So rather than buying the latest iPhone or a new BMW, Gilovich
suggests you'll get more happiness spending money on experiences like going to
art exhibits, doing outdoor activities, learning a new skill, or traveling.

Gilovich's findings are the synthesis of psychological studies conducted by him
and others into the Easterlin paradox, which found that money buys happiness,
but only up to a point. How adaptation affects happiness, for instance, was
measured in a study that asked people to self-report their happiness with major
material and experiential purchases. Initially, their happiness with those
purchases was ranked about the same. But over time, people's satisfaction with
the things they bought went down, whereas their satisfaction with experiences
they spent money on went up.