Do you love roller coasters, horror movies, and haunted houses? You’ve got a lot of company. The fact is, most people like a good scare. At least, when they know – deep down – that they’re not in any real danger.

Behavioral scientist Dr. David Rudd says that most adults and teens can realistically gauge how dangerous something is, whether it’s a roller coaster, or a zombie in a haunted house. They understand they might have nightmares afterward, but they still feel relatively safe. So, instead of experiencing real fear, they feel excitement instead. That’s also one reason people scream when they’re make-believe scared by a movie, or a Halloween attraction, and then laugh immediately afterward. Because the enjoyment is bubbling right below the surface.

But not everybody enjoys being scared. Some adults and most young children can’t tell whether something is scary-fun, or genuinely scary. It’s because they have less experience gauging how dangerous things are, whether it’s a monster in a movie, or a skeleton on someone’s lawn that screams as they walk by. So, they’re more likely to feel like they’re in real danger.

That’s why kids get scared so much more easily than adults. And why they may not find the scarier-parts of Halloween enjoyable at all.

Why is it that so many people choose NOT to save money? It has very little to do with your income and expenses. Researchers at Dartmouth and Harvard Universities studied people with lower incomes who easily outsaved higher-income earners – by an average of $100,000 as well as people with huge incomes who didn’t save a dime.

So what did they learn?

For one, some people simply check out. The researchers say many of us don’t save because it’s easy to spend in our culture, and we’re on autopilot. We don’t think of money management as something we need to do. We’ll schedule things like laundry and movie night, but neglect to sit down and focus on our finances.

Also – we procrastinate. We know that someday we’re going to need money, but our lives are so hectic and things are so expensive, that we keep putting it off until things settle down – which, as we know, never happens. Or we’re convinced that our “million dollar idea” – that business we’re going to start or the novel we’re going to write – is going to take care of our retirement needs. When it comes to money, we have to be more practical than that.

So, ready to give your bank account a boost? Here are a couple of tips:

• Bank your raise. Mary Hunt is a financial expert and author of Live Your Life For Half the Price, and she says the next time you get a raise, or a bonus, save at least half of it. Let’s say your raise gives you an extra $200 a month. If you save half of that – $100 a month – at 6% interest for 10 years, that money will grow into more than $16,000! You won’t miss it, because you never saw it in the first place.
• Save the payment. When you pay off something, like a car loan or a credit card, take the amount of money you were paying each month and add it to your savings instead. A $330 monthly payment to yourself over five years turns into more than $23,000! Enough to buy your next car with CASH.

You might encounter a few scaredy-cats this Halloween, but one thing you don’t want to see is a sick or injured pet. That’s why the ASPCA asked us to remind you of these animal safety tips for the spookiest night of the year.

• Keep an eye on the candy. Chocolate can cause seizures and even be fatal to dogs and cats, and the artificial sweetener xylitol can cause liver failure in dogs. It’s also important to pick up the trash. Ingesting tin foil and candy wrappers can pose a choking hazard or cause intestinal blockage.

• Pet-proof your decorations. Chewing an electric cord can damage your pet’s mouth – or cause electrocution. Candles may look spooky, but they’re a big injury risk to curious cats and kittens.

• Leave the costumes for the kids. Liam Crowe is a dog behavioral therapist and co-founder of Bark Busters USA. He says that while you may think those antlers or sunglasses look adorable on Fido – they could drive him crazy. If you decide to put a costume on your pet, have a dress rehearsal to make sure it doesn’t restrict their movement or breathing.

Holidays like Halloween can be overwhelming to pets. You want to make sure yours can’t get to the candy or decorations. If your dog or cat seems nervous or agitated, put them in a quiet place away from trick-or-treaters.

In the fall season, do you tend to feel happier? Here’s what’s going on, according to psychology professor Dr. Jason Brunt from Biola University.

First, your brain is more ALERT in fall than any other time of year! Because where winter is mostly white and snowy – and spring and summer are dominated by green – fall brings a burst of vibrant yellow, orange and red shades in nature. And Dr. Brunt says our brain interprets the visual contrast as something “significant.” Like a loud noise in a quiet room. It wakes us up mentally.

Then, fall foliage can also fight stress! According to the University of Washington, stressed out people who gazed at trees with brightly-colored fall foliage had a significant drop in heart rate and stress hormones. Plus, focusing on the changing colors of the leaves can be an exercise in mindfulness – which relaxes us, too.

And when the temperature drops, we have less anxiety. Hot and humid weather increases our heart rate, breathing rate, and other metabolic reactions. And our brain can interpret that as an anxiety attack. So in fall, we feel calmer.

That’s why Dr. Brunt says, autumn activates our brain in a way that makes us feel happier… calmer… and more connected to nature!