Secret to buying happiness

Conventional wisdom has always taken the position that money can’t buy you the happiness but a scientific study reveals that there are ways out there which you can use to buy happiness. 

Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton during their study for the book ‘Happy money: The science of happier spending’ learnt that you can buy happiness by becoming a little poor. Following are the ways in which you can spend your money to buy happiness.

Buying experience

Though buying goods seems to be a good option as they are there the next day but experience though ends up after a while but remains there in form of happiness. Visiting Northern areas, going for fishing, experiencing gliding and cross country skiing are the options available to spend money on. They would give you stories to tell your friend. 

Buying time
Spending on buying services is another way to well spend your money. Similarly think long and hard before buying a living house so vast that you’ll spend more time cleaning then enjoying. The research suggest that asking a question “ How will this purchase show up on my time budget?” will help you make choices that will produce more serotonin than analyzing your purchases in material term could do.  

Another way to buy happiness is to spend money to buy the service you feel most dreaded to perform yourself. Taking a cab, buying the lawn moving service, paying for doing the laundry etc. are some of the ways in which you can outsource your most dreaded chores.

Pay now, Use later
You often hear the cliché “use now; buy later” but to be happy you should try to pay before actually consuming your purchases. The delayed consumption would trick your brain into thinking that the benefits are for free. Moreover, sometimes you get as much happiness from the anticipation than from the purchase itself. So, buying movie ticket a month before actually watching the movie can make your month.

Giving yourself treat
Appreciation is another way to have an elevated mood. You will be able to appreciate the goodness in your life only if they happen to you less often.

After dry fasting, in Ramdan, when you take first morsel of food or sip of water; you feel happy because you made your everyday meal a treat for yourself. Same is true for many other things in your life. Dine out sparingly, or think this way- will it matter how delicious your favorite restaurant might taste if you starts going there daily.

Giving others
Make other people happy is a way you can add to your own happiness. In the words of Bangladeshi Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

“Making money is a happiness; making other people happy is a superhappiness”

But trying to make others happy by spending more than you can afford can add to guilt and you may feel unhappy. One way to avoid guilt trips is to find specific causes, research them, think over them and then spend for them. 

According to Harvard scientist Michael Norton, “Giving to a cause that specifies what they’re going to do with your money leads to more happiness than giving to an umbrella cause where you’re not so sure where your money is going.” 

The key is to spend within your means, spend proactively and for causes most closely related to your own core values. Or in the words of Adam Grant, author of Give & Take, it is important to be ‘otherish’ which he defines as givers who are able to sustain their giving by looking for ways that giving can hurt them less or benefit them more.