--- title: 8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness description: Another paper from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert (author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness) spells out 8 ways we can spend our money to... canonical: https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-12T05:01:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:10:55.348Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness og:description: Another paper from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert (author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness) spells out 8 ways we can spend our money to... og:url: https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67686e7e523c76d0/69877e5f2dce0194149dd725/money-smile.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1750 og:image:height: 984 og:image:alt: dollar bill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness twitter:description: Another paper from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert (author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness) spells out 8 ways we can spend our money to... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67686e7e523c76d0/69877e5f2dce0194149dd725/money-smile.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 12, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  A Happy Dollar Bill A Happy Dollar Bill Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Feb 12, 2015 5:01 AM UTC Another paper from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert (author of the bestseller [Stumbling on Happiness](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400077427/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=1400077427)) spells out 8 ways we can spend our money to increase happiness: ## **1) “Buy more experiences and fewer material goods.”** This means more amusement parks and vacations. Fewer cars and new TV’s: --- > “” --- Why? We quickly take material goods for granted. Research shows this happens more slowly with experiences. Also, we anticipate and remember experiences more, savoring them for longer and squeezing more enjoyment from them. ## **2) “Use their money to benefit others rather than themselves”** Yup, giving is better than receiving: --- > “” --- And: --- > “” --- And: --- > “” --- Why? Giving improves social relationships and our relationships are key to happiness. Giving makes us feel the relationships will continue, which bolsters well-being. ## **3) “Buy many small pleasures rather than fewer large ones”** When it comes to happiness, frequency beats intensity: --- > “” --- Why? One reason is that we’re less likely to adapt and take for granted all these little things regularly affecting us than we are the one, big rare event: --- > “” --- ## **4) “Eschew extended warranties and other forms of overpriced insurance”** Research shows we deal with bad events much more effectively than we think. Often we buy insurance to make us feel better, not because we couldn’t actually afford to replace the item. Warranties are acknowledged to be a poor investment: --- > “” --- ## **5) “Delay consumption”** Anticipating pleasure can sometimes be more enjoyable than the event itself. By delaying good things we increase happiness: --- > “” --- ## **6) “Consider how peripheral features of their purchases may affect their day-to-day lives”** The farther things are in the future, the more abstractly we view them. Buying a summer cottage seems great — because at a distance we don’t think about repairs, a leaky roof, and mosquitoes. We do better when we consider how our purchases will affect our future use of time and our day-to-day lives: --- > “” --- ## **7) “Beware of comparison shopping”** Looking at lots of different options can mislead us as to the importance of various features. We end up thinking small differences may have a big impact when the truth is that most of the options will end up having no difference in our enjoyment of the item six months from now: --- > “” --- ## **8) “Pay close attention to the happiness of others.”** You’re not the unique snowflake you think you are. Popular things are often popular for a reason and we do ourselves a disservice by ignoring what brings others pleasure because, very likely, we may enjoy it too: --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/01/8-ways-that-money-can-buy-happiness/)**_._** **J** **oin over 161,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/"},"headline":"8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness","datePublished":"2015-02-12T05:01:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:10:55.348Z","description":"Another paper from Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert (author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness) spells out 8 ways we can spend our money to...","url":"https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/","keywords":["Psychology","Money","Happiness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67686e7e523c76d0/69877e5f2dce0194149dd725/money-smile.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67686e7e523c76d0/69877e5f2dce0194149dd725/money-smile.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dollar bill","caption":"dollar bill","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3702054/how-money-can-buy-happiness/","name":"8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness"}}]}] ```