Here is excellent advice from a shrink at the University of Colorado. He claims to have found that vacations make people happier than fancy cars or dresses or homes. He seems to focus too much on blotting out negative memories of vacations. (Bad experiences seem to be more a function of a specific vacations than an attribute of vacations generally.) And his example of a great vacation -- a visit to Disneyland -- is not one I would have chosen. But the underlying message is one I try to inculcate in my kids: It's more important to invest in experience than stuff.

Here's more from the press release they put out on the prof, Leaf Van Boven:

Shopping for that new high-definition television this summer? Skip it, and take a vacation instead, says a University of Colorado at Boulder psychologist who studies happiness.

Assistant Professor Leaf Van Boven has conducted numerous surveys and experiments spanning several years and has found that life experiences, such as vacations, generally make people from various walks of life happier than material possessions...

Another reason he cites for hitting the road over buying the new TV is that experiences contribute to social relationships. "They have more of what we refer to as social value, and we know that social relationships are a huge component of well-being and life satisfaction," Van Boven said.

Closely tied to this idea that experiences have more social value is that people also usually have intrinsic motivations for pursuing experiences like vacations.

"One of the things that people tell us is that when they pursue experiences they often do so out of a desire to satisfy intrinsic goals, so they will go backpacking or skiing because they want to challenge themselves, they want to push themselves in new ways," he said.

Material things are much less likely to be viewed that way. In fact, Van Boven says people who pursue experiences more than material things are often more popular with others too.

"When you are known as being experiential you become a more likeable person than when you are known as a materialistic person," he said.