The array of great deals on homes, cars and other big-ticket items these days is tempting. But before you get out your checkbook, consider this: Will snagging that awesome price really make you any happier?

It's a tricky question. Getting a real steal can be awfully satisfying, as behavioral economists and psychologists know. 'Getting a good deal takes on its own value,' says Leaf Van Boven, a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

But a low price may lure us into buying something we don't really need -- or even enjoy, after the thrill wears off. So, says Dr. Van Boven, 'It may be useful to ask the question, 'Why am I doing this?''

The good news is that some spending really is more fulfilling. Experts who study happiness have repeatedly found that people get the most joy out of time with family and friends or activities that provide personal enrichment, such as hobbies. What matters is not the amount that we spend, but the quality of the overall experience, so a picnic can be as satisfying as a weekend getaway.

'Human beings are social animals, so it is no surprise that our greatest sources of happiness and unhappiness are our social relationships,' says Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychology professor. Some goods, like iPods, actually cut off the outside world. 'When it comes to happiness, consumer goods that involve our friends are better than those that replace them.'

These ideas can be applied to bigger investments. We may be tempted to pick a neighborhood for its status, when its schools, churches or temples or distance from work may be more meaningful factors. Indeed, the research on happiness may provide a useful way to sort through today's discounts: Put aside brand names and think about how a purchase will pay off for you personally. Here's how that might play out with some of today's big-dollar purchases:

-- Buying a home. Falling home prices can be frightening, discouraging buyers from jumping in and potential sellers from moving on. But they also offer a great opportunity to buy a first house, trade up to a bigger place or relocate to a more expensive market, since more-expensive homes typically suffer greater price declines than modest homes.

As a longtime Dallas resident, I've never made money on a home sale, but twice, I've leveraged bad housing markets to trade up to nicer homes. Both times, we got more space than we thought we could afford. The second time, the stiff loss we took on the home sale was outweighed by a great deal on a foreclosure in a close-knit neighborhood with great schools.

Today, many sellers are ready to deal, and interest rates are still reasonable by historical standards, so the next few months should be a great time to buy a home. What's significant isn't whether the price goes up right away but whether the move will improve your time with family and friends while keeping your budget intact. A home should be a shelter first, not an investment.

-- Remodeling. With home building in a tailspin, more remodelers and contractors are looking for jobs, so you might get work done more quickly and possibly at better rates than a few years ago. As a result, it may be a good time to take care of needed maintenance or to dive in on that big project you've been saving for.

But rather than focus on resale value, try to anticipate how you will look back on the changes and the effect they'll have on your family, as well as whether you'll need to take on more debt to pay for it all. Will redoing the kitchen make the space more accommodating for your family or simply change the look? Would a deck where friends can hang out or a room devoted to a hobby have a more lasting impact than new bathroom fixtures? Of course, you'll want to get at least two or three bids and check references to be sure the contractor has a good track record.

-- Buying a car. New-car sales have plunged with the one-two punch of last summer's high gasoline prices and the stock market swoon, and car makers and dealers are offering a truckload of incentives. Many also have low-interest financing for customers with good-to-excellent credit records.

But the pleasure from new wheels can wear off as quickly as that new-car smell, so a new-car purchase may not be as rewarding over time as other bargains. Certainly, we do spend plenty of time in our cars, but a new one isn't likely to improve our relationships with family and friends. This is one area where you may prefer to pay less than you planned and replenish your retirement account with the savings rather than buying more car.

Late-model used cars may also be an attractive option that is much easier on the checkbook. Even with gasoline prices coming down, used-car prices have continued to tumble, sliding 10% or so since September, says Jack Nerad, executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book. 'Somebody else has taken the big depreciation hit,' he says, but 'you can have all the modern features and plenty of useful life.'

-- Getting a TV, computer or other big appliance. Average selling prices for front-loading washers, notebook computers and LCD televisions have declined 3% to 4% in the past year, while the average selling price on a plasma television has dropped about 17%, according to market researcher NPD Group. Special offers this season may well cut those prices further.

Items like these, which lose their value quickly and have a relatively short life span, rarely justify running up a credit-card debt. But if you're considering a purchase and have the cash, weigh how it will fit into your life.

After suffering a wicked case of big-screen envy for several years, I finally broke down last year and bought a 50-incher for our den. It turned out to be one of the best purchases we have made in years. Why? Silly as it may sound, two of the highlights of this past year were a small Super Bowl party with friends and family and enjoying the two-week run of the Olympics with our college-age daughters.

时下，减价出售的住房、汽车和其他贵重消费品比比皆是，实在让人心动；但在拿出支票簿之前，不妨先考虑一下这个问题：捞到这笔好买卖真的能让你更快乐吗？

这个问题很难回答。正如行为经济学家和心理学家所指出的那样，买到便宜的好东西会让人感觉很爽。“买到物美价廉的商品，本身就是一种价值。“科罗拉多大学(University of Colorado)博尔德（Boulder）分校心理学教授利夫?万博文(Leaf Van Boven)说道。

一台等离子电视然而，低价格也可能诱使我们买下本来并不需要的东西。我们甚至可能在从捡到便宜货的狂喜中冷静下来后，发现自己根本就不喜欢这玩意儿。所以，“在买东西之前，最好自问一下：‘我为什么要这么做？’”万博文博士说道。

好消息是，有些消费支出真的能让你更快乐。研究幸福感的专家发现一个规律，人们在与家人及朋友一起、或者从事能充实自己生活的活动（比如个人爱好）时，最能感觉到快乐。花钱多少并不重要，重要的是这种体验本身的品质；因此，简单的一次野餐聚会也可以得到与周末外出度假相同的满足感。

“人类是一种社交动物，所以可想而知，导致我们欢喜悲伤的最大源泉，就是自己的社会关系，” 哈佛大学(Harvard)心理学教授丹尼尔?吉尔伯特(Daniel Gilbert)说道。有些商品，比如iPod，恰恰切断了我们与外界的联系。“从赋予幸福感这一角度来看，那些让自己能与朋友同乐的消费品，要好于那些取代朋友的消费品。”

这种观点也适用于金额更大的投资。买房时，我们可能倾向于选择上流社区，但社区配备的学校、教堂、或上班远近可能对你更重要。事实上，关于幸福感的研究也许能为你在众多选择中指点迷津：不要考虑什么品牌，而只要看所买的东西能给你自己带来什么好处。下面给出的是这一原则在购买贵重消费品上的一些具体应用：

买房：房价可能下跌，令人生畏，让买家不敢轻易下手，卖家也无法脱身。然而，如果你是首次购房，或想换套大房子，或想搬到房子更值钱的地段，这时候买入是个不错的机会，因为房地产价格下跌时，高价房往往比低价房的跌幅更大。

我在达拉斯住了很久，我从未在售房中赚到钱，但是我两次利用房地产市场低迷的机会，把自住的房子越换越好。每次换房，我们享受到的面积都超出了我们原先经济上能够承受的范围。第二次换房时，我们在卖掉原来的房子时亏损了不少，但买到的新房是被行使止赎权的房子，让我们捡了个便宜，它所在的社区邻里关系密切，而且学校也很棒。权衡利弊，得大于失。

现在，很多人都想把房子卖出去，以历史标准衡量，利率也处于比较合理的水准，所以接下来的几个月应该是买房的好时候。重要的并非能不能抄到底，而是这次换房能否让你有更多的时间与家人和朋友相处，同时不会增加额外的预算。毕竟，房屋首先是一个居住场所，而不是单纯的投资。

装修：目前的房屋开工数量急剧下降，越来越多的装修公司和建筑商都在寻找工程项目。与前几年相比，装修工程的完成速度会更快，价格也可能更优惠。因此，如果你需要修缮房屋，或已经攒好钱准备对房子大动一番，现在是个好时机。

不过，你别太关注装修对房屋价值的提升作用，而是要设想一下将来你对房子的改变会有何种看法、对家人会有何种影响，以及是否要举债来进行装修。厨房重新装修后，家人使用起来会更舒适方便吗，还是只不过换个外观？搞一个朋友聚会用的露天平台、或者把一个房间专门用于自己的兴趣爱好，是不是比更换洗手间设备更有意义？当然，你还应该至少向两三个建筑商询价，了解一下他们的装修雷竞技百科 ，选择一家信誉良好的。

买车：自2007年夏天以来，汽油价格不断上涨，股市也频频跳水，导致新车销售量持续下降。现在，汽车制造商和代理商正在千方百计促销，很多还向信用记录优良的顾客提供低利率贷款。

然而，买车带来的乐趣就像新车的味道一样，很快就会消退，所以，新车也许并不会象其他买到的便宜货那样让你活得更开心。当然，我们会有很多时间在车上度过，但新车不一定能改善我们与家人亲朋之间的关系。因此，你不妨减少买车的预算，把省下来的钱放在退休账户里，而不是买更多的车。

新款的二手车可能是个更具吸引力的备选方案，而且在经济上更容易负担。即使现在油价有所回落，二手车的价格仍在下跌，自2008年9月以来又跌了10%左右，Kelley Blue Book公司负责市场分析的杰克·奈罗德(Jack Nerad)说。“卖家将承受巨大的贬值冲击，”他说，“而你作为买家，可以享受到（新款二手车的）所有先进功能，以及很长的使用寿命。”

电视机、电脑和其他大家电：根据市场研究机构NPD Group的报告，过去一年中，滚筒洗衣机、笔记本电脑和液晶电视的销售价格平均下降3%到4%，而等离子电视的平均售价已经下跌17%。2008年底销售旺季的优惠活动可能会使这些大家电的价格进一步跳水。

这些消费品的价格下跌很快，而且使用寿命相对较短，实在不值得为此承担信用卡债务。但如果正在考虑购买，而且你手头有现金，那就只需权衡一下这些东西是否适合自己。

好几年来，我一直对大萤幕电视垂涎欲滴，去年终于忍不住买了一台50英寸的放在家里。事实证明，这是我这么多年来买得最值的东西之一。为什么？听上去可能有点傻，但一年来我过得最快乐的两段时光，一是和家人朋友开了个看超级杯橄榄球赛的派对，一是和我上大学的女儿们一起，整整看了两个星期的奥运会实况转播。