I spend money on both, of course, but I have noticed that as I get older, I value experiences much more than I used to and things quite a bit less.
Vacations, in particular. I spend much more on them than I used to, and I never regret it.
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Things, absolutely. If I go out to a movie and see a movie, I’ve seen a movie once. If I purchase a DVD, I can see that movie whenever I choose. The same goes for music, or games (arcade vs home, not that arcades are that common anymore, precisely because of this, I assume).
Not every experience can be turned into a thing, but most of those that can’t be I don’t value highly enough to spend money on, because for the same money I could probably buy several things that I can use indefinitely, as many times as I like.
Note: For the purpose of this question I define ‘things’ as anything I own that I can use repeatedly at my discretion, while ‘experiences’ I define as anything that I don’t own but pay only for limited access to.
Our family has been purging our things for the past year (difficult with two kids under 10, one of whom has a bit of a Lego obsession). Most of our money goes for entertainment experiences, or fixing up our home (especially this time of year with landscaping to be done). So I’m not sure what home renovations falls under, but that’s where we find our enjoyment-- fixing things up. Painted our out building, built a fence around our garden, put some perennials and shrubs in, laid six yards of mulch…
I changed a lot since I got older. When I was young I used to buy a lot of music. I still have a huge collection. But it doesn’t interest me anymore. I rarely hear anything I like so much I want to pay for.
On the other hand nowadays I spend a lot of money on airline tickets. I have five trips planned this year already, and there may be more.
I propose soon to pay the cost, up front and all the trickle down, of a wife. Is that a “thing” or an “experience”?
Experiences. It may sound weird since experiences are non-tangible and things are tangible, but I find that experiences have more staying power and longevity than things.
The question seems to be do you prefer to buy or rent experiences.
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My apartment isn’t all that big and it’s at capacity with the “things” I’ve acquired over the years. Now, experiences…I have room for a lot more of those.
Yeah me too. I but good kitchen equipment because it enhances the experience of cooking for friends and family, which I really like. I have a new car because I’m in it 3-4 hours a day and I don’t want that to be a shitty experience. I buy nice clothes because it puts me in a professional state of mind and makes my experience at work better.
Maybe the poll should have included an additional category? Like so many others, I like to purchase things that enhance my experiences, where experiences can be simple things in the home. There’s nothing I really collect or have to have, but in a lot of ways, collecting things are an experience, too, right?
Take those tacky little figurine things that old people used to like to collect. Don’t they get joy out of adding one more item to their collection, completing the 1994 series? Isn’t joy an experience?
All the same, maybe someone takes joy in replacing his 2014 iMac with a 2017 iMac, but given the 2014 was perfectly fine, is the replacement really an experience or just the lust of having something new?
It’s a hazy line. I cannot answer the poll question, because I have no idea where to draw the line for my own circumstances.
It is, since ultimately everything is an experience. But I think we can sorta differentiate between things where the experience directly relates back to the thing itself vs. where it enables some other experience. And that depends as much on the reasons for buying the thing as the thing itself. For instance, if I buy a fast car because it makes me feel good to have that power at my command, even if I don’t really use it for much, that’s more of a “thing” thing. But if I do it because I go to the track every weekend and race it, then it’s more of an “experience” thing.
One might also look at what these people would do as an alternative. Suppose you have two people that want a new BMW M3 but can’t afford it. One of them buys a lower-end 3-series and then a M-style steering wheel and fake badges. The other gets a used, older M3 and rebuilds the engine. Sure, the first guy wants the experience of having an M3–that is, the joy in having other people think you have an awesome car–but that’s not really on the “experience” end of the spectrum as far as I’m concerned. For the second guy, it’s the performance that’s the important part and the fact that it enables other things.
Nothing necessarily wrong with either of these attitudes but that doesn’t mean we can’t distinguish between them.