Ramblings about money, behaviour and psychology

Ok. My umpteenth attempt at blogging. Will this one last?

For me, this is a year of learning. Financial and geographical constraints mean that I am unable to pursue any post-graduate study for now, but it doesn't mean that I can't learn. I can read books, so I have started doing so. I can do free online courses, thanks to Coursera, and I can follow other people's work and research, thanks to social media like Twitter and the Internet.

So what do I want to learn? I want to learn more about psychology, behaviour, behavioral economics aka why people do irrational things particularly with their money. I'm not a natural blogger, but a blog seems like a good way to record my learning journey, and a good forum to express my thoughts about my pet topics of people and their behaviour with money, as well as financial literacy.

And this is a good time as any to start, as I am due to begin my Coursera course with Dan Ariely on Irrational Behaviour. Having read two and a half of his three books, I am psyched to begin, though rather daunted by the workload and expectations of the course. Have already downloaded the pre-course recommended reading materials, including Kahnemann's Nobel Prize address, so I think there will be lots to write about, if I can be disciplined about it.

I want to find ways to tie what I am learning about with my own personal experiences, and also my observations of behaviour around me. Let's hope that'll help me sustain this blog.