5 Ways to Buy Happiness

Buying happiness and being frugal are not necessarily contradictory. Buying happiness means spending money on things that will actually make you happier, not things you’ll forget. Here are some things you can spend on that really will make you happier:

1. Time: We all want more time, and money can buy this. You could hire someone to do chores that you don’t want to do. Alternatively, you could sacrifice money by working less.
2. Relationships: Spend on your significant other, or on your friends. Spend money to socialize. We’re social creatures, and sometimes you need to pay a bit (dinner, drinks, birthday presents, etc) to maintain a healthy social lie.
3. Experiences: Spend money traveling, doing things and challenging yourself. You’ll appreciate the things you did more than that flat screen tv you bought.
4. Health: This may seem like no fun at all, but spending money on being healthy increases your happiness over time. Eating better food and exercising more also give you shorter-term gratification in the form of greater energy. Personally, I bought a home cardio machine a few months ago (to save time going to the gym – plus, it was cheaper than membership) and I’ll admit that it’s been worth it.
5. Your Interests: You may love skiing, or swimming or dancing. Spend money on the activities that you love doing, not the things (wine tasting, golfing) that you think you should be doing but don’t really care about.

I’ll add a caveat: the concept of buying happiness presumes a level of wealth that covers basic necessities. You shouldn’t have to go into debt to buy a night out with your friends or partner. If a bit of fun spending would dampen your finances, you should spend time fixing your finances first.

Have I left anything off the list?

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1. In Pursuit of Happiness