You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too [Paperback]

Tammy Strobel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2012

Once, Tammy Strobel and her husband were living a normal middle-class lifestyle: driving two cars, commuting long distances, and living well beyond their means. Now they are living the voluntary downsizing — or smart-sizing — dream. In this book Strobel combines research on well-being with numerous real-world examples to offer practical inspiration. Her fresh take on our things, our work, and our relationships spells out micro-actions that anyone can take to step into a life that’s more conscious and connected, sustainable and sustaining, heartfelt and happy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“What do you need to be happy? It’s a lot less than you might expect. Read this book and prepare for change!”
— Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup

“One of the most important books you’ll read. If put into action, it will change lives.”
— Leo Babauta, author of The Power of Less

“This inspirational guide to creating a life of simple contentment is packed with real-life stories and practical tips for finding happiness. It’s thoughtful and engaging, a road map to a postconsumer world. I loved it.”
— J. D. Roth, editor of the blog Get Rich Slowly

“You will immediately connect with Tammy Strobel’s transparent and vulnerable storytelling. As a result, you will be challenged deeply by her discoveries about money, possessions, and happiness.”
— Joshua Becker, writer of the blog Becoming Minimalist

“Tammy Strobel’s new book should resonate with millions of Americans. She has articulated what has become a movement in these changing times: simplification of our lives, less stuff, smaller living spaces.”
— Lloyd Kahn, author of Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter

“This powerful book reminds all of us that happiness is a choice and that when you choose time over money and people over stuff, happiness awaits.”
— Courtney Carver, blogger and author of Simple Ways to Be More with Less

“This cheerful handbook offers the emotional and practical lessons Strobel learned while radically downsizing her living space, disposing of most of her possessions, and simplifying her lifestyle....Although her personal choices may seem extreme, the environmental politics and magnitude of change Strobel asks of her reader is distinctly moderate, making this a practical book even for those who only want to live a little bit lighter.”
— Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Simple living blogger Tammy Strobel is the author of the self-published Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself. She lives (in a tiny house) in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (September 11, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608680835
• ISBN-13: 978-1608680832
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My name is Tammy Strobel and I'm a full-time writer and photographer. I create ecourses that help students cultivate joy, beauty, and gratitude in their everyday lives and empower them to write more often.

I started blogging in late 2007 to become a better writer and to share my story. Blogging consistently improved my writing and it resulted in a book deal! My first print book, "You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too," will be available in September 2012.

I post articles regularly at rowdykittens.com. Please stop by and say hi!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Radical Simplicity 101 September 13, 2012

By Mark Graham

Format:Paperback

Browse the table of contents and you'll see a pattern emerge quickly: have less stuff, buy less things, and spend your time on money on what you truly value. If this sort of thinking and course of action interests you, this book will act as a primer for your simpler, more beautiful life.

This "biographical manifesto" of sorts is basically one woman's story of learning how to live a simpler, more gratifying life. We can see ourselves in her "before" -- and realize how much happier we might be if we learned to be more like her "after." The author's writing is gentle -- no guilt-ridden, "we're destroying the earth" doom and gloom. Global crisis notwithstanding, this is a book on personal and family transformation.

Check out the contents to get a further idea of what's inside:

Gratitude
Rethinking Normal

Part 1: The Paradox of Stuff
1. Buying Things that Will Not Make You Happy
2. The Stuff You Own Owns You

Part 2: Finding Happiness Through Simple Living
3. Changing Your Relationship With Stuff
4. The Power of Debt
5. Sell What You Can, Give the Rest Away
6. The Joy of the Small House
7. Reclaiming Work

Part 3: Buying Happiness
8. Time Is the Only Real Wealth
9. Money vs. Experiences
10. Relationships Matter, Not Things
11. The Art of Community Building
12. The Power of Tiny Pleasures

Epilogue: Love Life, Not Stuff

Fans of self-help books with an emphasis on personal stories will eat this book up. It's great as an inspiring story, and it's even more helpful as a road map for charting one's own journey to simplicity. It's not overbearing patronizing in its philosophizing, so the shame-and-cringe factor is low. Recommended for anyone who wishes to change their lives toward the simpler.

A couple of related books you probably would also enjoy are The Man Who Quit Money and I Walked to the Moon and Almost Everybody Waved: The Curiously Inspiring Adventures of a Free Spirit Who Changed Lives. Both are about living life in a deep way without material possessions.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest, personal, and specific guide to (real) simplicity August 28, 2012

By Chris Guillebeau

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Tammy Strobel lives by what she writes. I've been to her tiny house and seen the big life she has crafted.

Why would you choose to "voluntarily downsize" your life? Can you really buy happiness? These are the questions examined throughout Tammy's debut book, and she answers them well. The book is one-part philosophy and two-parts ACTION. You'll learn about Tammy and her husband Logan's journey, you'll observe how other people have made similar lifestyle choices, and you'll see how you can take steps of your own to simplify while still living well.

Not to worry: it's all voluntary, and it's all worth your attention. Tammy is the real deal, and so is this book. Recommended for anyone thinking seriously about life.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A simply great read September 18, 2012

By Hattie_PLU

Format:Paperback

I'd heard of Tammy Stroebel and have dipped my toes into her Rowdy Kittens blog over the last couple years so was super excited to find her new book on the shelf as I was browsing for the perfect trans-atlantic reading companion for my flight home. Before we left for our holiday my husband and I had started to feel weighted down by all our stuff; a physical abundance and most of it schmutter.

I read Tammy's book continously throughout the entire flight and returned home with fresh zeal to simplify my home and other areas of my life where things are feeling a little crowded.

If you're starting to feel that life is getting on top of you, your possessions are overcrowding you, and you're trapped in a overspending spiral this book is for you. Peppered with the author's personal narratives and sprinkled with interesting stats that will open your eyes, this book is an easy but oh so insightful and inspiring read.