The smartest ways to shop, according to science
Buying stuff feels pretty good.
Whether you’re picking out a new pair of shoes or a shiny new laptop, you will inevitably feel a psychological boost at the acquisition. Unfortunately, the emotional high of buying something usually fades before you’ve had a chance to recycle the boxes they came in.
While it’s easy to diagnose this problem as a side effect of rampant consumerism, that’s not the only reason we spend too much on things we don’t actually enjoy. Researchers have discovered that we fallible humans are notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy in the future. And our inability to make accurate predictions about our future preferences means we pay too much for purchases we don’t really want.
But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to a constant cycle of buy-then-regret. Here’s how you can avoid the temptation to spend, and feel happier about the purchases you do make.
Beware Hedonic Adaptation
Buying a car is the kind of major purchase that seems like it would make a big difference in your day-to-day happiness. After all, most Americans use their car daily, so purchasing something new that will be used every single day should have a long-term net positive impact your mood.
But anyone who’s ever bought a new car knows that it doesn’t work that way. The pleasure you feel driving the car off the lot usually fades before the new car smell.
This is because of a psychological phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation, which describes the way our brains get used to new circumstances. Whether your new experience is a good one (like buying a new car), or a bad one (like totaling your car and having to commute by bus), the intense emotions you feel in the immediate aftermath will fade as the circumstances become normal.
This means no purchase can permanently satisfy you—and unless you examine the reasons why you are buying, you are likely to keep chasing the hedonic high of making purchases.
Happiness Lies in Small, Regular Purchases
Which would be a better mood booster: a long weekend at a luxury spa or getting a manicure with your best friend twice a month?
You might assume that four days at the spa would feel better—after all, you can truly relax and be pampered at the spa—but you’ll actually enjoy your biweekly nail salon dates more.
Here’s why: Researchers have found that the details of your day-to-day life are a better predictor of happiness than irregular events. Not only do small, repeated pleasures increase your life satisfaction, but it’s also the little hassles that are most likely to consistently sour our mood.
Bigger purchases don’t offer bigger levels of satisfaction, since you simply get used to the luxury quickly. It’s the small, regular treats or purchases that offer greater happiness than a big one-time luxury.
Shiver With Antici-pation
Impulse purchases are remarkably easy in the modern world, considering you don’t even have to leave your bed to buy anything your heart desires. While there is a certain joy to the process of learning of something’s existence, deciding you must own it, and purchasing it (with guaranteed overnight delivery) in the span of 40 seconds, it is unlikely that you’ll still respect that choice in the morning.
Choosing to put off purchases can not only help you avoid the momentary impulses that would normally fade with time, but it can also help you enjoy your spending more.
Here’s why: Saving up to purchase something you want extends the feeling of happiness over the purchase since you also get to savor the anticipation. While it is possible that too much anticipation can set you up for unmet expectations, in most cases the wait will merely add to your enjoyment.
This is partially because of a cognitive bias known as the Zeigarnik Effect, which shows that we are more likely to remember a task that we have not completed compared to one we have. Waiting to make the purchase keeps it on our minds, while simply clicking “BUY NOW” feels like we have completed the task. So we stop thinking about it, and don’t get the prolonged enjoyment of anticipating the purchase.
Know Your Own Mind
When you combine our inability to predict what will make us happy with the constant onslaught of messages encouraging us to consume, it’s no wonder that we often buy things we don’t really want.
The best way to combat this one-two punch of easy overconsumption is to better understand yourself. When you are looking at a shiny new gadget and thinking about how it will solve all your problems, remember the last purchase you made that now collects dust. When considering a major purchase, think about what smaller, regular purchases could possibly make you happier. And when you find yourself with a case of the gimme-gimmes, force yourself to wait to make the purchase.
Making a habit of this kind of self-reflection will help you spend less and enjoy your purchases more.
Emily Guy Birken is a Milwaukee-based personal finance writer. Her books include: The 5 Years Before You Retire, Choose Your Retirement, Making Social Security Work for You, and End Financial Stress Now.
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