{"id":222026,"date":"2024-06-18T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/?p=222026"},"modified":"2024-06-16T08:01:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T12:01:55","slug":"look-at-me-purchases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/","title":{"rendered":"Look-at-Me Purchases"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Takeaway: <\/b>Material purchases that scream “look at me” are usually a waste of money and don’t make you any happier.<\/p>\n

Estimated Reading Time:<\/b> 3 minutes, 12s.<\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As a total nerd, one of the things I love reading each year is Warren Buffet\u2019s annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. In 2022\u2019s letter (PDF<\/a>), he offhandedly mentioned a phrase I\u2019ve been thinking about since reading it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve bolded<\/strong> the bit that got me thinking, and here\u2019s also the rest of the paragraph for context:<\/p>\n

The disposition of money unmasks humans. Charlie [Munger] and I watch with pleasure the vast flow of Berkshire-generated funds to public needs and, alongside, the infrequency with which our shareholders opt for look-at-me assets<\/strong> and dynasty-building.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The phrase \u201clook-at-me assets\u201d crystalizes a lot of what bugs me about the consumption-driven habits that drive so many people. I\u2019ve written in the past about avoiding hedonic purchases\u2014material purchases that are \u201cassociated with fun, pleasure, and excitement,\u201d like perfume, luxury watches, and nice cars. Research shows that once we get used to the stuff we buy\u2014which doesn\u2019t take much time\u2014we inevitably settle back down into our previous level of happiness.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Obviously, there is nothing wrong with nice things\u2014there are far too many Apple products in my field of view right now to throw stones. (Plus, imagine all that shattered glass!) But it\u2019s worth remembering, especially as far as our happiness is concerned, that we extract more lasting happiness out of spending money on experiences\u2014not out of consuming things that we will inevitably get used to. We get used to nice things\u2014especially the ones that call out \u201chey, look at me!\u201d<\/strong> The things, in other words, that we buy for the purpose of status projection.<\/p>\n

Once the initial novelty of a new thing wears off\u2014and we settle back down after buying the oversized house, overpriced car, or ridiculous watch\u2014we\u2019re left with whatever tangible difference it makes in our lives.<\/p>\n

When money is a finite resource, we\u2019re best off pouring it into experiences with others or things that serve a function or purpose in our lives.<\/p>\n

Once you begin to see all the \u201clook at me\u201d purchases people make, it can be hard to unsee it all.<\/p>\n

  1. Source: Consumers Emotional Responses to Functional and Hedonic Products: A Neuroscience Research<\/a>. ↩<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    An easy way to tell that something is a waste of money. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLook-at-Me Purchases - Chris Bailey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Look-at-Me Purchases - Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An easy way to tell that something is a waste of money.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-18T12:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-16T12:01:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/eyi2a29pdc4.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/amin-hasani-uDSMTV06s4U-unsplash.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1367\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/chris_bailey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@chris_bailey\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Bailey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52e99dd14925b1bfe8c1034b8d40ed70\"},\"headline\":\"Look-at-Me Purchases\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-18T12:00:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-16T12:01:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52e99dd14925b1bfe8c1034b8d40ed70\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eyi2a29pdc4.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/amin-hasani-uDSMTV06s4U-unsplash.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Money\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/look-at-me-purchases\/\",\"name\":\"Look-at-Me Purchases - 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