Reddit reviews Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending

I do some frivolous spendings once in a while. E.g., travel a bit, buy some new gadgets, basically keep myself happy without getting burnt out. Also suggest you read "Happy Money": http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending/dp/1451665075

Not FIRE yet. But I loved reading "Happy Money" for scientific understanding of what kind of spending makes us happy and what doesn't.

http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending/dp/1451665075

Does money bring happiness?

Yes -- but only if you spend it the right way, and what this means is:

1. Buy experiences and not things
   
2. Give more of it away as gifts to people you care about (there is a great book about this: http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending/dp/1451665075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415408465&sr=8-1&keywords=happy+money)

I disagree.

1. Her data/methods are probably decent. Published in a good peer reviewed journal so it's probably decent. Your critiques on sample and that size correlation =/= causation are pretty basic, and have probably been covered by the peer reviewers. I doubt these are actual problems in the studies, otherwise they wouldn't make it past peer review.
   
   
2. There's quite a bit of research on this subject already.
   Elizabeth Dunn, the study author, has performed some pretty extensive studies on how to spend your money for happiness. See her book (https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending/dp/1451665075) and her google scholar citations (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lwFe1V8AAAAJ&hl=en). Also see journal articles like:
   http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-34884-001
   http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-24670-006
   https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-7368-4_3
   
   While the literature's pretty consistent there are a few counter arguments (e.g. https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/36/2/188/1942750), which leads me to the third point:
   
   
3. A few of your points can be summed up as 'more research needed' and 'this isn't definitive'. Fair enough--more research is pretty much always needed in the social sciences. It doesn't discredit the validity of these results and the great number of other empirical studies supporting the idea that buying time is a better way to get happiness than buying stuff.
   
   If you have studies contradicting her results I'd love to read them.

You gotta read this book: Happy Money