We all know the feeling. You purchase something in a moment of brilliance that you have to buy. You think it’s great. Surely, this new (insert: financed car/home, expensive clothes, computer, etc) is going to make you happy. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. Then it hits…. buyer’s remorse. That purchase you thought would make you so happy has now turned into a constant reminder of your poor financial decision. This is where the Second Philosophy of Becoming Moderately Frugal plays a role: The One Month Rule
Money and Happiness
Want an application of The One Month Rule in my life? I waited about six months before I ordered a car that I would both enjoy driving and that would also fit three car seats. Not an ounce of buyer’s remorse on this one.
We would like to think that spending money is linked directly to happiness. Surely, the things we buy bring us joy. The problem is the implicit assumption that we are good at determining what makes us happy. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In the book “How to Think About Money” the author discusses how people are simply not good at predicting what makes us happy. We also have a knack to follow our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors and consume whatever is right in front of us, including purchases.
In addition to this, we are often prone to spend money on things rather than on people we care about or on experiences that allow us to spend time with the people we care about. These things are unlikely to provide us real happiness, unless it is something we are passionate about and really enjoy. The question becomes this, how do we determine if something is actually going to make us happy? Give the car a test drive? Borrow a friend’s?
Again, this is difficult to pin down, but I have found one trick that helps me prevent buyer’s remorse: The One Month Rule.
