We have talked about how to get better at spending on experiences and material items, but how do we know what is "enough" spending on experiences and material items? We can get try to get better and better at spending but how do we know what is the "right" amount to spend? We all have to figure out what is "enough" to us because there is always going to be plenty of opportunities to spend our money. Defining what is enough impacts us in many ways but, most importantly, it impacts the time we have to spend on what means…

Can we get better at "buying" experiences like we can with buying stuff (as we looked at in the last post)? But does it affect our experiences if we think too much about the money we're spending on them? By being thoughtful with our spending on experiences, we can benefit in a few ways: We can learn which experiences are the most important to usWe can learn how the timing of experiences matter so that we can make the most of themWe can afford more experiences as we're only paying for what matters to us and be able to save…

As I sit here in a wasteland of legos to be stepped on and random clothes and dolls that will never be matched, I'm convinced that buying stuff doesn't bring much lasting happiness. And that my kids need way less stuff. But then I spend hours researching the latest TV, phone, computer, and video game and think maybe I do need some more stuff. I know the research on how buying stuff doesn't really change our happiness because after a little while we get used to it and bored with it and need something new to excite us again. I…

So if we have any extra money to spend after all our basic living essentials are covered, how can we get the most happiness out of it? Many articles and research studies have been done about this question with them all having pretty much the same answer: buy a mini horse. Article over. However, it might be a bit more complicated than that (for some people) with the main reason being that we adapt quickly to new things. This ability we have as people to adapt quickly to new situations is great when it comes to many things (or else…

Since spending money requires us to spend time working to earn the money, we might as well try to make sure the spending is worth it to us. That the benefit we get from the spending is greater than the loss of time we have given up in exchange. Note: we all have to spend some money on basic essentials to survive that we can't avoid, so this is more about the spending we actually have choices about. One way I think about getting the most out of my spending is by asking myself: How much joy do I get…