4 Ways to Create Enjoyment from Money in the New Year

Trying to make the most of ways create enjoyment from? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.

Key Takeaways

• In my house we sometimes say, “This is why we work.” We say it to justify paying way too much for theater tickets.
• We say it when we take a car to the airport because it’s a lot less hassle than driving.
• I say it (to myself) when I’m getting my hair blown out occasionally, even though I don’t have anywhere special to go.

In my house we sometimes say, “This is why we work.”

We say it to justify paying way too much for theater tickets. We say it when we take a car to the airport because it’s a lot less hassle than driving. I say it (to myself) when I’m getting my hair blown out occasionally, even though I don’t have anywhere special to go.  

In doing the research for my book “Women with Money: The Judgment-Free Guide To Creating The Joyful, Less-Stressed, Purposeful (And, Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve,” hundreds of women were asked, “What do you want from your money?” The consensus was that we want to maintain a certain threshold of security, stability and safety, to know that our money is, in effect, shielding us from harm. Beyond that, though, the answers expanded to include numerous of the things we enjoy, whether we’re spending it, saving it or giving it away.  

That’s not only acceptable, that’s excellent. But since money is a limited resource, it’s also helpful to know how to derive the greatest amount of enjoyment from whatever you have.

Here are a few suggestions for creating enjoyment from money in the New Year:  

Value Experiences Over Things

There is a bounty of research that shows we get more enjoyment when we spend our resources on experiences rather than on things. This makes sense: You get tired of numerous of the things in your closets and on your shelves. You want to replace them with new ones when they go out of style or are usurped by updates.

Experiences are different. You document them for social media, tell your friends about them and relive them each time you do. They somehow get better with age, and for that reason, they’re frequently a better place to allocate your spending. (For the record, there are some things that manifest as experiences: A painting that you look at every day, a chair that lets you lounge outdoors. Those can be solid ways to enjoy your money as well.)

Up The Social Factor

For what it’s worth, you also get more joy overall when the spending lets you you build a stronger relationship either with a person or a cause you care about. That’s another reason experiences tend to resonate more than things do as solid uses of money, experiences frequently involve other people. Harvard Psychology Professor Michael Norton, co-author of the book “Happy Money,” confirms that spending money to strengthen relationships is (within reason) almost always a good use of money.  “Take a friend out for lunch,” he suggests. “The upside of that is that she’ll probably reciprocate, so you get two lunches. Humans are very reciprocal.”

Purchase Yourself Some Time

There’s no question that women are time-starved. Using some money to purchase yourself back some free time frequently equates to a big boost in enjoyment. You may be thinking, ooh, massage, manicure, yoga. Maybe, but not necessarily. Although self-care-oriented expenditures are frequently ones we enjoy, spending money on a housekeeper who can clean the kitchen so you don’t have to, or on a gardener so that you don’t have to weed the flowers yourself, or a babysitter so that you and your BFF or significant other can catch a movie are all good ideas.

Spend on Others

There is one other way that spending has been proven to bring us joy, doing it for others. If you’ve ever watched someone open a gift that you took time to pick out specifically for them … and saw it light up their face, you know what I’m talking about. The technical term for this is “prosocial spending.”

Harvard’s Norton and some of his colleagues ran an experiment where they gave participants a small sum of money (some people got $5, others got $20). They directed half the subjects to spend the money on themselves and half to spend the money on someone else.  At the end of the day, the people who spent on others felt happier than those who bought or did something for themselves. And interestingly, though people thought they would be happier spending more money, the amount didn’t matter at all. (Which means: It is the thought that counts!)

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Final Thoughts

Before you check out, double-check ways create enjoyment from against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.

Originally published at savingswitch.com.