+
upworthy
More

5 reasons you should stop spending money only on yourself right now.

Breaking news: Money can buy happiness. Sometimes.

True
TD Ameritrade

Michael Norton is a professor at Harvard Business School. Smart dude, right? Well, he's got some news for us: Money can buy happiness. But it has everything to do with how that money is spent.

Check out the video of Michael Norton's TED Talk to get the whole scoop, or scroll down to read more.


Here are five reasons to spend your money on other people.

1. Too much money makes us selfish and antisocial.

The perfect example of this is winning the lottery. We all know it would be a dream come true to win the lottery, right? Maybe not. People who win the lottery often go into debt and have some pretty strained social relationships (what with every single human they've ever met asking them for money all the time).

GIFs via TED/YouTube.

And what do people commonly say they would do if they won the lottery? Check out these antisocial ideas:

  • First idea: "When I win I am going to buy my own little mountain and have a little house on top."

  • Second idea, far more creative but just as creepily antisocial: "I would fill a big bathtub with money and get in the tub while smoking a big fat cigar and sipping a glass of champagne. Then I'd have a picture taken and dozens of glossies made. Anyone begging for money or trying to extort from me would receive a copy of the picture and nothing else." ... ummmm, okkaayyyyy?

Bottom line: Winning the lottery makes people's lives worse. Imagining winning the lottery makes people weird.

But...

2. Spending money on other people makes you happier.

Norton did an experiment in which people in one experimental group (let's say Group A) were given money to spend on themselves. People in another experimental group (Group B) were given money to spend on other people. At the end of the day, Group A's happiness had remained the same; Group B's happiness had increased.

That's right: The people who spent money on others actually got happier.

Treat yo self ---> happiness remains the same.

GIF via "Parks and Recreation."

Spend on someone else ---> get happier.

Bottom line: Spending money on other people increases your level of happiness.

3. Donating money to charity is positively related to happiness.

You might be thinking, "OK, in a few wealthy countries, spending money on others increases happiness. Big whoop." But listen up: This finding holds true in almost every single country in the world.

Check out this map. Green countries are places where donating money to charity and general happiness in life are positively correlated — where money to charity and happiness go hand in hand.

Image via TED/YouTube.

See that sea of green? It shows that in 136 countries, people who give money to charity are happier than people who don't give money to charity. We can't say for sure why or which factor causes which result, but we know they're positively related.

Bottom line: Spending money on others is positively related to happiness all over the world.

4. Business teams that spend money on each other do better.

Here's another experiment that proves you should spend money on other people. This one focuses on sales teams in Belgium. In one group, individuals on the sales team were given money to spend on themselves. In the other group, they were given money to spend on someone else on the team. If you've been following up till now, I'm doubting their findings will shock you.

The result? Sales teams that spent money on each other performed better. They sold more stuff. They were more productive workers. Cash money increased.

GIF via TED/YouTube.

Pretty cool, right!? And the best example of what a prosocial team did with the money? They bought a piñata and smashed it together. How's that for team bonding? (Just don't hit your teammates.)

Bottom line: Spending money on other people even increases performance in a business setting.

5. Dodgeball teams that spend money on each other WIN ALL THE THINGS.

Yep, this concept also applies to dodgeball. The final experiment shows that dodgeball teams that got money to spend on each other were totally transformed and began to dominate the league. Like this:

GIF via "Glee."

Bottom line: Spend money on your teammates, WIN DODGEBALL. Also known as this spending-on-other-people thing has a ridiculously wide array of applications.

Did all that kind of blow your mind like it totally blew mine?

I don't know about you ... but I'm off to go buy someone a coffee.

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

Keep ReadingShow less

The grandmother was suspicious.

A grandmother always felt her middle granddaughter Lindsay, 15, looked slightly different from the rest of the family because she had blonde, curly hair, while the rest of her siblings’ hair was dark “I thought genetics was being weird and I love her,” she wrote on Reddit’s AITA forum.

But things became serious after Linday’s parents “banned” her from taking things a step further and getting a DNA test. If the family was sure their daughter was theirs, why would they forbid her from seeking clarity in the situation? After the parents laid down the law, the situation started to seem a little suspicious.

“I told my son and [daughter-in-law] that there was something fishy around her birth she needed to know. They denied it and told me to leave it alone,” the grandma wrote.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less