5 Things to Buy to Be Happier, According to Science 

Totally good idea. With our grocery store, the points we earn more than pay the pickup fee. And it saves a lot of time.

100% this! I save sooo much time just being able to pick things up.

Yes--this has helped us so much. I love not buying duplicates because I see it in the store and buy it "just in case" as I'm unsure if we have it at home or not. With ordering online I can easily scan our refrigerator and pantry to check.

Also great if you want to still go into the shop to pick up your own vegetables and fruits 😊 convenient to then quickly load up the rest of the groceries

We switched over to doing this last year and LOVE it. Every week we place our grocery order online, and pick it up the following day. The grocery store worker puts everything in the trunk. That's all there is to it! Highly recommended.

Comments like yours are why I do this! Cheering for you on your transformation journey 🙏✨

Just today I put my collection of ps1, ps2, ps3, xbox360, and that hand held Playstation device thing (I can't even remember the name pf it lol) out to be downsized. I don't have the patience to sell online to other collectors - I want them gone - but it hurts to just let them go... might see if a pawn shop wants them. I'm not ready to part with the snes or n64 yet but I figure I made a hell of a good start.

@@user-mr2gy6hz9n i kept my Nintendo 3DS game collection but I've decided to not expand it. I just couldn't part with them🥲

That’s fantastic! 👏

This is the type of investment that gives you a lot of great experiences. Vs an additional item one doesn't need.

True for me also. Reliving trauma over and over was not helpful for me. It left me feeling even worse. They also prescribed psych meds that "cause suicidal thoughts and tendencies" as a side effect. There are some good therapists out there, but the overwhelming majority of them are just bad. I found several. Walking my dog and praying a lot made me feel so much better, both inside and out. And it was free. Also beware of "child advocate" therapists. That woman believed everything the school said about my child, and diagnosed him with all kinds of psychological problems. He became suicidal. I finally put a mini recorder in his pocket (this was a long time ago) and found out the school was horribly abusing him. They lied to my face & to the therapist, and she believed them over my son. I finally found a good one. She marched into that school and raised hell. They changed his F's to A's and passed him early so he wouldn't have to go back, and she arranged to have him attend a good school until he graduated---with honors. Real child advocates are worth their weight in gold, but there's a lot of bad ones.

I have the same experience. There are times when it has helped to some degree. But, being out in the woods, hiking a trail has been much more beneficial

That’s so great to hear! Thanks so much for watching and all the support ❤️🙏

The US is terrible in health care for the elderly. My husband has stage 4 CA and is 70 years old working full time. NO assistance help from anyone here. We have our mortgage and monthly expenses to pay. Both on SS with Medicare with a supplement and it does not cover much. His CA treatment every 4 months is over 4000 after Medicare and supplement pays. WE cannot get any assistance. I need cataract surgery in both eyes and Medicare will not pay what I need. It is 6000. I will be going blind in the years to come. His CA bills are adding up fast. This is why people go homeless here in the states.

I agree! Except my impression is that the really poor, if they get something good, they very often share it with others that are in the same - or worse - situation. They very often help each other, even though they are destitute.

Thanks for watching ❤️🙏

Thank you 🙏☺️

A dishwasher was a game changer for me too! Best appliance ever made! 😂

For me it was a sad thing when my mother was given a dishwasher when I was a child. I loved washing dishes with her, it was a nice family time for us, and it was the only houshold chore we could do together without her being stressed out and impatient. When we washed dishes she was relaxed and happy.

What? That’s crazy! Do they have a RU-vid channel I can check out? 😂

@@AtoZenLife No. The mom of the family is also a minimalist though and super into sustainable living. A lot of coincidences!

@@AtoZenLifeI told her about your channel. I hope she’ll find a way to reach out!

Thanks so much 🙏

Thanks for watching 😄

Thanks so much for watching! 🙏

☺🤗@@AtoZenLife

I saw a video where a Stanley Cup survived a car crash and kept the ice inside cool! I’m just not a straw person - use what makes sense to you 👍

If you actually play them, I’d suppose so. What you don’t want to do (and what I generally have done) is to end up with a cupboard fulls of games that you haven’t played yet.

It might be more affordable than you think! Ask your friends and neighbors - I know people who had cleaning services come 2-3x a week because it was affordable. If you do it with neighbors you might be able to negotiate better rates because they can clean multiple homes without needing to travel so far. Good luck!

You are soooo right!!!!

Research shows that money absolutely buys happiness up to about $70,000 per year of income. Because of course having one's basic needs met is essential to happiness. Many people think that having "more" as a general goal would make them happier, but it's not true; more money past a certain point just buys more expensive worries.

@@micheleoster9413 Subscribers are going to vary a lot, so content is going to vary to the same degree. Many subscribers are going to find this content relevant. Of course, if someone is struggling financially, this wouldn't be relevant and obviously has been hard to hear. That's unfortunate.

I've struggled with all those things, and for me, content like this is *incredibly* helpful. It gives me ideas for creative hacks, and inspires me to keep doing the hard work to build a better life in spite of my recurring depression, ADHD, and chronic health issues.< : - ) *Some ideas:* *Eliminating financial anxiety (or at least reducing it!)* - Changing my credit card and other bills' due dates to work better with my paydays - Setting up autopay for bills to avoid late fees I use my credit card since I'm paranoid about insufficient funds I have an autopay to cover just the minimum payment on my credit card, and use a *recurring reminder on my phone* to make a 2nd credit card payment for the balance so I don't pay interest unless it's something like a huge car repair that I have to pay over time - Paying my rent early (when I've had the resources to allow for this) to build good will It may or may not help depending on the landlord but it makes *me* feel better, which is the point < : - ) - Watching frugal youtubers for tips about lowering expenses for food, heating, and other expenses - Making frugality a game where I feel like I'm winning by spending less - Using the Worst Case Scenario Exercise for anxiety to vividly picture how I'd cope if the worst happened When I was about to be homeless in my twenties, I joined a research study where I had food and shelter for 9 weeks and got a payout at the end that allowed me to move. This started one of the best chapters of my life. : - ) With some recent severe health struggles, watching CheapRVLiving with Bob Wells reassured me I CAN live in my car if I have to. ---- *Therapy* - Therapists are providing amazing content online for free these days! And I've actually gotten WAY more out of RU-vid "therapy" than I ever did from the in-person therapists I've seen. (Barbara Heffernan, Patrick Teahan, Therapy in a Nutshell...) Doing the exercises, journaling, and trying things out in real life is key. - A single book by a therapist can condense a career's worth of key insights. The library or ThriftBooks online are great resources - Free support groups (including 12-step programs) can provide important insights plus validation and support from others ---- *Buying time* - Trading tasks you don't mind or actually LIKE for ones you don't increases Quality time even if not Quantity, and sometimes a task you can do is valued enough to "buy" you extra hours as well. - Babysitting coops among trusted friends, neighbors, and relatives - Trading batch-cooked meals for greater variety with less work ----- *Pro-social "spending"* - Doing or making something for someone that doesn't require money #LoveLanguages for ideas - Gifting or donation unused items - Volunteering ----- *Experiences (aka Things to buy for happiness)* - Community festivals with free live music or activities - Free museum days - Having a potluck with leftovers (same $ for food, more variety and fun : - ) - Packing a picnic or thermos and enjoying the outdoors - Asking a friend to teach you something they know how to do and returning the favor - Having a movie night, game night, or dance party - Watching the dogs goof around at the dog park - Going to see the holiday lights - Cookie exchange party Everyone brings a batch of their favorite kind of cookie and leaves with a variety to take home and/or gift (saves on purchasing specific ingredients for different kinds of cookies) - Really noticing and savoring simple pleasures: A hot cup of coffee or yummy food Taking a bath Cozying up on the couch and reading a book or listening to music 🌈🎶🌿😃📚🐕🍊

Agreed. None of these tips are helpful in my situation. I don't mind that, but what I do mind is her repeated complete lack of acknowledging that people without discretionary income exist and that we also can't afford to buy back our time. Nice that she thinks some of us can get a cleaning service, but she doesn't really pause to think of the fact that those same cleaning people (likely women), cannot afford to buy more time through cleaning services on their income.

Emigrate to The Netherlands and you will become the happiest woman there is :😀 I don't think there is a country where one pays more taxes than in The Netherlands. We even have tax above tax. No joke.

@lsamoa Champion comment! 👏👏👏😃 I agree wholeheartedly!

Completely agree. Watching water just running away like that is shocking!

Most minimalists I know encourage you to tailor your home and life to your preferences, color or no color 👍

I am a minimalist who goes for lots of colours wherever possible like fabrics and serveware. But I keep the house a bit bland as I cannot easily change the "settings" like how I change a curtain, cushion, clothes, bedsheets or kitchen stuff..

You don't have to. Some stick with neutrals because it's harder to harmonize color or find the right monochromatic layers and still keep a cleaner look but if one has an eye for it it can be quite beautiful.

You are thinking about minimalism as an aesthetic instead of a lifestyle. Many make that mistake, I know I did before learning about it and getting to know other minimalists. Color has nothing to do with it although some do like the white gray brown shades for their homes but other have different tastes in color and even in what they believe is essential.

You can do whatever you want.

@wellhello1603 After 30 years of unsuccessful therapy, I am healed and whole through Biblical healing. I'm glad, though, for those who benefit from talk therapy.

Often times therapists kept me focussed on the 'bad'. Therapy is such a gamble.

Some of the therapists I saw made me feel paradoxically *more* broken and unfixable. It was validating to learn recently that it's not uncommon for people with trauma to feel triggered by therapy! LUCKILY, content by certain therapists on RU-vid and books have been game changing withOUT going to a therapist IRL or having to pay for it! *(Recommendations below : - )* *Videos and other content* - Patrick Teahan (toxic family systems) - Barbara Heffernan - Dr. Ali Mattu (like that he validates that self-help is okay and WORKS) - Dr. Tracey Marks - Therapy in a Nutshell For growing up with self-involved/narcissistic parents: - Jay Reid - Ingrid Clayton - Dr. Ramani *Books:* - John Bradshaw's Homecoming (a classic for a reason!) - Pete Walker's Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (Complex PTSD can happen withOUT overt abuse from sustained relational injuries.) I LOVE it that Walker validates that some people have been so hurt by others that *of course* therapy feels unsafe (AND that he provides an alternative path for healing. < : - ). --- I wrote the following in response to an Ingrid Clayton video asking how do YOU heal. *Would love to hear others' suggestions!* : - ) 1) Learning about typical patterns in toxic family systems and "getting" that feeling so irredeemably bad was actually a sign of how bad they were as parents. It had nothing to do with me! 2) Realizing I'd been brainwashed that I'm not allowed/qualified to validate my own feelings, reality, or worth, and being so disgusted by that dirty lie I vowed to validate the heck out of myself! 3) Getting out of my family's orbit and having "corrective experiences" of being seen, valued, and listened to, even in small ways. Bit by bit, they add up. 4) Journaling my thoughts and feelings 5) Giving myself permission to feel my feelings fully using a feelings wheel to practice identifying nuances of feeling 6) Accepting my shadow emotions and what they can teach me about my wants, needs, and boundaries 7) Learning about Childhood Emotional Neglect and realizing my childhood was actually incredibly abusive (Love this Ingrid Clayon video: The silent treatment IS abuse!) 8) Letting go of non-reciprocal and/or toxic friendships even though friends were my only family and it hurt and threatened my new self-identity as a good friend 9) Resolving to only form relationships with people who are instinctively good at empathic listing and maintaining reciprocity. 10) Enforcing boundaries and learning that the discomfort fades faster over time. 11) The life-changing concepts of CBT (even without doing the exercises consistently ; - ) a. Lists of common cognitive distortions b. The MAGIC that if thoughts lead to feelings, addressing the thoughts can sometimes (not always) help with the feelings! Amazing! 12) Realizing everyone makes mistakes and has weird quirks and that I'm allowed to, too. ; - D 13) The miraculous effectiveness of doing inner child work! Shout out Patrick Teahan's channel, including his videos with his mentor Amanda Curtin, and the book Homecoming by John Bradshaw which he recommends to clients. 14) Acting like a friend to myself and discovering I LIKE me : - ) 15) Learning my love languages and lavishing mySELF instead of waiting for someone else. : - ) 16) Keeping a gratitude journal It really does help train the brain to look for and notice the good things more : - ) 17) Learning about my Core Beliefs and Core Values and challenging the ones that hold me back (Love how Jay Reid talks about this, and Barbara Heffernan has a free worksheet about Core Beliefs on her website) 18) Keeping a list of accomplishments and compliments and reviewing it to remind myself I CAN do good things when I feel low and remember what helped in the past #metacognition 19) Using natural breaks in the day as cues to notice what I've been doing *right* (Cues can be starting commute, finishing a task, using the bathroom, eating a meal, brushing teeth, etc... Can set a phone reminder to this until it's a habit : - ) 🌈🌱🌿💐☘💖

You were! ✌️☺️

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@@AtoZenLife❤