This is an article that I'll be hanging on to for the
future. It's called "The Science of Why You Should Spend Your Money on
Experiences not Things". 2015 is the year that I am working on myself and
this idea of experiences over items is one of the things that I have always
stuck closely to. I have the adventure bug and I would much rather spend
money on something that I KNOW will make me happy rather than a frivolous purchase
that won’t last.
I have the most minimal amount of money possible. I can't
even remember the last time I bought something (besides travel) that wasn't
food or rent. Whatever money I can manage to “save”, I spend on trips near and
far. Just last month, I rented out a cheap Airbnb room (airbnb.com) in Moab and
spent days walking around Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.
While I was there, I only spent money on snacks from the grocery store. I
didn't even have to pay the park entrance fees because I have a NPS year-round
pass. This fits right into the idea of experiences over things. I could have
spent ~$300 on clothes or a new gadget. Instead, I have adventure memories that
will last instead of a gadget that will break in two years.
This is something that I learned when I was very small.
Every year, my entire family takes a three week camping trip to a remote part
of Washington. We camp about an our outside of cell service and it’s a relief
to spend three weeks out of contact with the hyper-speed of the regular world.
This camping trip is the only thing I look forward to throughout the year because
my brain gets to slow down and I get to spend time with my family. Although it
costs me about $300 to get there and back home again (because I drive the whole
way), I don’t mind the cost one bit because I get to build greater memories
each year and that builds my happiness. Camping allows me to do three things:
·
Detox from technology
·
Collect my thoughts
and calm down, which is good for my health
·
Spend time with the
most supportive people I have in my life, which is good for self-confidence
When I
come back from my trips, camping or exploring or simply relaxing, I feel so
much more productive. How productive would I have felt if I had just bought a
few new outfits? Maybe a little, but substantially less than if I had bought a
trip.
This article also talks about how
purchasing goods rather than experiences causes people to constantly compare
themselves to one another, which squashes productivity and creativity. When you
buy a new piece of technology, you compare yourself to the next person over. If
you see that they have better stuff than you, it makes you unhappy. However, if
you spend what money you can on a new and exciting experience, then you are
more likely to value your unique time, which is incomparable to the next person
over.
I think that this is a valuable lesson to be learned by
everyone, even people that might value materials over all else. Learning that
is it possible to enjoy experiences will inevitably increase your happiness. We
could become a more successful society if we all worked on raising our
happiness levels. Happiness is a learned skill, it doesn’t take much work, but
it’s still learned. I’m just a teeny tiny bit of a nature enthusiast, so I
think that happiness can be learned by simply spending time outside.
What do you think? Do you think that happiness can be
learned? And under what circumstances?
I’ll try to choose a different topic for the next blog!
Article
Link: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043858/world-changing-ideas/the-science-of-why-you-should-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing
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