Invest Your Money In Experiences, Not Things
For most of us, money is a limited resource. However, economists agree that what is decisive is not how much is paid in each month, but how it is managed and, in particular, how it is spent.
It is true that most of the income goes to cover basic expenses. Then, on one side or the other, there is also the money to buy a new cell phone, or a television with the bigger screen, or a jean that is on sale. Shopping always excites us a bit. The downside is that enthusiasm passes quickly.
There is a branch of economics called “happiness economics . ” They measure, among other aspects, the relationships between income, expenses and feelings of satisfaction with life. They have detected, with ample evidence, that more money does not equal more happiness. Where then is the key to well-being?
Money and objects
Many people invest their extra money in objects. They even make important sacrifices to obtain them : they cut basic expenses or go into debt with a financial system of usury. Nowadays, a lot happens with the mobile phone. This has stopped being a communication tool to become a status symbol.
There is fierce competition around many objects that have a certain halo of fetishes. In addition to the personal telephone, there are also other electronic devices. And the clothes too, of course. The car also fits within that logic. All those items have a very strong brand stamp. You don’t have a car, but a BMW. You don’t have a cell phone, but an iPhone.
Comparisons with peers play a big role in most of these purchases. A certain brand , or a certain object, is chosen to be equal to or better than someone in the environment. These objects sometimes define the sense of belonging to a group, but, paradoxically, they also mark a tension. Objects, especially if they are luxury, seek to impose distances.
Money and experiences
Happiness economists are convinced that investing money in experiences generates much more satisfaction than spending it on objects. They have studied it, they have measured it. And that is their conclusion.
Thomas Gilovich, a professor of psychology at Cornell University, has studied the subject for several years. He found that people get used to objects extremely easily. Shortly after acquiring them, they begin to become routine, with little appeal. In other words, they get boring. The routine does not help to be happy.
On the other hand, the opposite happens with experiences. When they are significant, they acquire value and increase it over time. Experiences do bring people together. Two subjects can have the same iPhone, but not feel identified with each other at all. On the other hand, two fans of philately do feel close.
If you go shopping with someone, you never establish such close ties as if you go with that same person to the movies, or to a trip. In that case, tensions due to competition no longer appear, but quite the opposite: complicity and solidarity.
Invest in life
We are our experiences. And the experiences that an object offers us are extremely limited. There is hardly an object that truly has the potential to intoxicate us with bliss and make us experience fullness. Instead, experiences do.
Even many negative experiences, when processed, turn into something anecdotal and even funny. And the positive ones are a true nutrient of emotional well-being. Years later we continue to remember them and some of those wonderful emotions are felt again. They do not wear out over time.
Each experience is unique, unlike serial objects. As much as we live something similar again, it will never be the same. Hence its value. There are liberating conversations that we never forget. There are fantastic places that take us to the limit of surprise and admiration. The warmth of a dinner, or a time with friends is priceless.
If we are looking to be better and happier, it would be good to rethink the way we use our resources, in particular, our money. By thinking less about objects and more about experiences, we may find a more certain path to happiness.
