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Not spending can also be satisfying
People sometimes feel pressured to buy certain things like expensive clothes, cars, houses. But you don’t always have to keep up with the Joneses, especially not when this makes you unhappy.
If you can’t afford it or want to save some money for the future, no one is forcing you to spend your money. “Those kinds of positional purchases where people are just trying to keep up with others don’t seem to be terribly effective,” Dunn explained. “I think the lesson here is trying not to place yourself in this like social milieu where you feel driven to make these purchases that don’t intrinsically provide happiness, but that you are buying in order to keep up with those around you.”
Appreciate the things you do have and the benefits and pleasures they still bring you. At the end of the day, you’ll feel much better and satisfied with the extra money still left in your wallet.
