The average adult spends more than �2,000 a year on nights out, designer clothes and exotic holidays - all with the object of boosting happiness levels.

Top happiness boosters

1) Family 2) Friends 3) Food 4) Time off work 5) Relaxing Source: Cadburys

However, an in-depth study by Cadburys found that people gained most joy from simple pleasures such as a good meal or time spent with friends and family.

The report reveals that nearly half of Britons see regularly spending money on nights out with friends as a way to achieve happiness.

Pick me-ups

On a happiness scale of one to ten, nearly a third of adults - 30% - rated themselves at "eight" and a sixth said they were happy 100% of the time, according to the study.

Over a third of the 1,050 adults surveyed said that new clothes were a way they brought a little joy into their lives, while 27% said that holidays provided a happiness fix.

Yet, it seems those surveyed for the report are well aware that these are just short-term pick-me-ups.

The top five happiness boosters ranged from time spent with family to simply relaxing.

Happiness also has a geographical divide, with the North East of England coming out as the most joyous region.

Grim south

Across the Pennines, however and the rain-sodden North West was the least happy.

It also seems it is grim down south, with London the second unhappiest region.

Married people were twice as happy as single people, with the contentedness of parents corresponding to the age of their children.

Those with children under five were twice as likely to be happy 100% of the time.

But adults in their mid forties with teenage children were the unhappiest group.

Your comments:

I achieved it the day I married my wife! Seriously, we achieve happiness by a combination of simple pleasures such as walks in the country and by booking holidays to interesting destinations well in advance (so that there's always a date in the calendar to look forward to!).
David, Australia/UK

Go too fast and you miss the best bits. TW, UK

It doesn't matter where you are, the important prerequisite is good company. No amount of money spent on lavish surroundings will compensate for the lack of 'nice' people. I could gather two dozen friends and go into the desert and still have a great time. People make the difference.
George Cook, Australia

The pace of life doesn't have to 'ever-quicken.' How you live your life is a choice, and you can control it. If you choose to fill it from end to end with mad rushing around, well, don't complain about it, you've chosen it. A bit of thinking time about what is really important and where time will be spent probably beats any amount of 'quick fixes.' My top 3 happiness inducers: a lovely wife with whom I have a fantastic relationship; a job that fulfils me personally, professionally and financially; and a hobby (music) that absorbs me totally. Get those 3 right, and the nights out with friends etc are an added bonus.
Mat, UK/Philippines

I used to think that happiness could be acquired by moving somewhere different, sunshine, having money etc but it is none of those things. That is a temporary thing - I have discovered that it doesn't matter where you live or what you do happiness comes from inside and from finding love and good friendships and that has been the best thing that has happened to me. It is also a state of mind - if you wake up in the morning and decide to be happy and count one's blessings in life instead of the opposite, one will be a happier person.
Louise, English living in Australia

My wife, an overnight bag, and a passport! Malcolm, UK

True happiness can only be achieved by the elimination of desire. When you desire nothing, then happiness occurs by default. Temporary pleasures do not lead to lasting happiness because a person's desire for more pleasure remains unquenched. This is one of the main foundations of Buddhism.
Matthew Cole, UK

Living in Japan at the moment, the one thing that is a guaranteed pick up is a chocolate bar and magazine sent from home - with the Japanese concept of a sweet snack being sweetened bean mulch with lumps of sticky rice in, it is an amazing feeling.
Daniel, Japan

Happiness is sitting in front of a pint and a fire in a Peak District pub after a long walk across the hills on a crisp spring or autumn day.
Kevin, England

I laugh at people that think that a "label" on the outside of their clothes actually makes them happy. Is it some kind of competition?
Peter, London, UK

Simply making the decision to be happier and acting on it, learning to control negative thought patterns, is all it really takes. And in moments of weakness, nothing beats a nice 'cuddle'!
Sean Ellis, England

If, as we are told, the pace of life is quickening. I find that slowing down makes me happy. I don�t see what we are trying to keep up with. Go too fast and you miss the best bits.
TW, UK

Spend time as much time as possible with my 12 year old son.
Jeff, UK

[Brits] drink themselves stupid in the pursuit of oblivion which is misinterpreted as happiness. Carol, UK

Friends and family are the key to happiness. I try to spend time with the people that matter to me. It might be going out on the town with my friends, having a meal with my family, it doesn't matter what, it's the who that's important. I've never managed to buy my way out of the blues for very long but seeing my friends usually cheers me up properly.
Matt, UK

My wife, an overnight bag, and a passport!
Malcolm, UK

It is clear that there is no 'quick fix' way to fulfil happiness. I, along with my partner, find that a cross section of leisure and work activities help toward the feel good factor. One must also be mindful of the effects we all suffer from in respect of inclement weather and winter blues. Sunshine always brings smiles to peoples faces, and puts us all in a much happier general frame of mind. So it is not just the material things in life that count - but did Cadbury take that into consideration?
Jim, Cambridge

Our problem is that we are never truly happy or content, we always need something to look forward, to help us escape from our real selves.
Guido, UK

Just having a job is enough!
Molly, UK

Eight pints and going to watch Burnley...magic.
Paul, England

Happiness is playing the French horn and oboe, with other amateurs of all ages. Also, watching my teenage children grow up and work for their goals. Exploring new places and looking forward to each day, and caring for friends and family.
Antonia Brown, UK

It has been said, 'Happiness is not getting what you want -- but rather wanting what you get.' If so, then happiness is more of an ongoing attitude than simply a momentary itch to be scratched.
David Platts, England

Surround yourself with plants Tracey, UK

Since returning from the US I have eaten more and spent more on clothes etc. Why? Because I'm unhappy - and, No, it doesn't help in the long term. The UK seems to be a society of extremes - in the daytime people are as dreary as the grey weather then at night time they drink themselves stupid in the pursuit of oblivion which is misinterpreted as happiness.
Carol, UK

One part health; One part love; One part relaxation; One part creative fulfilment; One part learning something new. That's the recipe for happiness!
Benedicta, Sweden

I live in the rain sodden North West and can admit to being truly miserable. In the current climate of impending war, terrorism, economic decline, heavy congestion to and from work where many of us, including myself, are simply cogs in corporate machines, a measly 20 days holiday a year, dark mornings, dark nights, over population, crime ridden scenario I find myself in. It's hard to imagine how anybody can be truly happy. Happiness here for most people seems to revolve around binge drinking which I believe is not happiness, but merely a form of escapism and disillusionment.
Mark, UK

To be happy: 1. Lower your expectation of what life and the external world can do for you. 2. If the outside world bothers you then change your interpretation of it until it doesn't 3. Friendship and lots of them 4. Exercise/meditation 5. Find something you like doing and do it. 6. If your thoughts bother you change them 7. Love yourself
Ray , London/UK

My passport, an overnight bag and someone else's wife!
John, UK

The smile on my childrens faces and seeing my husband walk through the door at night.
Lynne, England

I think happiness is something I've to forego at the moment Alan, UK

Work less, earn less, spend less, do more, take care of friends and family, be happy. Most jobs are a waste of time and lead to nothing.
Tom Edmonds, UK

Surround yourself with plants - they are something you can't rush, no matter how much MiracleGro you use, and they're very satisfying!
Tracey, UK

Material things do make me feel happy, like having a nice new out fit or new make up, but at the end of the day I think that the best happiness is when you are in love. If I had the most boring job and poorest home, it wouldn't matter if I was sharing my life with a speacial person.
Isobel , ENGLAND

I've never read such a load of 'greeting card wisdom', assembled in one place. Anon, UK

Tighten your belt for a while and get rid of those debts.
Andy, Scotland

My passport to happiness is my passport! So I can get out of this miserable country
Matt Myers, UK

I think happiness is something I've to forego at the moment to support my family (wife a teacher who was made redundant by Tories and can't get new work in small-town location; son at primary school). I am in work, in IT, but my job is unsatisfactory and, as I'm over 50, I'm a target for age discrimination as well as economic exclusion in our small-town location. I like hillwalking but have very little time, spending leisure time as a "taxi service" for my non-walking family, with poor public transport. But, at least it's not Iraq or Bosnia. I believe God expects us to make small and big sacrifices for people, though I worry about apparently withdrawing from others.
Alan, Scotland

Happiness will be the Glasgow Warriors beating the Edinburgh Gunners tonight!
Paul Gregory, Scotland

I think Ray's got it sussed!
Charles Roberts, UK

I'll be happy when I've moved to the C�te d'Azur! Emma, England

Just an observation - not ONE reply here has even mentioned the word "sex" as one of the roads to happiness - material or otherwise. Now isn't that a pointer for our media? Amit, London.

Family,friends,good music and fishing (my wife would disagree with the last point but we are agreed on the rest).
G., uk

I've never read such a load of 'greeting card wisdom', assembled in one place. Happiness is about having loads of cash and blowing it on wild adventures.
annon,

Praying in the morning, thinking about my family when away from home, playing with my dog and cat and Love-Love-Love
Dominique, Russia

Life is short, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you might miss it.
Mat, UK

We seek happiness only when we know of the fear that drives unhappiness. Yes you are right, the means adopted to gain happiness is short term fix, or like a 'mirage' in a desert, or like 'fools' gold. The long term fix, however, is to understand that 'happiness' is inversely proportional to what we know, who we know, why we know and what we own.
Dinesh Raniga , UK

I'll be happy when I've moved to the C�te d'Azur!
Emma, England

Looking around once in a while and noticing how truly lucky I am.
Simon Duffy, UK

Curling up on the sofa with my boyfriend, a mug of hot chocolate, and the cat on my lap after a day's walking in the hills. I feel satisfied and healthy from the fresh air and exercise, relaxed, warm and loved.
Sarah, UK

I agree with David Platts but would summarise his definition to 'being content with what one has.'
Mark, CH

Doing a worthwhile job that you enjoy. Not being in the rat race. Loving those close to you. Fulfilling yourself. Ignoring the media telling you how you can 'buy' happiness. You can't. It comes from within.
Nick, UK

In order to make things a problem, you first have to see them as a problem. Instead, see all changes as an opportunity for something new, rather than a problem in itself. So long as you do your best, then you can never feel bad about yourself. Happiness comes from inside you - don't depend on material things to bring you happiness, but instead trust yourself. If you place fewer requirements on your happiness, then happiness will be easier to achieve.
lee, lithuania

The feeling I get after hitting the one good golf shot in my round of a hundred slices, hooks, whiffs and tops.
Peter Doherty, England

Receiving a text message from the most wonderfull man I have ever met, seeing him. Rainbows and Snowflakes - these are the things that makes me happy. And I am sorry to those who disagree, but money really doesn't make you happy - not permanently. Money makes you confident. Love and lots of it for everyone and everything will bring you the greatest happiness (almost everyone and everything - there are always exceptions.
LouH, England