We've all heard the saying money can't buy happiness, and I think it's largely true.

Horting money or accumulating wealth for its own sake usually doesn't bring much pleasure.

However, how you spend money can improve your relationships and well-being over the long

run. This podcast will review eight ways that spending money can create a happier life. Using it as a tool

for creating rich experiences and connections can be the secret to getting more joy from your money.

Welcome back. It's episode 942 of Money Girl. I really appreciate you spending some time with me.

I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson, money speaker, and founder of the

MoneyStack. That's my substack newsletter. I've been providing

personal finance tips and advice on this podcast weekly since 2008 with over 44 million downloads.

You can learn more, ask questions, and sign up for the money stack at laura d adams.com.

Newsletter subscribers automatically receive my money success toolkit with the exact

templates I use to manage money. So I hope you'll sign up and enjoy that. All right, let's talk

about spending money to live a happier life. You know, the older I get, the more I realize

that spending on certain things definitely brings me greater happiness

than on others. For instance, the thrill of buying a new pair of shoes that I've been

coveting, yeah, it's fun, but that thrill wears off pretty quickly, I have to say. You know,

that thrill just doesn't last very long.

So my goal is to think about allocating more of my financial resources to things that genuinely

make me happy, you know, that give me more of a pleasure that last over the long term.

So let's go through eight ways that spending money may help you

cultivate a genuinely happy life. Number one is spending money on improving your health.

Spending money on anything that improves your health, like a gym membership,

...