Throw the old adage out the window.

Money can make you happier — if you spend it on the right things.

A paper by Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, shows that spending your money on experiences rather than objects will lead you to greater happiness regardless of your overall income.

Why is this?

People tend to get bored of objects but not happy memories.

With his research Howell hopes to find out what motivates spending. He has now expanded his work to include ‘beyond the purchase’ where anyone with a computer can participate.

As Howell told Science Daily:

“People still believe that more money will make them happy, even though 35 years of research has suggested the opposite. Maybe this belief has held because money is making some people happy some of the time, at least when they spend it on life experiences.”