“Why do we regret spending money?”

Everything You Need to Know About Money Decisions from a Behavioral Economics Perspective

Amidst the global economic crisis, there is more interest than ever in how to spend money wisely.
When do you feel satisfied with your spending? Why do people regret spending money? How can we use money most effectively?
This book is about the dangerous relationship between humans and money, which Professor Dan Ariely, known for his book "The Unconventional Economics," realized while observing people who constantly make wrong decisions regarding money.
If we could only follow his example and realize how irrational and, in other words, emotional our human sense of economic activity, especially when it comes to money, is—“People have a natural talent for making bad choices when it comes to money,” he says—we could overcome our instincts and reestablish a sound standard for money and decision-making.

People are surprised when you remind them that there are alternative ways to spend their money.
The fact that they are so surprised means that they do not normally think about alternative consumption.
And not considering alternatives means not considering opportunity costs.
This tendency to ignore opportunity cost also indicates a fundamental flaw in our human thinking.
This reveals that the wonderful property of money—the ability to exchange it for a variety of choices, now or in the future—is also why our behavior around money is so problematic.
When spending money, you should think in terms of opportunity cost, meaning that if you spend money on something now, you have to give up something else, but this kind of thinking is too abstract and difficult.
So we don't think like that.

--- p.42 「02.
From "What is Money"

Which of the following two dress shirts would you choose? One has a price tag of $60, and the other has a price tag of $100 with the words "40% off! Only $60!"
Actually, it doesn't matter either way.
No matter what the price tag says, a $60 item is a $60 item.
However, because the concept of relativity operates deep in the mind, people do not view the two prices above as the same.
So, regular customers like Aunt Susan will always choose shirts that are on sale (and will be outraged by price tags that simply say $60 without any additional text).
But is this behavior logical? No.
Is this something that can be fully understood if you understand the concept of relativity? Yes.
Does this happen often? Yes.
Is this important enough to oust the CEO? Absolutely.
--- p.58 「04.
From "Everything is relative"

Yet, people feel they pay no travel expenses whenever they use their cars (whether it's to go shopping, take a weekend trip out of town, or visit friends who live in the countryside).
Therefore, people who live in the city and own a car enjoy the feeling of saving money on taxis or rental cars, as well as the feeling of enjoying free travel.
Although we do incur expenses related to our cars at regular intervals, we do not incur any direct expenses related to this activity (other than gas) when we travel by car.
The same goes for using a timeshare system to secure accommodations for your vacation.
This system allows you to pay a significant amount in advance and then secure the right to use the property on your desired dates. Unlike the initial payment, the actual use is free! However, it's not truly free. While you may be using a condo or resort room for free during your vacation, the cost has already been paid.
This amount is usually paid once a year, but it feels like free when you use the room.
This is because the time of purchase and the time of actual use are different.

_pp.114-115 「05.
From "Money is fungible"

Prepaid cards are also an inherent part of the experience, like gift cards or casino chips.
When money goes into gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, or Babies "R" Us, we assign that money to our spending list.
If you exchange $20 in cash for a Starbucks card, that $20 is now fixed as money to be used to buy a latte or a scone, not, say, a Coca-Cola or Chinese food.
Once the money is allocated to that category of account, we feel like the payment has already been made.
That's why when you buy something with a gift card, you're not spending your own money, so you don't feel guilty.
Normally, when I buy coffee out of pocket, I choose simple items, but when I use a gift card, I splurge on expensive items like a venti soy chai latte or a biscotti.
Because it feels like it's free.
When you use a gift card, you don't feel any pain in paying.
Because the emotions a gift card evokes are completely different from the emotions you feel when paying with cash.

--- p.142 「06.
From “Habits of Avoiding Pain”

According to the basic laws of supply and demand, it is natural that umbrellas are more expensive when it rains because demand is high, and it is natural that Uber fares are higher when a blizzard hits because supply is low and demand is high.
So it's perfectly natural to pay a higher price.
The value of services like changing engine oil or opening locked doors should have nothing to do with fairness.
All that matters is how quickly and efficiently the work is completed.
But when people are asked to pay a high price for something that seems easy and doesn't take much time, they get upset, glare, stomp their feet, kick the dirt, or threaten to sabotage the business.
Why is that? Because they are fools who believe that prices should be fair.
People reject something when they believe it is unfair, no matter how good its value may be.
Punishing unfairness, and sometimes punishing yourself in the process (like James, who chose to get drenched when he could have avoided it).
--- p.238 「09.
From “Excessive Concerns about Fairness and Effort”

They spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to spend their money, but they still struggled.
So, they were all fools, not just because they failed to grasp the complexities of the world of money, not just because they were obsessed with value cues that were completely irrelevant, and not just because they made mistakes.
It's because I spent too much time worrying about money.

--- p.364 「13.
From "Money, Thinking Too Much is a Trouble"

However, mortgage product sellers know that people struggle with calculations when faced with choices in multidimensional situations.
So, they shout 'quickly!'
So, we are adding more and more options to our loan products.
The rationale for providing a variety of information to 'enable consumers to make diverse choices' is plausible.
But having more information and more options ultimately means people make more mistakes.

--- p.403 「17.
Among the various ways to save money