Why Money Doesn’t Make You Happy

Because you don’t spend it right! : people with more money  are  more satisfied. But when asked how happy they are at the moment, people with more money are barely different than those with less; our money provides us with satisfaction when we think about it, but not when we use it. That shouldn’t happen. Money can buy many, if not most, if not all of the things that make people happy, and if it doesn’t, then the fault is ours.

Buy Experiences Instead of Things: Go out and buy yourself something nice.. That’s the advice to people who have just gotten bad news from their employer, their doctor, or their soon-to-be-ex spouse. Although the advice is well-meant, research suggests that people are often happier when they spend their money on experiences (e.g., climbing a mountain )rather than things.

Help Others Instead of Yourself Human beings are the most social animal on our planet: anything we do to improve our connections with others tends to improve our happiness as well . Spending money on a friend or romantic partner also provides an opportunity for positive self-presentation, which has been shown to produce benefits for mood

Buy Many Small Pleasures Instead of Few Big Ones; Buy Many Small Pleasures Instead of Few Big Ones The happiness provided by frequent small pleasures helps make sense of the modest correlation between money and happiness

Buy Less Insurance Businesses often trade on that ignorance by offering various forms of insurance against unhappiness, from extended warranties to generous return policies.People seek extended warranties and generous return policies in order to preclude the possibility of future regret, but research suggests that the warranties may be unnecessary for happiness and the return policies may actually undermine it.

Pay Now and Consume Later?  it eliminates anticipation, and anticipation is a source of .free. happiness. Emotional responses will be less intense in the future than in the present. If future feelings really were less intense than present feelings, then one could maximize benefits by consuming in the present

Think About What You’re Not Thinking About: If  people expect a single purchase to have a lasting impact on their happiness might make more realistic predictions if they simply thought about a typical day in their life.

Beware of Comparison Shopping: The comparison shopping offers obvious benefits to consumers, who can find the best deal on the product most ideally suited to their needs. the comparisons we make when we are shopping are not the same comparisons we will make when we consume what we shopped for

Follow the Herd Instead Of Your Head; the best way to predict how much we will enjoy an experience is to see how much someone else enjoyed it. Other people can supply us with a valuable source of data not only by telling us what has made them happy, but also by providing information about what they think will make us happy