Happy & Healthy

WHY YOU CAN BETTER SPEND YOUR MONEY ON EXPERIENCES THAN ON THINGS

For years, I've been convincing myself that I need to buy something new every month. Just something, under the pretext of: I've worked hard again, I deserve to reward myself with something nice. That should be okay, right?

True, that is okay – occasionally. But does it make you happier in the long run? I thought maybe it did, but now I've just read an article that has left me quite stunned. It has been officially proven: you can better spend your money on experiences instead of things. Yes, really.

Dr. Thomas Gilovich (Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, just so you know) has been researching this for over twenty years and now comes with a hard conclusion: materialists can be much happier if they exchange their possessions for experiences.

And here's why. 1). We get used to new possessions. What seems ‘oh so beautiful’ and new at first quickly feels ‘normal’. 2.) New purchases automatically lead to new expectations. You start with a designer bag of 800 euros, a year later you think: that 1400 euros can also be spent. Because this bag is even prettier. 3.) People compare. Just when you're super happy with your new car, your neighbor drives up in a much fancier model. And well, then you immediately start comparing.

‘The more you own, the greedier you become’

So I secretly recognize myself quite well in the above situation. It is the paradox of having many possessions. The more you own, the greedier you become, because you naturally want to expand that collection even more. I always thought investing in something permanent (that you can see, smell, and touch) was the best idea ever. But really, you shouldn't underestimate investing in experiences.

Experiences may not be elegantly displayed in your shoe cabinet, but they become part of your identity. Let there be no misunderstanding about this: we ‘are’ not our possessions. We are a collection of everything we have seen, the things we have experienced, and the places we have been, where we have laughed and felt happiness. If you ask me to name the highlights of my life, I wouldn't choose the purchase of my MacBook, camera, or expensive designer bag. But definitely a wonderful vacation in Curaçao with my boyfriend, where we were hysterical when we saw a SICK HUGE silver fish while diving. That awesome trip with my best friend to Los Angeles too, where we laughed as we got into a stranger's car. In short: buying that latest Céline bag doesn't make you a different person. Visiting another culture does.

So, materialists among us, think about that for a moment.