We think of money as numbers, values, and amounts, but when it comes down to it, when we actually use our money, we engage our hearts more than our heads. Emotions play a powerful role in shaping our financial behavior, often making us our own worst enemies as we try to save, access value, and spend responsibly. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely teams up with financial comedian and writer Jeff Kreisler to challenge many of our most basic assumptions about the precarious relationship between our brains and our money. They undermine many of personal finance's most sacred beliefs and explain how we can override some of our own instincts to make better financial choices. From the lure of pain-free spending with credit cards to the pitfalls of household budgeting to the seductive power of holiday sales - Ariely and Kreisler demonstrate how our misplaced confidence in our spending habits frequently leads us astray, costing us more than we realize, whether it's the real value of the time we spend driving forty-five minutes to save $10 or our inability to properly assess what the things we buy are actually worth. The emotional forces working against us and how we can counteract them. The authors cut through the unconscious fears and desires driving our worst financial instincts and teach us how to improve our money habits. Dan Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University.