09/07/2021
Buy experiences rather than material goods
You might think that the problem with spending on experiences is that they are over in an afternoon, whereas a shiny new pair of shoes can last you years. However, when researchers from the University of Texas instructed people to spend a number of dollars a week either on experiences or on material goods, the first group felt happier afterwards.The reason is that the shoes remain the same (apart from becoming less shiny), so we stop noticing them, but experiences bring more variety. They also bring us extra pleasure in a form of anticipation long before they actually take place. Psychologists from Cornell University found that people didn’t get joy from the anticipation of material purchases in the same way they did from experiences. And of course, a day out leaves you with happy memories too.
