Am I claiming you can buy happiness?  Probably not, but if you are going to spend money in pursuit of happiness, there are certain ways of spending that are more effective than others.

There is plenty of evidence from multiple fronts that indicate that indicate more income or money past a certain point that fulfills your basic needs doesn’t make you any happier.  Those are averages and so I suspect within those averages there is wiggle room for creative individuals.  There are also studies that indicate certain experiences might make you happier.

Buy Experiences Not Things

Things (homes, cars, clothes, gadgets) are subject to something called “Hedonic Adaptation”, which simply means you get used to them; they fail to continue to provide the same boost to your happiness that they did when they were new.

On the other hand, the happiness boost from experiences seem to last longer.  It is much easier to continually have new experiences than have new things.  Once you buy that dream house, you are going to be in it far past the period of hedonic adaptation.

So instead of locking yourself into those Golden Handcuffs by purchasing goods, especially expensive ones like homes and cars that require regular payments, try spending your money gaining experiences.  Things like eating out, movies, happy hours, parties, travel, biking, hiking, skydiving, scuba, charity work, and so on.  The list is endless.  Make sure you do some of those things with other people.  Spend some of your money on giving and you will get far more happiness than by buying the latest gadget.

Bottom line, if you are thinking of trying to buy happiness, then buy experiences instead of accumulating expensive toys or clutter.  As you look back on your life, you’ll be glad you did.

What do YOU think?  Leave a comment and join the conversation.

Tagged as: Happiness