You Can’t Buy Happiness – But You Can Buy Time

While money can't buy happiness, it can buy time – and that can make life better. But it depends how you spend it.

Researchers have found that spending money on time-saving services – like cleaning, cooking and errands – is linked to greater life satisfaction.

In one experiment, adults who used money on time-saving purchases ended the day happier and less stressed than when they bought something tangible. The reason? They felt less time pressure – that constant feeling of never having enough hours in the day, which is linked to lower happiness, more anxiety, and worse health habits. Buying time acts as a buffer against that.

Yet many of us, when we have a little extra money, spend it on things rather than time. That might be worth reconsidering. Sometimes the most valuable thing money can buy isn't more stuff. It's the Sunday afternoon you stopped trying to do everything yourself.

Sources

Whillans, A. V., Dunn, E. W., Smeets, P., Bekkers, R., & Norton, M. I. (2017). Buying time promotes happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(32), 8523–8527. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/buying-time-promotes-happiness_93388f5a-5f57-42c1-b9d8-63f50f473dd5.pdf