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More money may not buy happiness but its kept me smiling for years.
I agree, thinking about healthcare over there that we take for granted here in the UK, it must be awful not to have money to pay for such things.. watching kids go hungry never put a smile on any parents face.. and anyone who thinks differently has never ever been poor ..
My experience has always been the more money I have, the happier I am. Money buys freedom, independence, and a more stress free and enjoyable life. Folks with money should be able to enjoy their life's, granted their health is good. It just makes life more pleasant. At least that has been my experience.
I wonder how many people who say "money can't buy happiness" truly believe it versus make themselves believe it because the alternative is despair. After all, if you allow yourself to want for what you have no hope to ever get, you will never be content.
LOL. If you think money doesn't buy a HUGE majority if happiness, I implore you to start making minimum wage or give me those extra dollars you find are so abrupt of happiness. Yes. It's a fact more money equates to higher happiness because you need money to live or you'd starve too death in a gutter. Once you get to enough to cover very basic needs, it's a matter of if you find meaning in something or another that seldom requires money. For many people that's religion. They can escape that way....
There were many times I worried about making it with my money, but somehow it just worked out for me. I'm not out of the woods yet, but NOW I think often before I leap to buy something I most likely don't NEED.
Would I like an extra few thousand in my checking account, yes, but I don't. But I also don't have the desire to be OUT THERE spending and doing and going like I did MOST of my early life.
Just the stress today of the crowds, especially here, forget it.
That's probably what it is. Now that you're older you've lived a lot of life so you'd rather just slow down but when you are younger and/or behind in life, money creates opportunities that you haven't had yet. In other words younger people are most likely not going to be happy unless they make a decent amount of money to go out and live life to the fullest.
I know what poor is. Now I know what "having it" is. I am much happier "having it". Of course buying happiness is absurd on its face. Too many are just miserable people no matter what they have. You can contribute to the happiness of others such as heavy tips and cash bonuses to your yard guy etc. in my many decades I have observed that much of life boils down to finances in relation to peace and contentment. Sad but true.
That's probably what it is. Now that you're older you've lived a lot of life so you'd rather just slow down but when you are younger and/or behind in life, money creates opportunities that you haven't had yet. In other words younger people are most likely not going to be happy unless they make a decent amount of money to go out and live life to the fullest.
Talk about living life to the fullest when young, I did OK with what I had but to the fullest. A concert at the hollywood bowl or greek theatre cost us about $25 or so. Today's young people are paying $400 for that chowchilla experience....good grief I say. Inflation has gone crazy and for MOST salaries have NOT.
And then all their hi tech gadgets, talk about costs. We didn't have any of that stuff. And were happy with what we did have. I never broke down to a cell phone, many times I wished I had one, but you know what it all passed and I got thru what I thought I needed it for. Times have changed so much.
I got "pissed" off when my one boss would page me on my pager, now everyone is hooked up 24/7. There a BIG RACE to nowhere going on.
I DISAGREE with the statement that more money doesn't equal more happiness.
It's buying STUFF with that money that doesn't equal happiness. Having a closet or two full of clothes, driving a BMW, having a boat, or going to Europe 4 times a years, etc., DOES NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY. However.....
Having more money allows me to help family and friends (which included buying prescription medication), or make monetary contributions to charities while not impacting my ability to pay my bills.
Having more money allows me to pay my bills in total, without incurring fees or interest, or play "robbing Peter to pay Paul". This allows us to sleep better.
Having more money will allow me to feed my family healthy whole and organic food, instead of cheaper processed, or fast, food full of white flour, fillers, preservatives, artificial colors, sugar, sodium, etc. We can eat wild caught salmon weekly if we want even if $12 pp or more, and get the benefit of this wholesome food.
Having more money allows me to buy vitamins for myself and family, and even for my 4 senior dogs (we have 6 rescue dogs who also get high quality dog food and see the vet at least yearly). My dogs' cataracts have not progressed since they've taken specially formulated eye vitamins. My rescue schnoodle had to see a veterinary ophthalmologist because he is blind (we were hoping surgery could fix his problem but his problem is incurable) . We have 2 dogs that need thyroid medication twice daily for life.
Having more money allows us to live in a safer environment, and not just anywhere because "that is all we could afford."
Having more money allowed my husband and I to make a large contribution (and we wished we could afforded more) to the local fire department (they tried to give it back) when they responded to my frantic call, and they came (the chief and a fire truck) to rescue my choking goat (yes, goat- it's farm country) whose head was stuck in a feeder. They used the "jaws of life" to break apart the metal feeder, but he died anyway.
Having more money allowed my husband and I to treat a dying 14 year old (I was her nurse) out for a day of fun and games at an arcade and dinner out in a restaurant, for her birthday, while she was still able to get out.
Having money is not a bad thing. Having a holier than thou attitude is. And that is what doesn't make you happy. We're not looking for a pat on the back. We do these things because we WANT to. It makes us....happy, to share when and what we can. We are not millionaires (not even close) and we struggle in our own way. My husband works hard and takes a lot of BS at his job, but he likes his job anyway.
Spending money on things you don't need or don't want will not make you happy. Buying fancy cars or houses or other stuff to just show everyone that you can afford those things will not make you happy.
It's not "money doesn't buy you happiness", it is "stuff doesn't buy you happiness".
People who say money doesnt make happiness have never been poor.. believe me I wasnt smiling all the time..
Haven't you heard? Poor people aren't supposed to smile. They need to go around all the time with humble faces and show gratefulness for all the freebies they get and God forbid if they act happy or like they're enjoying themselves in any way.
I make a pretty good salary, but I don't consider myself rich. I have friends that are a lot poorer than I am, and I can say that most of them, not all, but most... are less happy than I am. Quite a few of them are on anti-depressants, actually.
I also have friends that are far richer than I am. Now I can't say that they are necessarily any happier than I am... but I can tell you that jealousy is an extremely rare emotion for them to feel.
All the rich people I know though, have earned it. Not a single one of them was given their money (a few of them have received substantial inheritances, but they were already rich beforehand.) But, I've seen my share of people who were born rich who are perennially unhappy. I don't know whether they are unhappy because they didn't earn it so they feel no sense of accomplishment in their lives, or they're just really bored, but it seems to me that a lot of those types of rich people certainly are unhappy. At that point, the statement is true, money doesn't ever seem to buy those people happiness, at least not long term.
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