Hedonistic Treadmill

Buying nicer things will NOT raise your baseline happiness level.

The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness (or sadness) despite major positive or negative events or life changes - Wiki: Hedonic treadmill

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With that in mind:

Changing baseline level of living is shown not to increase happiness after the necessities are met. Hence, instead of trading time for things that are shown not to increase your level of happiness:

  • Focus on increasing your baseline internal level of happiness without purchasing things.
  • Additionally spend money on experiences rather than things.

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