Why should we spend money on experiences rather than things

When you work hard every day and you get money to spend after paying all your debts, then you have to make sure you spend it well.

Science suggests you spend your money on what makes you happy.

A 20-year study conducted by Dr. Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology, found out something interesting: don't spend money on things.

The problem with this phenomenon is that the happiness that things bring you quickly disappears.

There are three critical reasons why this happens:

We get used to the new things we bought. So, what they once thought was very necessary and good, very soon turns into nothing because we only own it.

We keep growing desires. New shopping leads to new expectations. As soon as we get used to a new thing we bought, we start looking for another better thing.

Things, by their very nature, create comparisons. We buy a new car and we feel very excited until our friend buys a better car.

One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation. We buy things that make us happy and we get it. But only for a short period. The new things we buy are exciting for us first, but then we get used to them”, Gilovich declared.

The paradox of possessing things is that we assume that the happiness we achieve when we buy something will last as long as the thing we buy. But that's wrong.

The Power of Experience

Gilovich and other researchers have discovered that experiences supply you with happiness longer than material things.

For why:

Experiences become part of our identity. We're not the things that we have, but we're the accumulate of everything we've seen, we've done it and the places we've visited. Buying an hour “Apple” will not change you as a person; but if you take a break from your job to do hiking in a very special place, it will undoubtedly change you as a person.

Experiences are much more of our own than the goods we have. We're the total amount of experiences we have.

Comparisons matter less. Unlike materialistic things, we do not compare experiences like things.

Waiting matters. Gilovich has also studied the expectation and found that waiting for an experience causes good satisfaction and emotions, while waiting to buy a material thing causes no patience. Experiences are enjoyable from the first moments of planning to the memories you will always remember.

It is noteworthy that Gilovich and his colleagues are not the only ones who believe experiences make us happier than things. Dr. Elizabeth Dunn has also studied the matter and has shown that the happiness we gain when buying new things disappears quickly and leaves us longing for more.

Things can last longer than experiences, but memories that always remain are more important.