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Can money buy you happiness? asked Stephanie Rosenbloom in The New York Times. That depends. Several different studies point to the conclusion:
“Spending money for an experience–concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco–produce longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.”
Whereas most physical goods tend to lose their appeal as the purchaser becomes accustomed to them, experiences strengthen social bonds and pay dividends over time. We reminisce about them, often sugarcoating the details, so that in hind-sight, even a hellish family road trip or expensive journey abroad may ultimately seem like money well spent.