Spending does not necessarily mean happiness

The following is an excerpt from Sunday Times dated 15 August 2010:

"New York - She had so much: a two-bedroom apartment, two cars and enough wedding china to serve two dozen people.

Yet Ms Tammy Strobel was not happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, California, and making about US$40 000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the "work-spend treadmill'. So, one day, she stepped off.

Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, she and her husband, Mr Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. Out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, and even the television.

Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a website that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number. Her mother called her crazy.

Today, three years after the couple began downsizing, they live in Portland, Oregon, in a 400 sq ft studio. Mr Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology. Ms Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer.

With her husband in his final weeks of school, her income of about US$24 000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: US$30 000 of debt.

Now, the couple have money to travel and contribute to the education funds of their nieces and nephews. Because their debt is paid off, Ms Strobel works fewer hours, giving her time to be outdoors and to volunteer.

"The idea that you need to go bigger to be happy is false," she says. "I really believe that the acquisition of material goods doesn't bring happiness." ..."

This article is indeed thought provoking and set me thinking about my own life and spending. I don't think I am in a work-spend treadmill and I don't think I'm the sort that derive happiness through mindless spending. However, I do spend on things which are material and sometimes more than what I actually need.

Just look at the number of pair of jeans I have, yup more than I could wear in a week if I change them daily.

I might need to think about prioritizing what to spend on rather than to spend on things which I might not really need. Perhaps paying a little more for quality and healthy food should come top in the list, as there's nothing more important than health. Now, having the extra cash means I could buy quality food, which is good for health.

The other area should be on books and knowledge or stuff that enriched the soul.

Quoting from the same article, "One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.

On reason paying for experiences gives people longer-lasting happiness is that they can reminisce about them, researchers say.

That trip to Rome during which you waited in endless lines, broke your camera and argued with your spouse will typically be airbrushed with rosy recollection, says psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California, Riverside.

In fact, scholars have found that anticipation increases happiness.

Considering buying an IPad? You might want to think about it as long as possible before taking on home.

Likewise about a Caribbean escape: You will get more pleasure if you book a flight in advance than if you book it at the last minute." unquote.