel good this summer – it’s how you spend it that matters. Zopa offers customers the chance to feel good about their financial lives and so we commissioned the Ice Cream Index to discover which items really make people happy when the sun shines, whatever their budget. It links two subjects at the heart of Zopa – money and happiness!
Do you agree with the results? I’d love to hear what makes you feel happiest over the Summer and if you have any Summer plans below. One thing is for sure, now I really, really fancy Ice cream!
