Does Buying Things Really Make Us Happy? Ways Money Can Buy Happiness
Perhaps all of us tend to buy things when we are bored, tired, want to take care of ourselves or want to reward ourselves, in order to add some variety to our lives and increase our happiness. A new phone, a new car, a computer, a necklace, a dress, an accessory and who knows what else. Big companies around the world show us very well what we can do with money. This model has a better camera than the other one, this car produces more power with a smaller engine, this computer weighs less, this dress is the new fashion, and so on; clichéd promotional lines like these can be quite enough to make us want to buy something new. But the interesting part is that most of the things we buy are bought not because we really need them, but because we think they will make us happy, or because we can't control our urge to get something 'new'; and before long they take back the temporary excitement they gave us. What we want to have loses its value once we have it.
What I have written so far is not an original finding or the result of research. It is a summary of something we all experience as human beings. In other words, many of us actually know that buying new things won't make us happy in the long run. Yet we still can't rein in our curiosity about buying new things.
Adyashanti, an American spiritual teacher, said something like this about people's urge to buy new things even when they don't need them: "When we buy something and get the product we want, we feel temporarily happy, peaceful and satisfied. But the real reason we feel this way is not that we got what we wanted; it is that, even if only for a short while, we stopped wanting something new." This sentence really made me say, "That's it." Once again, I became convinced that what makes us happy is not any external stimulus, but the thoughts inside our minds.
Why doesn't buying new things really make us happy? Let's list a few points quickly:
1) Things start to age the moment they are bought.
2) There is always something newer around us.
3) Things can break, get scratched or be stolen. Every item we acquire can cause a new worry.
4) Since everything we own requires maintenance, protection and organizing, it starts to cost us time and energy, and after a point it may begin to make our lives harder rather than easier.
5) We actually buy what we own not with money but with time. That is why every item we want to own means we have to work more.
6) Purchases we make to attract the attention of people around us and to impress them won't satisfy us enough either. Most of the time, the attention we expect won't come from a newly bought item, and even if it does, it won't last long.
7) Trying to measure happiness by the things we own is always a guaranteed defeat, because there will always be someone who has more.
8) Buying things to feel at peace never works. The greatest proof of this is that, despite wardrobes full to the brim, we still want to buy new things and feel restless when we can't.
9) An item may meet our physical needs, but it will never be enough to meet our emotional needs. Because what we truly desire are things like freedom, love and peace, and the things we buy can very rarely provide them.
10) Every item we buy pollutes nature and one day turns into toxic waste. So, as a society, the global impact of our buying habits is seriously large, and I am sure a polluted world won't make anyone happier.
Why do we spend so much money on things that don't really make us happy? What is the force that drives us to buy new things?
We can examine this under three main headings:
1) Because we really need it (which is not very relevant to the topic of this post).
2) Because we love novelty for reasons we don't know (you may have noticed that even children show more interest in new toys).
3) To feel special (to get closer to the upper-class people we compare ourselves with and to distance ourselves as much as possible from the lower class, or for similar status-related reasons).
Buying things that meet our basic needs is truly meaningful, such as buying a home, buying food, buying enough clothes to meet our needs or buying a phone. But purchases that don't really serve our basic needs and arise from an externally driven urge to shop, such as buying the latest phone model or a pair of shoes we'll wear a few times and throw away, are probably something many of us question. In capitalist societies, sales policies and promotional methods somehow push people to buy things they don't need. The urge to buy can arise from the wish to have a good social status or to get rid of sadness or boredom. On the other hand, sellers can convince buyers with so-called discounts that they are getting a really good deal, and buyers may purchase an item they don't need, sold in limited numbers or for a limited time, because they are afraid of missing an opportunity.
Does buying new things never make us happy? Many recent studies show that, instead of buying things, social and experiential investments such as travelling, going to the theatre or eating out make us much happier than buying a new item. The limited happiness any item gives us starts to decline from the moment we buy it and soon disappears. While an experiential purchase doesn't create regret (or rarely does), buying a material item can sometimes make us feel regret. But this doesn't mean that the things we buy can never make us happy. It has been found that some products can make us happier, and more lastingly so, than others. Research has shown that people can be happier when they make purchases that suit their personalities. For example, the money an extroverted person spends on food and drinks at a restaurant or bar helps them feel happier, while buying books may be a more satisfying purchase for an introverted person. Some products can also promise their buyers long-lasting experiences. For example, items that lead to new experiences, such as a bicycle or books, are among the things that can make us happy. A camera, a musical instrument or a new item we'll use for a hobby can also truly bring us happiness. What matters at this point is to assess how the product we are going to buy will serve us, whether it will help us gain new experiences, and how well it fits our personality.
If we look at an interesting recent study, we find that for people with low incomes, buying a material item makes them as happy as engaging in an activity that adds an experience. People who are better off financially, on the other hand, can gain more happiness by spending money on memory-making activities such as travel and concerts. When I think about it a little more deeply, I can understand why people with low incomes can be as happy with material purchases as with experiential activities: when there are primary needs to be met, spending money on experiential activities would be something of a luxury. However, I assume that many people reading this post have enough financial means and that the number of things they really need is limited. For example, I assume they have a two-year-old phone but still want the newly released iPhone, or want a second home, or are thinking of buying the latest computer so their games freeze less. Approaching it with this assumption, according to the scientific data available, the happiness a new material item brings seems to be much less than the happiness a new experience adds.
Learning well how big companies' sales policies work, discovering what campaigns and promotional methods have in common and where they are deceptive, and being able to notice what we really need can prevent our labour and money from being exploited, and can help direct our money toward experiential things that can truly make us happy.
What can we buy with the money we have, and how can we use it, to get the most out of it?
1) You can buy good experiences, especially ones to share with the people you love. You can go out to eat as a family or travel together. You can set off on an adventure with a close friend or go to an amusement park. Many activities that help you create good memories can be added to this list. Although some studies have found that experiential activities carried out in social settings are more enjoyable, remember that activities done alone are also very valuable, that you can gain new experiences on your own too, and that this way you can be much happier than by buying new and useless things.
2) You can buy time with the money you have. You can have a tradesperson do the renovations at home or have your car cleaned at a car wash. Or you can hire someone to help with any work you do and, by making time for yourself, use that time productively with your family and friends. Of course, if you enjoy it, turning jobs like renovations into a family or friends activity and creating a new memory this way can also be an option.
3) Helping other people, associations or foundations can also help you feel better. Research shows that helping someone often feels better than spending money on ourselves. Of course, when we take individual differences into account, some findings may change direction.
I don't want any of this to be understood as wanting the desire to acquire new things to fade away. On the contrary, keeping the desire for the new motivates us, increases our enjoyment of life and allows us to continue our journey of self-actualization. New habits, new values, new beliefs, new hobbies, new places to see, new restaurants to eat at, new places to have fun, new people and organizations to help, new relationships and so on. Not losing our desire for the new can truly make us happy. But trying to reach the 'new that will make us happy' through this buying system, which not only fails to make us happy but also steals our labour and our time, would probably be a little unrealistic.
If you think that all this research and the post I have written aren't realistic and don't touch on points that would work for you, and you need a little more evidence, I can recommend a few sites that I think will help you.
Wishing you new and wonderful experiences :)
References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happy-consumer/201809/5-ways-money-can-buy-you-happiness
