One of my favourite blogs – 43Folders – points me to an interesting neologism cited by WordSpy :

joy-to-stuff ratio (joy-too-STUF ray.shee.oh) n.

The time a person has to enjoy life versus the time a person spends accumulating material goods.

Author’s Notes : To the definition of today’s phrase, I should add that time spent accumulating goods includes time spent at a hateful job that a person sticks with because they need the income to purchase fancy clothes, expensive cars, and other nonessential stuff.  

Earliest Citation: You’re not really spending money when you spend money, Joe and Vicki say. You’re spending the life energy you put into earning that money. You only have so much life energy. What do you want to use it for? Commuting? Shopping sprees? Going for walks? Playing with your children? Serving your community? Taking that question seriously does wonders for one’s joy-to-stuff ratio, decreasing stuff, increasing joy.

— Donella H. Meadows, "One woman’s search for the American dream," The News & Record, July 17, 1995

What a wonderful perspective on chasing that elusive pot-of-gold!