The Reason Spending Less will make You Happier

The Reasons Spending Less will make you Happier

Posted by Jodie

Being Frugal is associated with smarter, happier, healthier spending habits.

People who are able to practice restraint in purchasing are different than those who are loose in their spending habits.  There are distinct differences between tightwads, those who have trouble spending money, and spendthrifts, those who have trouble not spending money.  There are 5 advantages to being a tightwad.

Tightwads use their money wisely.  There are numerous articles in consumer research that show buying experiences, like going to concerts and dining out, provides consumers with more happiness than buying material items, like jewelry and clothing.  Tightwads have a tendence to buy more experiences than marterial items.  Also, spendthrifts tend to buy more material items than experiences and therefore do not enjoy the same benefits as more thrifty consumers.

Tightwads practice healthy spending habits.  On top of not using their money to effectively increase their happiness, spendthrifts are prone to compulsive buying  maladaptive repetitive buy associated with low self-esteem and depression.  Spendthrifts are also more likely to buy with out thinking.  Tightwads are also more conscientiousness and seem better adapted to avoid these mental health issues.

Tightwads are not easily influenced.

 Trusted advice is not as valuable as having the ability to make up one’s own mind. Tightwads are

less susceptible to having their minds made up by others. Spendthrifts are more likely to possess a desire to comply with others’ wishes.

Tightwads have eyes on the prize.

Tightwads not only value achievement more than spendthrifts, they are also more open to self-development. This combination makes it more likely for tightwads to find success professionally and perhaps at home. A strong correlation between being a tightwad and positive emotions, specifically joy and contentment, suggests that exercising financial restraint may inspire happiness all on its own.

Tightwads are not what you think.

Being a tightwad is depicted as a 16th century character who is an old miserly man with tight purse strings–a wretched old man who never had any fun. However, considering what these results tell us, perhaps you being a tightwad leads to being wise , healthy, happy, independent, and highly-motivated.

Happiness and money, it’s complicated

The relationship between money and happiness is complex.

When researchers have tried to tease this out by looking at those who suddenly find themselves with loads of money, like lottery winners, they have found more money doesn’t necessarily mean greater happiness.

A famous study from the 1970s compared lottery winners with a group of people who had been paralysed and a group who had had no change in their circumstances. The researchers found that within a year the lottery winners were not much happier than they had been before their win, and that their newly acquired wealth had stopped bringing them happiness.

The study’s findings have since been backed up by other research that shows money can come and go, but our happiness largely remains the same.

But when you look at those living in poverty, a different picture emerges. In a given society, people with money in a society tend to be happier than those who don’t have enough.

“The people with more money are, on average, happier than the people with less money. They have less to worry about because they are not worried about where they are going to get food or money for their accommodation or whatever the following week”

But even taking this into account, people massively overestimate the happiness money brings.

“So if you ask people to guess how happy somebody on a low salary is and how happy somebody on a high salary is we tend to think that people earning loads must be really, really happy all the time and that people earning a little must be miserable all the time. It’s just not the case at all.”

Experiences not things

Retail therapy might not be a great option if you’re spending to boost your mood.

Spending on experiences is more likely to make us happy than buying material goods.

“I’m warier about spending money on an item unless I think I’m really going to enjoy that item.”

Choose experiences over material goods. So opt for a weekend away over a new television.

Even if you desperately want that new TV, research suggests the thrill of the purchase will soon pass.

And yes, the weekend will be over sooner, but the memories live on. Not only will reminiscing about your lovely weekend likely give you pleasure for months (or possibly years) to come, you also get to enjoy the delicious anticipation.

“Experiences make us happier because we anticipate them beforehand, we think about them, we imagine ourselves in that situation.”

This doesn’t mean buying things will never bring you pleasure, especially if the things you buy are going to lead to pleasurable experiences (a new bike for instance), but it’s important to consider the value of experiences.

Another tip: pay for your weekend away in advance, it divorces the pain of parting with your cash from the pleasure of the experience.

Cash or card?

By now most of us are familiar with the sense

of regret that comes from the mindless purchasing that new technology facilitates.

It seems the decisions we make at the checkout are affected by h

ow we pay for our purchases — cash or card.

When researchers followed up with people immediately after they had made a purchase using their card, they found these people are less likely to know how much money they have spent when compared to those who had to count the cash.

“You’ve got to work out, ‘I need a 5 and a 2 to make the right amount’, you really think about it, whereas with a card you just tap it and it doesn’t quite feel real. So you are more likely to spend it.”

But not only are you likely to spend more money when you pay by card, research suggests you’re also more likely to treat yourself with unhealthy snacks when you don’t pay with cash.

Cheaper may not be better

While many of us need to get better at watching our pennies, it’s not always the case that cheaper brands are better.

One interesting piece of research into painkillers found there were benefits to opting for a more expensive brand.

“Even though it contains the same ingredients in the same quantities as the generic versions, in experiments people tolerate pain better when they take the branded stuff,” she said.

These experiments involved testing people’s pain thresholds by getting them to put their arms in a bucket of iced water and hold them in there for as long as they could (this is a seriously painful exercise). The participants were given painkillers before plunging their arms into the water.

Those who thought they had taken the branded expensive drug were able to withstand their arms being in the ice bucket for longer than the people who had taken the cheaper version of the drug (even though they had the same amount of active ingredient.)

“This really is the placebo effect coming into play here, it’s harnessing that extra bit of it. So in a way, if your headache or your backache is really, really bad, what you want to do is to pay to have the branded drug because you will believe it’s better and it will work a bit better for you.”

Jodie x