Should You Buy Experiences or Things?

By Miguel Dos Anjos


                Studies have shown that the amount of happiness and good hormones released in the brain from acquiring experiences is greater than the amount of happiness hormones released when purchasing a material item.

                While waiting to go on a trip, restaurant, theater, or event we get a building up of excitement and pleasure. This happens during planning, looking forward for a vacation, or expecting a delicious meal in a restaurant. While often times the wait to acquire a material item may increase impatience and frustration.

 

One’s Identity


                Buying experiences is associated with one’s identity and social behaviors. When we look back and remember a family get together or a vacation we get filled with good memories and happiness. Buying material things, unless it fulfils a basic need such as a roof for your house or a tooth brush so you can have a clean mouth for example. All other unnecessary purchases such as a couch upgrade or the newest new phone gives us a momentary satisfaction and we quickly adapt to it and no longer remember it or get pleasant feelings from having it or having acquired it. 

 

Human Are Social Beings

                From what I understand people are different but humans are HIGHLY social beings and value social behaviors that involve being with others humans and accepting others in our tribe or group and being accepted. We ourselves, and also, our minds remember very well, often times without us noticing it, how we feel or felt at situations, as happy or excited even if we don’t remember in full details what made us feel that way exactly. Being aware of this behavior our body has may help us understand better and deal with it.

 

Hiking or a Walk at the Park are Free


                Nonetheless experiences also involve cost and could become the same as purchasing a material thing. Personally if today I feel like enjoying a glass of wine or meal I will probably have it at home or propose a get together to a friend somewhere. Then bring the bottle or food and enjoy it together cutting the cost to a small fraction of what it would be at a casual dining restaurant, or a fine dining place. But if always avoiding seeing friends to save money, not going out could back fire. One can still go out, order one drink and socialize, get to once again meet that old group of friends, enjoy everyone companies’ without the need to go crazy with the spending and valuing what matters the most which is the people in our lives.

                Sometimes we can go an entire year planning a vacation and thinking about how much fun it will be and all the things that we will enjoy, while buying a new material item, that we do not really need, every week may not provide that same level of happiness and satisfaction, but may cost 100 times more financially. 


Higher fulfilment 

                The higher fulfilment we get from purchasing experiences makes us stronger enough to go around material items, not needed purchases, without feeling like we’re missing something or need a certain item that is just the same of something we already own.   


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