The advice that experiences are better than things is good, but most of my valued and cherished experiences were free or very cheap. I care more about the people around me than what we're actually doing. If you can spend some money to have more quality time with your friends and loved ones, do that.

When it comes to items, focus on things you use everyday. I bought a Brompton folding bicycle. It was a big purchase for me at the time but I use it every single day and get a lot of pleasure and enjoyment out of it. If you cook a lot, get a great chef's knife and so on.

Other hobby items are nice but even if you really love hiking you probably only manage to go once a week. But you wear shoes everyday, so spend money on the regular everyday shoes, not the hiking boots.