Does obtaining material things make us happy? Does obtaining material things makes us happy? Sometimes we want to buy things to treat ourselves after working hard, believing that they may cancel out the stress we have had and make us totally refreshed and happy. We might feel happy in the moment we got the thing, normally that feeling does not last long. A month later we are likely to even forget the thing you have got, and we may lose the appreciation for it. A lot of us probably end up with random rubbish and it leads us to feel rather negative about it. So my answers to the question, "does obtaining material things makes us happy?", is "not usually". I have been trying to buy less and invest more for my education, and I'm feeling better.