This month the New York Times did some interesting research in regards to the science of money, spending, and happiness. While we have all heard about people who are better off with less, the research went on to show how spending on experience instead of pissessions leads to longer happiness:

(Researchers) have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness. One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
“It’s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch’ is basically the idea,” says Professor Dunn, summing up research by two fellow psychologists, Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich.
… Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor of public affairs, population, health and economics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, recently published research examining nine major categories of consumption. He discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles.

When was the last time a device or mode of transportation make you as happy as your last vacation? And would you rather show your friends a picture of your newest piece of furniture or the sunset on the last road trip you took?

So next time you are hot on the trail of your next purchase, stop and ask yourself what will really make you happy.