Buying Happiness

Last updated on: August 12, 2013 at 8:15 pm by Lori Erickson

Buying Happiness 2013-08-12T20:15:49-06:00 Lori Erickson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

book cover.jpg Today, let’s talk about money. That may seem like a strange thing to do on a site devoted to Spiritual Travels, but the two are not as unrelated as one might think. In fact, how we spend our money is intimately tied to our spiritual lives. Recall how many of the parables of Jesus relate to economics in some way–from the widow’s mite to the laborers in the vineyard–or the old saying that if you want to know what people most value in their lives, look at their calendar and their monthly bank statement.

A recent book explores these issues through the lens of happiness–specifically, what scientific research on happiness tells us about how to handle our economic lives. In Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending authors Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton don’t give advice on how to invest, reduce debt, or any of the other topics that are often covered in books on spending. Instead, they ask a seemingly simple question: what’s the best way to spend money to increase our happiness?

They identify five things that will give you the most happiness bang for your buck:

1. Buy experiences, not things. Material possessions give a momentary rush of pleasure, but that pleasure typically doesn’t last, whether you’re buying a new house or a pair of shoes. Whatever we have, eventually we get used to it. That’s why luxury goods aren’t worth what we pay for them.

2. Make it a treat. “When something wonderful is always available, people are less inclined to appreciate it,” write the authors. This explains why people who live in a city hardly ever visit the attractions that are there. Because they can always go visit them, they never go visit them. Or take the example of a really good cup of coffee from Starbucks. If you have one everyday, it becomes routine. But if you treat yourself once a week, you’re going to savor it much more.

Here’s another example from my own life: As I write this, I’m in the middle of a camping trip to the Rockies, staying in some pretty remote places in the mountains. Every few days we head into town for a shower, which is often in a grungy campground with grime on the floor and minimal privacy. You might think this would be an unpleasant experience–and yet those $5 showers are sublime (an added pleasure is sharing the mirror with tattooed biker babes coming back from the annual Harley Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota!).

3. Buy Time. The authors recommend asking ourselves a quick question before every purchase: How will this purchase change the way I use my time? Outsourcing tasks we dislike can often be a very good use of our money.

4. Pay now, consume later. Much of the happiness in spending comes from anticipation. We can increase our pleasure in a purchase by taking our time planning for it and savoring the thought of it. Vacations are a prime example–often the anticipation can be nearly as much fun as the trip itself. Unfortunately, much of our spending operates on the exact opposite time frame. We buy something immediately and then spend a long time paying it off.

5. Invest in Others. Spending money on other people tends to make us happier than spending it on ourselves. “Investing in others can make individuals feel healthier and wealthier,” write the authors. People who give to charity are happier than those who don’t. Even giving a small amount to someone else can brighten our mood.

Happy Money isn’t a profound read, but I think it contains real wisdom. Spending money wisely and well is an important spiritual discipline, one that’s very easy to get wrong and hard to get right.

And the next time I buy a $5 shower while camping, I’m going to deeply savor just how happy it makes me.

Previous Post

August 8, 2013

Top 10 Spiritual Blogs

Next Post

August 20, 2013 A Cathedral of Trees

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aging & Spirituality Amish Anabaptists Animals Apocalypse Archeological sites Art and Spirituality Awards Belgian Holy Sites birds Blessings Books Buddhism Business & Spirituality Callings Cats Celtic Cemeteries Children Christianity church Colorado Creation Death Desert Spirituality Easter Economics Education & Spirituality Egypt Episcopal Church Faith Fear Films First Nations Food Forgiveness Germany God Good & Evil Good Friday Grace Gratitude Happiness Healing Hildegard of Bingen Hinduism History Holy Rover blog Holy Sites Holy Week Horses Iceland Illness Images of God Indigenous Spiritualilty Interfaith Interfaith Dialogue Iowa Islam Israel Japan Judaism LDS Church Lent Machu Picchu Martin Luther Media Meditation Monasteries Museums Music Music and Spirituality Musings Mysticism Native American Nature New Age New Zealand Norse History/Culture/Spirituality Orthodox Paradox Paranormal Peru Philosophy Pilgrimage Poetry Politics Pop Culture Pilgrimage Sites Prayers sermons Silence Social Media Spiritual writers Spirituality and Food Spirituality and Social Media Stone Circles Thomas Merton Turkey Uncategorized Unconventional Holy Sites Utopian communities Videos Virgin Mary Wicca Work World War I Writing Zen

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king prayed and saw the shadow go backward as a sign from God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ahab Solomon Hezekiah Uzziah