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Last week I read another interesting article in the International Herald Tribune - this time on consumer spending - which I'd like to share with my readers!

Stephanie Rosenbloom wrote about how consumers in the US are beginning to rethink about their spending pattern (cf. spending amount). The crux of it is that research (plus some people's own experiences) has shown that buying things will not bring as much happiness / fulfillment as spending money on experiences - so going to see a play, enrolling in language lessons, going on holidays etc, as opposed to buying, say, a Gucci bag, another i-phone, a leather jacket of the latest style.

I suppose there are many reasons why people (in the developed world at least) naturally like to accumulate things (some of which may be, strictly speaking, unnecessary) - there is the intense in-your-face advertising everywhere, things are a more tangible form of "reward" for one's hard work.

But it is not surprising really that spending on what Rosenbloom called experiences would generate more satisfaction.

If you're the sort who likes theatre/art, going to a play or an exhibition increases your appreciation for what you already like, it probably makes you feel good about developing your interests. You might even come out of the venue feeling like you don't need to buy too much stuff, that you're quite satisfied.

If you are into learning generally or have a burning desire to learn a new language, taking lessons can be fun (as well as frustrating I suppose!) and may give you a sense of money well spent, as you're gaining a new kind of knowledge - and it doesn't really matter whether it is a useful language, as there's intrinsic value in learning something.

If you like travelling or just going somewhere to take a break, enjoying a holiday usually (or should, at least in theory) improves your mood, helps you relax, takes your mind off the usual stuff which stresses you, and possibly broadens your horizon too depending on where you go and what you do.

Such "experiences", like many others, enhance our appreciation of life.

Things, on the other hand, which continue to scream out at us "BUY ME!", are more alluring in a way (especially if you're accustomed to a capitalistic society with tonnes of advertising), and they do seem to provide immense satisfaction (in my case, lasting for anywhere between two minutes to two days within the purchase), but such good feelings don't seem to last for very long, and the worst thing is, they seem to require constant "feeding" i.e. making another purchase!

Do you find all this quite perplexing? Because I do!