Tis the season for thanksgiving. Which means it’ll then be open season for mirthless materialism. Assuming you’ve dealt with your survival obligations first (food, shelter, utilities), you might have just enough disposable income left over to splurge on Black Friday. But should you?
The book “The Science of Happier Spending” by Dunn and Norton suggests a template to maximizing your happiness ROI (return on investment) from spending. Happiness ROI increases if an experience fosters a sense of social connection; adds to the lore of your life that you can retell to family and friends; or is linked to your sense of self. Material possessions provide a low happiness ROI once Maslow’s basic needs are met.
In no particular order:
1. Buy experiences. The lovely toy so fiercely sought hath lost its charm by being caught. Experiences resist the hedonistic treadmill, so different people with the same vacation destination but different itineraries (hitchhiking + hostel vs private jet + luxury hotel) can still experience the same positive emotions.
2. Make it a treat. The habituation of abundance and luxury diminishes appreciation, so it’s better to intersperse a minority of extraordinary with the majority of the ordinary. Your cup of cafe-bought java will feel more special weekly rather than daily.
3. Buy time. Be willing to occasionally pay for convenience and access. According to Dunn and Norton, how you use time is more deeply connected with your sense of self than material possessions (heretical, I know).
4. Pay now, consume later. Anticipating future happiness leads to happiness. Put the pain of payment upfront.
5. Invest in others. Money spent on others (family, friends, community, pets) feels better than spending on yourself.
Before you buy that next audio bauble, consider these alternatives first:
- Embrace streaming. While there are conveniece benefits (vast catalogs, custom playlists, curators, lack of commercials, and good enough audio quality), streaming also incentivizes music discovery, whereas physical media punishes trial and error.
- Satisfy your collecting instinct with software rather than hardware. Finding musical needles in a haystack can be more satisfying than pining for unobtainium gear. Get faster results by corralling music curators and putting them on probation.
- Take someone with you to live music venues. You won’t hear pinpoint imaging, inner detail, chocolatey midrange, air, nor low noise floor, but you’ll enjoy yourself anyway and give the performer a living income.
- Rewind. Revisit albums from your collection, and reserve your favorite playlist for the weekends.
- Sing along to your favorite songs. If there’s an audience, hide the tomatoes.
- Unplug. Not every moment of your life needs a soundtrack.
Most audio products promise the moon but don’t deliver a good ROI. But if hardware is your thing, aim for convenience and perceived realism. Without these, you’re arguably far from reaching the point of diminishing returns:
- subwoofer(s)
- headphone or in-ear monitor with active noise cancellation and tuned to a target curve
- 5 or more speakers (Olive score > 4.0) positioned according to Dolby recommendations
- Multichannel AVR or pre-pro with HDMI switching, eARC, 4K or 8K HDR, Dolby Digital or DTS:X, bass management, and active room correction
- wireless (Chromecast/AirPlay/Bluetooth)
- multipolar surround speakers
- radio + infrared simplified remote
Good hunting. I’ll be sitting out Black Friday tomorrow, but maybe you found something with a great ROI.
