10 Tips – How to spend money and become happy?

Do money make you happy? No. Researchers argue that income and the level of happiness experienced are practically independent of each other, other factors have a major impact on them. However, it has been established that there is a connection between happiness and how person spends money. If you know how to properly use finances, you can make yourself happy. No matter how much money you have.

We offer 10 tips for those who want to stay happy regardless of their financial level..

Tip 1: Spend on impressions, not on things

How to find stable happiness that does not depreciate, and which has no expiration date? The best option would be a cool experience. For example, a safari vacation or a visit to a beautiful place in an exotic corner of the planet. New wooden floors for the apartment can not be compared with the pleasant sensations that you will experience in this process and with memories in the future.

According to a research article published by scientists at Harvard University, one of the reasons that speaks in favor of impressions rather than things is our ability to quickly get used to what we have. Having experienced an interesting experience in the process of choosing special wooden floors for a home, a person will quickly cease to see in them an exclusive Brazilian cherry or other valuable material. In turn, the moment of meeting the cheetah cub on a morning African safari will not lose value. Unless, of course, you start your own cheetah and start weaning it from scratching Brazilian floors.

Another thesis of the study says: we get more emotions from anticipating and remembering (and then – remembering) an unusual experience. Things lift the spirits only at the first time of possession and active use.

Tip 2: Buy Products That Bring You New Experience

Exceptions to the first advice about things and impressions are things that give an impression. Such purchases can be called experimental. Often these include electronics, musical instruments, sports equipment, as well as things that push us to activity in the fresh air.

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that “experimental purchases” bring a person experiences similar to new life experiences..

For example, a smartphone helps to communicate with other people, but the self-improvement applications installed in it help to improve life in the long term. Even though the phone itself does not generate happiness, it is a tool through which we make ourselves happier.

Tip 3: Buy Gifts for Others

It may seem counterintuitive, but people become happier when they spend money on others, compared to spending on themselves. Moreover, it is not necessary to spend a lot of money in order to feel the benefits of altruistic expenses. Harvard researchers found that even in very poor countries such as India or Uganda, people who think about giving gifts and things to others are happier than those who think about themselves. Even the willingness to spend an extremely small amount to bring pleasure to a friend improves a person’s mood and attitude for the better.

Another study showed that people who needed to spend $ 5 on other people during the day under the experimental conditions were happier than those who spent the same amount on themselves. Therefore, the next time you have an extra amount for free expenses, give something to a loved one. At least a chocolate bar.

 Tip 4: Do Charity

This point is strongly related to the previous one – caring for others makes us happier. And charity is the transfer of your attention and opportunities to those who are most in need of them. Elizabeth Dunn, professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said at a 2015 conference: “In both poor and rich countries, people who donate money to charity are happier.”.

Tip 5: Pamper yourself with small “amenities”

Of course, you can consider rejecting your favorite Starbucks coffee drink as a way to save money, but it’s just such small joys that make us happy: new soft socks, an album of your favorite band, a pedicure session, etc..

In this regard, Harvard researchers echo their thesis of quick addiction: “Rare and large purchases always lose out of pleasure to frequent and small, because we quickly get used to them.” As an example, the researchers conducted an example with a periodic pass of a beer at the bar and buying an expensive dining table. Each beer trip is a new experience of selection and tasting, as well as communication on various topics with different people. And the table is always the same. Quite often, new material things do not bring joy after we have adapted to them. That is why small “weaknesses” are better than large.

Tip 6: Share Costs

Another piece of advice, in a sense, is a consequence of the previous one. The same study by Harvard experts says that sharing costs reduces the time gaps between impression situations. That is, instead of spending $ 50 every two weeks, it is better to spend 25 per week. Firstly, such a strategy constantly provides you with a kind of reward, and secondly, it protects you from expensive purchases.

Tip 7: Buy Now, Use Later

As already mentioned, waiting enhances a pleasant experience. Therefore, one of the “tools of happiness” is the strategy of deferred use of acquired goods. In addition, this approach helps to make more deliberate and useful in the long term purchases. So, a 1998 study, published under the title “Organizational Behavior and Decision-Making Processes by a Person”, spoke about the results of an experiment in which people had to choose between healthy and unhealthy foods. Provided that junk food could be eaten right away, and healthy food after a week, most participants chose the second option.

Tip 8: Don’t Compare Purchases

In fact, we very rarely make purchases without comparing them to ourselves with any guidelines. And this also reduces our chances of being happy after the acquisition. In a 2008 Harvard study, two groups of students participated who should suggest their level of pleasure in eating potato chips. The first group was offered chips and chocolate, and the second – chips and sardine. As it turned out, students from the first group assumed that they would be a little happy with the chips, when the second said that they would enjoy a lot of them. As a result, after eating the chips, both of them rated the level of their pleasure approximately equally..

Therefore, when making a purchase, it is important to do this regardless of the other options available. Because the final pleasure that the purchased product will deliver does not depend on external factors. When you eat potato chips, you hear a crunch, taste and satisfy your hunger. And don’t think about chocolate.

Tip 9: Evaluate the Big Picture Before You Make a Big Purchase

Before spending money on something big, such as a summer home, it is important to think about how the purchase will fit into everyday life, and remember all the small details that may ultimately affect the overall feeling of satisfaction or even of happiness.

Harvard researchers cite the example of buying a house on the lake. While most people who want to buy a house on the lake think about silence, pacification and watching the sunset from the terrace, they don’t think about smaller and more routine things. For example, a long journey from home or a lot of mosquitoes. Research advises: put aside the soft lighting of fantasies. Unpleasant, insignificant details go to the periphery and do not allow an extremely objective assessment of the venture ”.

This does not mean that you should refuse to buy a house. But one must remain realistic in one’s expectations without overestimating the potential happiness that an acquisition can bring. Avoiding reevaluation, you can spend money on what really makes your life better, and not overpay for fantasies.

Tip 10: Buy Time

The cost of a job that takes a lot of free time, such as hiring a locksmith for repairs or cleaning, can be costly. But in fact, having spent part of the money on them, we can free ourselves for several hours a day, and then spend them for our pleasure. This is proved by professional research and simple everyday experience..

The time that you do not need to spend on cleaning, repairing, servicing the car, etc., you can spend on reading a book, walking, family or friendly leisure, as well as many other useful and enjoyable activities.

Read also: 6 tips for becoming financially independent

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