Article, why you should spend money on experiences, not things

[KBecks2]

http://m.fastcompany.com/3043858/world-changing-ideas/the-science-of-why-you-should-spend-your-money-on-experiences-not-thing?utm_source=facebook

Interesting topic, havent' read yet.

[2ndTimer]

Very interesting article.  Especially the part about how people compare stuff because it's so easy.  That helps to explain why spending money on experiences blows stuff out of the water for a conversation starter

[Retired To Win]

That's how I end up spending most of my discretionary money.  Even when I end up buying something, it's usually something which delivers an experience -- even if it's only an expereience as prosaic as being able to listen to a piece of classical music or playing a pc strategy game.

[Cookie78]

Agreed, completely.

I feel like this is obvious, but I also think I've been lucky to have always felt this way. I know plenty of self described materialistic people who argue reasons for buying material things instead.

[jmusic]

So would buying a new 4K monitor be a thing, or an experience?  :)

[Michread]

My things help me to enjoy my experiences!  A good couch is a wonderful thing as is a nice home!

[Beridian]

What about when "things" facilitate experiences?  For example I have been saving up for, and recently purchased, a large Ford Transit Van.  I plan to convert it (modestly) into a class-b RV to facilitate travel and adventure, both with my kids and sometimes solo.  I plan to travel the back roads of the USA, I want to explore the west and may someday drive to Alaska (I am approaching retirement).  I bought a new van because above all I need reliability in a vehicle, the used ones I found were nearly as expensive and of questionable reliability.  Even at the new price it is far far less expensive than what you would pay for a finished motor home.   It will also serve a utilitarian purpose on occasion.

I know this seems very un-mustache-like, but here is my rationale:  First I have for several years been fully funding both my 401K and my Roth IRA.  I have a nice nest egg and a pension coming.  I really wrestled with the decision to purchase this van for a couple of years now.  It is a lot of money.  But ultimately I reasoned that it will be a gateway to travel and adventure.  I may not live forever, better make hay while the sun shines.  I can also sell it if I find that my travel dreams were not all that they were cracked up to be and recover at least some of my investment.  I figured I have to at least give it a shot, otherwise I may die one day as one of those people who regret all the things they never did.

So in a way I rationalize the purchase as purchasing a "thing" to open the door to experiences.  Time will tell.

[mathlete]

Um... experiences have no resale value.

[sheepstache]

I feel like advertisers know this already and are using it. They're not selling you sneakers; they're selling you the idea of all the fun times you'll have in your sneakers or what kind of person having these sneakers will make you (one who exercises, presumably).

Very interesting article.  Especially the part about how people compare stuff because it's so easy.  That helps to explain why spending money on experiences blows stuff out of the water for a conversation starter

http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-returning-from-vacation-settles-on-single-conc,38256/

[DagobertDuck]

Um... experiences have no resale value.

But they don't depreciate either.

[driftwood]

My wife and I both keep a running list of things we want... usually so the other can check it before birthdays/christmas...

After incorporating minimalism and mustachianism into our lives I had a real hard problem putting anything on the list.  I felt stress if i had anything on there.  What if I got it but ended up not liking it and wanting to get rid of it?  I feel bad getting rid of gifts, and it would also waste money.  Towards the end of last year I deleted everything from the list and instead listed things I wanted to do.  Even though many of those experiences cost more than the items on my list the effect on me was totally different.  Instead of worrying or feeling stress, I was excited about the things I might get to do. 

I've also been debating paying for my son (3 years old) to do indoor skydiving.  I think I'll wait until he's a bit older.  Though it's pretty expensive, the draw to me is that it's a way to let him 'fly'.  I feel like it would blow his mind to be able to go somewhere and try flying out, especially when he's too young to understand the technology.  I'd rather pay the $175 for him to do this one time than pay that same amount for a tablet or any other toys. 

[bryan]

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/things-vs-experiences.html

Perhaps it would be helpful to step back and consider that everything really is an experience. A thing, as well, is experienced on some level, so in the following an experience typically denotes some kind of event isolated in time and not earned knowledge of certain things… and that the people who revel in experiences like travel, movies, concerts, and so on consider themselves so much more enlightened, kinda like the crowd of yesteryear who thought it might be a good idea to spontaneously, oh say, self-combust, because that would surely be craaaaaazy, yay?!

...

It seems that the popularization of experiences is one more way of extracting money from people on the service level, although you can of course devise your own experiences. However, in this case I think it moves from event-experience to knowledge-experience: something which I value much higher.

...

I suppose the experience crowd gets a lot of traction from people, who are past-oriented, you know the type who has tons of family albums, who do genealogy, and still talk about the war (you know the war I’m talking about, yes?). This is about one third of the population. But many others just go along, because it’s fashionable; not because it is right for them.

[jmusic]

Um... experiences have no resale value.

But they don't depreciate either.

True; they (are) appreciat(ed).

[I'm a red panda]

Very interesting article.  Especially the part about how people compare stuff because it's so easy.  That helps to explain why spending money on experiences blows stuff out of the water for a conversation starter

What's funny is our neighbors will talk about their new Suburbans as necessities, or be excited about their custom made pool table, but if we mention our Galapagos trip, suddenly we are rich and extravagant.

Yes, our Galapagos trip was extravagant, and did cost a lot of money. But it really wasn't that different than all the stuff they amass in a year. We just do really well to not get the stuff so we can have the experience.

So if we could just compare our "stuff" instead, we wouldn't sound so braggy.

[mattchuck2]

Um... experiences have no resale value.

But they don't depreciate either.

When you have a crappy memory like me they do . . .

MMM has covered this topic before:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/04/14/how-to-make-money-buy-happiness/

Money quote:

At the bottom of the pyramid, you have people who seek stuff at all costs. Long ago, some of my rental house tenants could not pay the bills and had debt collectors coming at them from all directions. They spent their entire short tenure in my house trying to put up a smokescreen to dodge me, their creditors, past landlords, and everyone else. And yet inside the modern luxury house they had rented from me was the latest designer furniture, sleek electronics, high-end clothing and a completely customized brand-new Corvette. They were good at fooling me and fooling themselves, but as the sheriff unceremoniously kicked them out on the street after the eviction court case, they may have briefly realized they were not buying happiness.

Slightly higher on the consumer thrills ladder is the new slogan of, “Don’t buy things, buy experiences! Travel! Take Cruises! Go to all the happy hours!”

It’s a nice idea, and it does work to a certain degree: experiences are more memorable than things. After all, your favorite trip still glows warmly in your memory, even while that iPad2 you purchased just a few years ago is hopelessly outdated now and sitting in a storage bin under the shipping boxes from your iPad3 and iPad4.

In the mainstream media, the analysis ends there. Spending on experiences is better than spending on stuff, so just spend all your money on experiences and you’re set.

But there’s an even more satisfying thing you can do with money, which is rarely mentioned: not spending it....

Read on to see why the stress relief from having a stash outweighs the fleeting high of spending money on an experience. Note: I have yet to incorporate this MMM principle into my own life.

[Retired To Win]

What about when "things" facilitate experiences?  For example I have been saving up for, and recently purchased, a large Ford Transit Van.  I plan to convert it (modestly) into a class-b RV to facilitate travel and adventure...So in a way I rationalize the purchase as purchasing a "thing" to open the door to experiences.  Time will tell.

I guess if I think about it there really are 2 kinds of "stuff": materialistic stuff and experiential stuff.  A gold Rolex on the wrist is materialistic.  A scuba tank and regulator are experiential.

Now... how about a Rolex Oyster?  My take would be that, given that I know I can buy a really good underwater watch for less than $100, that the Oyster has $100 of experiential value and the balance of its purchase price is materialistic.

Same rationale might apply to that brand new, high end class-b RV.  (??)

What do you think?

[KBecks2]

Another good article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/boomers-unwanted-inheritance/2015/03/27/0e75ff6e-45c4-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html

Stuff it:  Millenials nix their parents' treasures.

Millennials dont' want all the things their Baby Boomer parents want to pass down to them.  There is a lot of stuff now that nobody seems to want.

[resy]

I feel like advertisers know this already and are using it. They're not selling you sneakers; they're selling you the idea of all the fun times you'll have in your sneakers or what kind of person having these sneakers will make you (one who exercises, presumably).

Very interesting article.  Especially the part about how people compare stuff because it's so easy.  That helps to explain why spending money on experiences blows stuff out of the water for a conversation starter

http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-returning-from-vacation-settles-on-single-conc,38256/

exactly how I felt when I read it. Another thing that bothered me about it was that spending on experiences was a better "investment" than on things but not once was just saving your cash or you know, actual investments lol

[Retired To Win]

... Another thing that bothered me about it was that spending on experiences was a better "investment" than on things but not once was just saving your cash or you know, actual investments lol

Yes, that is truly taking the ridiculous to a whole new level.  At least when you buy a thing, you might down the road be able to recover some of the money you paid for it.  But the cost of an experience is completely sunk.  There is no residual resale value to it.  Definitely not an investment in any real sense of the word.

I spend money on my experiences for their own real-time sake.  For NOW.

[FrugalKube]

Interesting read and I do like traveling and having experiences

[deborah]

I'm not sure I really understand this thread.

Consumerism is consumerism - whether on "experiences" or "stuff". Going hiking, visiting local parks, lying on the grass watching the clouds, are all experiences that don't cost a lot, and are freedom things - you can do them when you want to, and not when someone dictates that you do them. Experiences don't need to cost anything - and some of the best experiences are completely free.

Around here there are lots of parrots, and the best of the lot are cockatoos. They are real clowns. They land on the electricity wires upside down, and then right themselves, or maybe swing (still upside down) several times before getting right-side-up.  The local lights have a rubber seal around the light, and the cockatoos have been known to use their beaks to prise the seal out of the light, and then land on the end of it and bounce up and down like they are bungee jumping. And this is all free entertainment while you watch! And you never saw it on UTube!

I thought that MMM was about conserving money and the environment, and taking advantage of life's simple pleasures, rather than spending money of either "stuff" or "experiences".

[Ricky]

Good article overall, I think it's fairly common sense. But I don't think purchasing things and experiences themselves are mutually exclusive. Experience is living in general. We crave change and difference all the time even though we're pretty stubborn to change.

I agree that experiences make you happier over the long term, but not necessarily a vacation itself. A vacation, for me, tends to normalize in the same way a physical object would. It's the little everyday experiences of living that make it for me.

I was going to try to argue that computers and TVs actually provide new experiences everyday. Well, they do, but there are reoccurring costs to get the "new expedience" everyday.

Also, the article didn't imply traveling was the only way to get new experiences. Sometimes simply changing things up qualifies as a new experience even if you've done that thing before. For instance, things you've learned since last doing that experience may make doing it later on more enjoyable. You may have went to DC as a kid and found the experience to be exciting, but then subsequently learned tons of Amedican history making the next trip much more impactful.

I think purchasing things are a type of experience since some things require research, the anticipation of getting it, using it or admiring it, and then just like any other experience it will need to be replaced by another experience. The only difference is you spent money on that experience. That's not necessarily any different to me than spending money on traveling. In either scenario, the experience will normalize.

I guess there is a certain amount of satisfaction gained with trips beyond buying things. But, in the end, buying experiences is a continuous thing.

Good article on how we're always looking for the next experience (some of you have probably already read it):

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

[Drifterrider]

I spend money on experiences:  I travel.  I also save for the future but, I don't wait until I get old to live.

Life is about balance:  or it should be.

[Retired To Win]

I spend money on experiences:  I travel.  I also save for the future but, I don't wait until I get old to live.

Life is about balance:  or it should be.

Of course.  The question is where you set that balance point.  I believe doing that correctly requires selecting and factoring in a specific financial independence/retirement target date from which you can back-calculate what your monthly or annual savings need to be in order to meet that date.  And that will definitely affect how much discretionary money is left over for travel, etc.

[NaturallyHappier]

I always find that I get the most satisfaction from experiences and not material goods and experiences are usually less expensive.

[Retired To Win]

... It's the little everyday experiences of living that make it for me...Sometimes simply changing things up qualifies as a new experience even if you've done that thing before...

Excellent points.  You don't have to travel anywhere to have an awesome sunrise or sunset experience... or a hard-to-forget encounter with a creature of the wild (if, like me, you live in rural country).  And changing things up to make them new can be as downright simple as reversing the direction of a hike or canoe trip.  Endless experience possibilities.  Not much moolah required.

[Drifterrider]

I spend money on experiences:  I travel.  I also save for the future but, I don't wait until I get old to live.

Life is about balance:  or it should be.

Of course.  The question is where you set that balance point.  I believe doing that correctly requires selecting and factoring in a specific financial independence/retirement target date from which you can back-calculate what your monthly or annual savings need to be in order to meet that date.  And that will definitely affect how much discretionary money is left over for travel, etc.

For me:  I don't have "stuff".  I have stuff but I don't just buy "stuff".  I always pay myself first.  I always have.  Everything else is a matter of choices:  Do I want more money in the bank or do I want to do "this" now?  It all depends on your goal in life.  Mine is to enjoy it while making sure I've saved enough to continue to enjoy it.  :)

[damize]

Science says experiences are better than stuff: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/buy-experiences/381132/

When it rains through a beach vacation, as Kumar put it, "People will say, well, you know, we stayed in and we played board games and it was a great family bonding experience or something." Even if it was negative in the moment, it becomes positive after the fact. That's a lot harder to do with material purchases because they're right there in front of you. "When my Macbook has the colorful pinwheel show up," he said, "I can't say, well, at least my computer is malfunctioning!"

[Guses]

NO!

You should never listen to articles that tell you "You should spend money on X", regardless what X is. Way to get your brain washed guys.

I am with Deborah on this, you don't actually need to spend anything to "experience" something. What a load of bullcrap.

You like to travel? Fine, but at least have the sense to understand that that spending is not necessary and is as much a luxury as a 50 foot TV screen.

Travel is the new way to keep up with the Hernandez.

[Trimatty471]

"What's funny is our neighbors will talk about their new Suburbans as necessities, or be excited about their custom made pool table, but if we mention our Galapagos trip, suddenly we are rich and extravagant.

Yes, our Galapagos trip was extravagant, and did cost a lot of money. But it really wasn't that different than all the stuff they amass in a year. We just do really well to not get the stuff so we can have the experience."

I get this from my coworkers.  They do not get it.  It is because I do not have a car, buy designer clothes & accessories, go to the hairdresser, get weekly manicures/pedicures that I could afford to travel.