New to the personal finance game? Perhaps you’ve already started cutting down on spending, or even taken steps to increase your disposable income. Here’s something else – did you know that you can change the way you spend the money you already have to save money and even influence how happy you feel? Here are five spending principles to help you save more and even possibly hack your way into happiness:

1. Buy experiences

“Buy experiences, not things” is the kind of glib caption you would expect to find on social media, alongside a photo of some twenty-something looking out pensively into the ocean. However, there is compelling reason to heed this mantra – according to research, purchasing experiences instead of material items leads to higher satisfaction. While having new possessions can lead to temporary happiness, their novelty tends to fade – we soon become accustomed to new ......