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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 2: Today's tip is to consciously think of spending money on

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Speaker 2: certain experiences as making investments and happy memories. It is

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Speaker 2: not quite the same as investing money in the market,

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Speaker 2: but in terms of living a satisfying life, it is

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Speaker 2: not a bad idea either. So the title of today's

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Speaker 2: episode comes from a wise grandfather I know of. When

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Speaker 2: he gives cash gifts to the young people in his life,

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Speaker 2: he tells them to invest this in your memory bank.

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Speaker 2: I really like this idea. By now you have probably

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Speaker 2: heard the advice that spending money on experiences tends to

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Speaker 2: make people happier than spending money on things. There is

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Speaker 2: a lot of gray area between the two. Of course,

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Speaker 2: a car enables you to have various experiences, so does

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Speaker 2: a tent. Correspondingly, a cheap pair of shoes might ruin

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Speaker 2: an experience if you get a lot of blisters, so

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Speaker 2: you would be happier paying up for the good ones.

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Speaker 2: That said, the grandfather's advice gets at the connection between

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Speaker 2: experiences and happiness. When you have a good experience, you

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Speaker 2: create a memory, just as investments can grow in value

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Speaker 2: over time. Your experience and the subsequent memory becomes more

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Speaker 2: valuable as the days and years pass by. I have

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Speaker 2: certainly seen this in my own life. When I was

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Speaker 2: in college, I studied abroad in Australia and chose to

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Speaker 2: spend money on traveling around that country, more money than

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Speaker 2: I had ever spent on anything before. But those memories

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Speaker 2: are completely irreplaceable. Now I have made more money, but

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Speaker 2: with the busyness of life, I haven't been back to Australia.

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Speaker 2: That was a good investment in my memory bank. When

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Speaker 2: you have money that is not already designated for a

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Speaker 2: necessity like rent, or groceries or retirement, consider whether you

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Speaker 2: can invest the money in your memory bank. Is there

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Speaker 2: an experience that you would enjoy while it lasts and

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Speaker 2: enjoy looking back on. Maybe you've always wanted to take

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Speaker 2: your kids to the Grand Canyon. A trip there will

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Speaker 2: probably give you a lot more happiness than a new couch.

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Speaker 2: You'll have fun while you're there and enjoy looking back

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Speaker 2: on the memories. Or perhaps you're a foodie and you've

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Speaker 2: been dying to go to a restaurant in your town

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Speaker 2: that you keep hearing rave reviews about so try it.

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Speaker 2: You'll enjoy savoring the meal and joining in the conversations

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Speaker 2: with others who have dined there. Even smaller scale experiences

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Speaker 2: can be good investments. The money I spent taking my

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Speaker 2: kid's tulip picking at Holland Ridge Farms and eating at

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Speaker 2: the lobster roll truck park there one Saturday has created

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Speaker 2: lovely spring memories. Enjoy every time I look at those

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Speaker 2: bright photos. When you give cash gifts, consider encouraging the

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Speaker 2: recipients to spend the money to make memories. You could

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Speaker 2: even write the advice invest this in your memory bank

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Speaker 2: in your note accompanying the gift on the memo line

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Speaker 2: of your check, or the what's this for field and venmo.

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Speaker 2: If you give your kids an allowance, you could coach

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Speaker 2: them on spending money on making memories. Many families have

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Speaker 2: the norm of kids donating some of their allowance, saving

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Speaker 2: some of it, and spending some of it. You could

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Speaker 2: add an additional category for investing in your memory bank.

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Speaker 2: You might not know what your kids will come up with,

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Speaker 2: but the odds are good that it will yield some happiness.

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Speaker 2: As with a financial investment, investments in our memory banks

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Speaker 2: benefit us over time as the memories become part of

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Speaker 2: our identities. As you plan out your spending for the

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Speaker 2: rest of the year, maybe think of the discretionary categories

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Speaker 2: with this in mind. Some money simply has to be

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Speaker 2: spent on stuff that no one is excited about, but

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Speaker 2: some can be spent on other things. And when you

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Speaker 2: spend with the goal of adventure and memory, you are

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Speaker 2: far less likely to wind out up with buyers remorse.

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Speaker 2: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 2: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 2: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 2: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 2: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 2: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You

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Speaker 2: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts

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Speaker 2: at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 2: with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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