Does money buy happiness? It depends what you buy and where you live, study says

A man holds Canadian currency in this image from shutterstock.com.

If you have extra cash lying around, what should you buy? For anyone analyzing their budget for the new year, researchers have a framework that might help get the most satisfaction out of spending.

A new psychology study out of the University of British Columbia aims to answer the age-old question whether money can buy happiness, and researchers found results may vary based on what you buy and where you live.

“This is a very groundbreaking study because for the first time we were looking at a wide variety of spending categories across many nations,” Dr. Säde Stenlund, researcher and “happiness physician” told CTV Morning Live Friday.

The study, authored by Stenlund and published in Communications Psychology, looks at the spending choices of 200 participants across seven countries and how happy different purchases made them.

Subjects in Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil, the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia were given $10,000 USD and told to spend it within three months. They then completed surveys describing how they felt about the purchases.

The study says people rated their overall wellbeing higher even six months after spending the windfall.

It turns out that for people in wealthier countries, buying gifts and time-saving services, such as cleaning or takeout, sparked more joy, and participants derived less happiness from putting money into housing and paying off debt.

In low-income countries, subjects were happier putting money toward basic needs and achieving financial stability.

However, certain purchases gave happiness boosts to people across cultures and incomes. Those were donating to organizations, buying experiences, paying for education and spending on personal care.

Stenlund said the study can help people prioritize where to put their dollars to maximize joy.

“Our study can almost provide a template that people can reflect on, like do I have space in my budget for this happiness boosting spending?” she said.

“Of course we need housing, we need transportation and food, but do we use all our money on that, or could we have some money for the happiness bosting strategies too?”

For the most bliss for your buck, Stenlund suggested people try to donate to a cause they care about, spend money on travel and cultural experiences, attend workshops and invest in personal care such as gym memberships and haircuts.