This is my mom’s favorite topic to fight with me about: “Why didn’t you save more this summer?” “You could have worked two jobs.” “You didn’t have to go on three different vacations.” "You spent too much money on concert tickets." Blah, blah, blah…. so many reasons why I shouldn't have spent my money, but all I can think of is one very good reason why I should've: my happiness.
As I’ve gotten older, poorer, and more determined to travel and experience new things, I’ve learned something about money; it is an object that you will always have the opportunity to regain or remake. Crazy, wild, once in a lifetime experiences, on the other hand, only come so often.
Money is not meant to be saved while you are young and have a million amazing opportunities at your fingertips. Yes, of course you need to have money to survive. I understand this entirely, and I hope that one day I am successful enough to make a stable life for myself. However, for now, I'm content with spending the little money I have on experiences that will create lifelong memories.
While having money and owning fancy things does make me happy, I’ve learned that spending money on clothing that I will outgrow and electronics that I could fully live without just isn't satisfying.
Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University explains this idea: "one of the enemies of happiness is adaptation. We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them."
In contrast, our experiences shape us more than the material objects we own. Yes, it is entirely possible to feel attached to your iPhone, or connected to a souvenir that you bought on your favorite trip, but in the end, these objects will never truly be a part of who you are. Experiences often involve other people, and down the line connections can be solidified by the stories we tell one another. By spending your money on experiences, you're enhancing relationships and creating life-long memories. Relatively speaking, you will almost always have an opportunity to remake a certain amount of money at some point in your life, but you will never have an opportunity to re-create that exact experience that you would have missed out on had you not spent the money.Save money when you're older. We go to college; we get ourselves into massive debt. We eventually get a job, only to pay off this massive debt. We spend a lot of money on a new home, on a nice car, on new clothes, on the latest technologies. We have a family, and children, only to pay for all of their expenses, as well. You'll need money for all of these things; the cycle of spending money only grows as we grow up.
So, spend on experiences while you are young. The kind of happiness we all so desperately crave can be found in a remarkable well-worth-your-money experience.
