8 Ways That Money Can Buy Happiness

"If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right."

That's the excellent and descriptive title of a paper published last year in the Journal of Consumer Psychology by the University of British Columbia's Elizabeth W. Dunn, Harvard's Daniel T. Gilbert, and UVA's Timothy D. Wilson.

The paper, which summarizes decades of study on the subject, notes that "money allows people to do what they please, to live longer and healthier lives, to buffer themselves against worry and harm, to have leisure time to spend with friends and family, and to control the nature of their daily activities -- all of which are sources of happiness."

Unfortunately, money is "an opportunity that people routinely squander because the things they think will make them happy often don't."

So how do you make sure to spend your money in order to to maximize your happiness? Follow these eight steps:

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