Buying stuff is great, but buying experiences is even better. And, one thing to note is that little treats can have bigger effects on happiness than bigger purchases. 

In 2015 I upgraded my shades to have my prescription for less than a hundred bucks - my life was transformed. Suddenly the outside didn't cause a conundrum of sun glasses vs prescription glasses.  Watching baseball, playing outside - all different thanks to that purchase. 

Others on Facebook commented on this question:

Dolmar 6800i Chainsaw.. regular $750...Kijiji brand new for $275 - Philip
UE BOOM portable speaker - Kyle 
New Macbook - Meghan
Board games (especially Pandemic Legacy) - Luke
Kitchenaid mixer, laptop, and condo - Danee
3 weeks in Newfoundland (and a lifetime of memories) - Don
A trip to Europe - Ryan
Upgraded seats to Ontario for son's first flight - Mark
New home - Anna
Car - Sarah

What a great list. It's not so important that we choose a particular favourite purchase and that some are good and bad, but that we remember them. Hedonic adaption occurs when we stop being grateful for things we have and start living as if we've always had them. 

Don't do that! Remember your spending wins from 2015 and build on it in the new year. 

In March 2014 I was searching desperately to replace frontierishere.ca as Frontier's domain name and email address. Many were mistakenly calling us "frontier-i-sheer" and missing the three words to say, never fear, Frontier is here!

I reached out the to the owner of frontier.ca over email who didn't respond to my initial emails. I noticed that Frontier.com was owned by a large company that probably didn't want to part with the name. And, sadly my favourite, frontier.co wouldn't respond to me either. 

But then there was this weird domain, frontier.io. 

.io means Indian Ocean. It's one of the British government's many domains. It's harder to get and more expensive than the average domain but has become popular among tech business along with .co. 

I found out the owner was a guy, Ross Timson, in Newcastle England. I googled him and found his Twitter account. We messaged back and forth and a deal was made. I sent the money off via wire transfer and got the domain that Frontier currently uses to this day. 

What an adventure it was using technology in this way. I hope you, reader, will have a scavenger hunt like this in your lifetime too. 

Did you know boss, or "bass" (pronounced bah-s) is a Dutch word from the 1600's meaning master?

When the Dutch colonies in Manhattan founded New Amsterdam they had a somewhat cordial relationship with their slaves. Then, when the English usurped control of the area and renamed the area New York, the slave residents didn't appreciate whatsoever the treatment they received. They did continue to use the term boss, but to avoid using the English word master. It wasn't a term of respect. 

Now, here we are in 2016 using the word boss in everyday vocabulary. 

Further, there's the notion that business owners, CEOs, Directors, Managers, have some sort of control over their employees. 

Worse, from childhood we utter phrases like "you're not the boss of me" implying that someone could be and that'd be fine if they had unilateral control over our actions. 

This needs to stop. What if the word boss was never uttered this way again?

What if we thought of a boss the way we think of an agent - someone earning a commission on our success and advocating for our advancement and excellence. 

That's the kind of role I'd love to play for those around me. 

Stressed or feeling a bit joyless? Here's a tactic from the Romans:

Imagine your problems where instead someone else's. 

How would you feel about their situation? 

What would you say to counsel them?

How would you feel about their problems in a global perspective?

The idea is that you would approach it in a more empathetic and rational manner than you would currently viewing your issues as your own. 

It’s true! Science has shown us that money, or more precisely how we spend our money, does make us happier. I just finished reading Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, and highly recommend it (it’s a quick read).

It will make you ask the question:  Am I getting the biggest happiness bang for my buck?

Here are the five lessons of the book:

Choose experiences over stuff - This one might be obvious to people paying attention to spending studies but the lesson here is that experiences do generate more happiness than similar spending on physical goods.

Make it a treat - Buying experiences and physical goods loses its impact the more frequently we buy them. If you love lattes, it will make you less happy having one everyday than once a week.

Buy time - When you're about to buy something next time ask, "how will this affect how I use my time?" or "Will this affect my Tuesdays?". Spend money on freeing your time, but also keep it practical. When we think too far out in the future we don't take into account the realities of our day to day. 

Pay now, consume later - Reduce the pain of buying by separating the spending experience from the consumption BUT unlike credit cards that create pain (and interest) after the fact, do the opposite and spend cash early to anticipate the consumption to come.

Invest in others - as a fundraiser and father I loved reading this - we get more joy on spending time and money on other people. Increasing your charitable giving will make you feel wealthier and volunteering will make you feel more time-free. 

This book is useful both on a personal and professional level. Go and buy it on Amazon now and start reaping the rewards from the lessons today. ​