I believe there is real truth in this.

Of course, their is the plaintive complaint:

"We can share the women
We can share the wine
We can share what we got of yours
'Cause we done shared all of mine."

I always feel better when I buy something for someone other than myself.

i do prefer to give gifts to people i care about than to just buy myself some useless junk i don't need. what point consumerism? so much better to make a friend smile.