We should all know by now that money can’t buy you happiness. Well, maybe that was because they were just spending the money wrong. The New York Times has a lengthy article that basically boils down to this: if you spend your money on experiences, you’ll be happier than if you spent your money on stuff. Buying a 60 inch television might make you temporarily happy, but then your happiness will flat-line and you’ll get used to having a big TV. Purchasing a new car might spike your joy, but then you’ll get used to the benefits of the car and it will seem like having this car is the standard, not the exception, and you will stop deriving happiness from it. Experiences, however, will not only spike your joy, but will give you a more constant stream of happiness.
So what counts as “experiences”? Being a personal finance blog, I would love to tell you that taking the whole extended family to Mexico for a two week long all inclusive would be a great “experience”. It would! However, it would also be expensive, and the “joy” that you got from that experience might not be worth the stress and strain of having to pay off your credit cards once you return. So what can a responsible family do in order to benefit from the joy of experiencing life without going into debt to do so?
I think that there are two ways to go about doing this. The first is more extreme, and it is the one that is featured in the New York Times article. This involves changing your whole lifestyle to focus on non-materialistic endeavours. This can range from selling all of your possessions to moving to a trailer park and starting to surf everyday. This can be a fantastic plan for those of you that are sick with your jobs, your lifestyle, or your debt. It can be the kick in the pants that you need to conquer your fears and financial troubles – but it is not for everyone.
The second way that you can embrace this philosophy is by simply reorganizing your budget to accommodate experiences over material objects. This can be as simple as choosing to go see a movie at a theatre rather than purchasing it on DVD, as you’ll probably only ever watch it once. Yes, it will cost more, but then you’ll always have the memory of seeing Lord of the Rings on opening night, or that time you were the only couple watching Inception that Sunday afternoon. Here’s some more experience embracing ideas.
Become a Tourist in Your Town
Go For a Hike
Have a Games Night
Use Gift Money for Events, Not Stuff
In the end, the important part is that you are spending your time and energy doing things that are fun. You are not in the mall, you are not focused on future purchases, you are simply living in the moment and enjoying what you already have. In what ways do you focus on being happy? What experiences would you recommend?
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Alan Schram writes about personal finance and his encounters with it in his everyday life. Alan is recently married and is looking to save money on expenses and reduce his debts.
I responded to this on Zoomit ( http://leisure.zoomit.ca/money-happiness-and-experiences/ ), but it bears repeating here…
Interestingly, it might not be such a bad investment to blow the wad occasionally on a very big experience. I’ve been to Europe three times – very expensive vacations. And I can recall pretty much every place I ate, many of the dishes I tasted, much of what I saw. I am reliving it over and over and over and still gaining much pleasure from it in a way I would not by having yet another DVD or book or whatever sitting in a drawer or on a shelf. In fact, enjoying it more than most of those movies I saw in theatres over the years.
This is not to say that an experience has to be expensive to be big. Last year I climbed Mount Washington, which was an amazing experience that cost very little but I know I will remember and relive to the same magnitude as the trips to Europe.
What makes an experience valuable is how much enjoyment you get from it both in the present and in the future.
I don’t think money can buy happiness once you’re past a certain level of having the basics. After that it’s just buying momentary highs or fleeting glances at happiness. I believe true happiness come from your faith first, family second, and in giving and helping others. Everything else is just a sugar rush.
I read that NYTimes article and completely agree with it. Life is what we DO, not what we have. As we age it’s what we did that we’ll remember and savor while the things that we had will be long forgotten.
It also can be a statement of our true success in life when other people know or remember us mainly for what we do than for what we have.
I have a buddy that has been focused on “experiences” more then material possessions for about 5 years. He is always saving up for some sort of exotic trip or getaway instead of the latest tech gadgets and such. During Christmas, instead of buying gifts, he invites everyone down up to his house and treats everyone to a couple of days of food, good conversation and some laughs. Way better than getting some sort of gift I probably don’t want anyway.
Of all possessions, gifts bring the least happiness. If I don’t already have something, I probably don’t want it all that much — in fact, probably not at all. The only thing gifts have ever accomplished it to increase pollution and resource depletion. Invite me over for a party instead.
I love this article. Focusing on experiences rather than things sounds very exciting!! and sadly I usually go for the stuff, rather than the experience. Thanks for the eye opener!
I love this post, not only for the philosophy of investing in experiences instead of stuff, but also the practical ways to do it. A sweet memory will season and mellow in our minds, but all cars (examples of buying stuff we think will make us happy) become scrap heaps in junk yards.
Great article! Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you some great memories and a sense of adventure. I recently took a working holiday in England, and feel that this was a much better way of spending my money (on flights, living expenses, VISA) than on material goods such as a tv or on electronics. I will always have those good memories to look back on.
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I completely agree, but I’m surprised more people don’t come to this realization on their own. When I reflect on my own happiness, my fondest memories are all of places I’ve been and who I was there with. If I make a quick mental list of “what makes me happy?” it’s my family, friends, pets, trips and experiences that make the list, not the stuff sitting in my closet. Perhaps if more people sat down to think about what makes them truly happy, we wouldn’t buy so much crap!