“People who say money can’t buy happiness don’t know where to shop,” is considered the billionaire’s arrogant one-liner. But science has unlocked some of the secrets to spending and serenity and it turns out, that saying is true. Only it has nothing – absolutely nothing – to do with designer shoes or luxury cars or anything at all retail-related. Rather, researchers have found that to truly satisfy our souls we should put our money toward:

1) Buying experiences: Rather than roaming the mall in search of satisfaction, Leaf Van Boven, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Bolder, proves we’ll get more delight spending our money doing things rather than owning them.

That’s because deep down inside, human beings are actually, well, pretty deep. Our brains are built to quickly adapt to their surroundings. So once you unwrap a gift and put it in the drawer, it’s not long before you feel like it’s been there forever. Basically, it gets boring, says Van Boven.

Experiences, on the other hand, grow even more enjoyable over time. That’s because our minds tend to filter out all the hassles we encounter during the fun – traffic, unfavorable weather, long waits — and constantly cleanse the memories. Each time they’re replayed, they’re improved.

“Experiences are associated with meaningful goals,” says Van Boven.  “They help people to define themselves in a satisfying way.”

2) Low cost indulgences: Little lifts – such as salted caramels or bath salts – provide us with the most satisfaction, according to Dr. Richard Tunney, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham. He interviewed people of all income levels and found that those who hoarded pricy electronic gadgets and sports cars were less satisfied with life than those who treated themselves frequently to long walks, warm baths, and bars of chocolate.

“These are things that give us bursts of positive emotions,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. “And those little bursts have tangible consequences. We’re more creative, our immune systems are stronger, we’re more sociable, more productive – we’re happier.”

3) Other people: Spending money on our friends or even complete strangers makes for a better mood-booster than spending it on ourselves, says Michael Norton, an assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. In one experiment, he distributed to a group of people envelopes of money and gave them instructions on what to buy. At the end of the day, those who spend the money on other people — either helping a friend or donating to charity — were happier than those who paid bills or treated themselves to a scarf.

“The amount of money we gave didn’t matter,” says Norton. “It matted whether you spent it on yourself or someone else.”