A famous study in 2010 by Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School said making money helps make you happier … up to $75,000 a year. Sure, we can debate the study endlessly. How do they define happiness? How do you define happiness? What if you live in a big expensive city compared to a more affordable small town? What country and currency? And what about in today’s dollars?
But let’s not get lost in the debate.
Can we agree going from struggling to making ends meet to actually making ends meet would make you happier? And that going from making ends meet to having some extra money beyond that would, too?
If so I think the better question really is: How can you spend your money to be happier?
Well, I have just the answer for you! Here are three ways you can spend money to be happier:
1. SKILL
Go online and sign yourself up for painting, ballroom dancing, or figure skating classes. Why? Well, I’m going to be really honest with you. You suck at a lot of things. Your chocolate-making is subpar at best, nobody has seen you mix a decent Manhattan, and your balloon animals are pretty terrible – except, I guess, for your snake.
There’s a lot of research that shows that when we grow, we are happier. Don’t we know this deep down? We all love feeling the burn and reward of learning and then mastering something new. Why are you reading this article? Our minds are always trying to learn. We like it. We crave it.
My friend Michael is a successful author and entrepreneur and last year he told me he signed up for a standup comedy course on a bit of whim. You know what? That’s perfect! Why? Because he had never done standup comedy. He was awful at standup comedy. But he spent the money and felt it would be wasted if he didn’t go. So he went! And by the end? He had put together a tight five-minute set which he happily emailed around to his friends.
Money well spent.
2. SOCIAL
I’ve shared before how my wife Leslie and I each have one “night out” a week. I have a Neil’s Night Out. She has a Leslie’s Night Out.
What do we do?
Well, I’ll get dinner with an old friend, go to a play with my mom, or maybe go to a bookstore to hear an author talk about her new book. Even if it’s with a roomful of people I don’t necessarily know I come home with the feeling of growing and deepening relationships.
Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert wrote the book Stumbling on Happiness. He says if we strip ourselves of everything we think defines us — our genders, nationalities, religions, even our health — it’s really the strength of our relationships with our friends and family that truly affects our happiness levels.
Is there a couple you and your partner have been meaning to invite out for a dinner? A brother- or sister-in-law you can go on a random movie night with? Are you willing to go on Meetup.com and take part in a random social event with a group of strangers? Or pay to join a local Toastmasters Club?
I suck at softball but that didn’t stop me from joining a softball league with some friends a few years ago. Yes, I have been demoted to right field after letting every ground ball go through my legs. But it means once a week at least I’m guaranteed to run around. Joining the team cost $125. And it pays off in spades.
The American Psychosomatic Society published a study showing how Michael Babyak and a team of doctors found that three 30-minute brisk walks or jogs can improve recovery from clinical depression. That’s right, clinical depression. And the results were actually stronger than studies using medication or studies using exercise and medication combined.
Sweating is a science-backed prescription for happiness. Grab a yoga membership. Sign up for kick-boxing. Join a dodgeball league. Or just buy some nice running shoes and start running around the block.
Does money buy happiness?
Well, it can.
Just remember the 3 S’s.
Buy a skill, invest in social nights, and sweat it out.
Fancy cars, sexy threads, and flashy purses can wait.
