How many things have you bought that you just needed to have, just to find them unappreciated in some corner of your closet only months later?
We are generally quite bad at guessing how happy a purchase will make us. In contrast, we are pretty good at estimating how much happier the removal of something that causes unhappiness makes us. The paid off credit card, the removed cast, the overcome illness all those make us feel good. In my experience, removing a cause of unhappiness makes us happier than getting material wishlist items.
The other observation I made is that using convenience as a motivator for anything is a bad choice. Let’s say you are at the bottom of a mountain and want to reach its top. You can either go the convenient route and buy an overprices gondola ticket. Maybe the ride is great, and you got a great view but in my experience when I have the time to walk it’s always the better choice. This is of course just one stupid example. But unless I hate the other option (by which the first observations comes into play) I am happier with the less convenient option.