How much do you need to earn to be happy?

[Dolcelatte]

Having been on Mumsnet for 4-5 months now it seems there is quite a cross section of people in terms of money, jobs, status, aspirations etc. Some seem to get by on comparatively little and appear happy, whereas others seem to be relatively rich but complain that they are struggling. Obviously, you can't put a price on good health, family and friends etc. But, that apart, just wondering, AIBU to ask how much money do you need to be happy?

When my DH and I were working, Now Then, our joint income totalled around 100k and we spent the lot, mostly on general living and work expenses, we had good holidays but were always overdrawn. We are now retired, our income is about half of what it was but we seem to be much better off. Still have a mortgage so it must be down to the fact that DS has finally found a decent job and left home!

Children are luxury items I would rather have my 4 than just about anything else.

I think it's a complete myth that money can't buy happiness (as a general rule).
I live in a place that has an enormous quantity of mega rich people but also a significant proportion of poor people. Without a doubt on average the more wealthy people are the happier they are.
Money buys freedom, choices, contentment and a feeling of control over your environment . Rich people have wider lives, poor people have small limited lives with minimal fun and pleasure.
I have friends who can't afford to heat their homes properly, can only buy charity clothes, have no holidays, can't afford to run a car. They worry about paying to see the doctor ( have to pay here).
My own brother can't work for health reasons. He lives in a damp flat. He worries whether he has enough money to feed his cat at the end of each month. He goes nowhere and sees no one but family. He battles with ongoing depression.
Yes rich people get depressed. But I know there is a social divide like most areas of health.
I think it's absolutely shit being poor. Money can and does buy happiness.
Where I live I think £120,000 a year would be needed to be happier.

what a really odd question- why do you want to know?

Hmm, interesting - I talked about earning in terms of joint income. DH works full time, I work part time on variable hours so one month we can do really well, other months are much harder. Other people talk about their salaries separate from the partners.

Also agree with Heswall. We have been trying for a second child for 18 months with no sign of success so far. It is by far the biggest cause of unhappiness in our house - we love our DD so much and so wanted to share another baby with her. May still happen of course, but it is the biggest cause of misery here.

Just idle curiosity. I promise I'm not doing market research!

Why is this such an odd question?

It's an odd quetion to put in the AIBU forum!

AIBU to ask? AIBU to want to know how much you earn and if it makes youhappy? I don't know why it's in this section.

I always suspect journos doing research when I see these posts...........

Oh dear - should it have gone in chat?

I think the OP has worded it badly.

Does she mean "How much do you earn and does it make you happy having that amount of money"- and therefore "Am I unreasonable to ask you to divulge your income..."

I dunno- just seems a silly question because some people are happy on a litle and cut their cloth accordingly, other people have £ millions a year and would still say it's not enough.

Or is this a "Does having a lot of money make you happy?" question...??

all a bit weird, whichever.

I have heard that folk who earn loads, worry about money. And obviously if you struggle to get by then you will worry about money.

So I suggest something around the combined income of 50K - 60K.

Lots of other factors I have completely ignored (where are you know, are you a property owner, are you waiting for a hefty inheritence etc)

I don't think it is a stupid question, but then it doesn't have a straight forward answer.

We are happy (but then, possibly in an Ostrich sort of way)

My starting salary of 24k out of uni was amazing to me at that stage in life. Single, renting, no dependants, no responsibility. It saw me happy month on month through parties, holidays, clothes and fun. Now as my salary grew I became accustomed to new things, luxury holidays, turning left on a plane, designer clothes, expensive dinners out, jewellery etc. Nothing I couldn't give up of course, just things that make me pleased. I also am married, have a child, have a mortgage, so to keep me happy and in the life I am now accustomed, 24k wouldn't touch the sides anymore, thats less than our childcare bill.

So I don't think money buys you happiness, it buys you comfortable living, whatever it may be. Losing your comfortable life and having to worry about how to cover basic costs of food and housing...however, is the opposite of happy in my books. But that's cos I hate to worry about money, infact, earning enough so that you do not worry about the costs of things...that's where I need to be to be happy. Thank god I am there today.

It's a how much money would you see as necessary to be happy question. A we're all very different here and what is your perspective question. It's light chitchat, a discussion starter, not so much weirdness from a weird bucket. Don't think it's need to be thought over quite so hard imo. :)

now not know, but you knew that.

Statistically speaking, rich people live longer and healthier lives, so money does buy some types of happiness. I would be very happy with 100k a year, it's way more than I 'need', but would let me play more.

It's a function of....

1. Enough to buy the essentials
2. A little left over for treats and to cope with emergencies.
3. As much as or a bit more than the other people in your social circle (v important)

"turning left on a plane", what's that? I want to do it whatever it is (though it sounds a little bit like line dancing in the aisles)

you do need a certain amount of money to be happy. There are statistics and studies on it. It basically emerges that money and happiness go up in correlation till it reaches a certain point and then it plateaus.

For me , like most, i need enough to pay the bills and buy essential clothes and shoes (i have been in situations where i can't afford a coat and winter shoes and have cried in shops) and have the occasional treat...i like holidays too

DP and i have a combined income of about 70k and we are comfortable but not loaded. Fares and bills swallow up the majority. But i no longer cry in shops and can buy food AND pay the gas bill in the same month!

I wouldn't say no to that US$64m someone won today. However, they are bound to say "I wont let it change me. I'll still keep my job shovelling shit at the chicken farm".

Complex "turning left on a plane" means to fly business or first class as when you go through the doors, those seats are to the left, with economy on the right (back of the plane)

Although if the plane crashes, statistically, the back of the plane is the better place to be.

Makes me feel better to think so.

I think I'd probably take my chance, even so.........

I can assure you that you can be happy without money. In fact, if we lived in a non-money economy we would probably be a whole lot happier (having worked in a pre-industrial setting, I found some of the happiest folk I've ever met).
BUT I know I have to get real: we live in a money economy so we require money. And it is in the nature of our economy to make us feel bad if we don't have enough of it.
And no, money DOES not buy you freedom. It buys you things.
I hate capitalism. We all work far too hard for stuff. For mortgages. For some future time when we're almost dead and we'll need to have a pension. For useless crap. For stuff our kids ask for since we aren't at home to look after them. And the cherry on the cake, as someone said above - for therapy!!

Yes, YABU.

Zumm But you can be a capitalist without being a materialist, and actually, I think the happiest people are exactly that - people with plenty of money but who spend it on life enriching experiences rather than crap from Dolci and Gabana and a Ferrari.

Presumably this pre-industrialised setting was still within driving distance of A&E? I do think it makes a big difference, knowing you can opt back into the trappings of capitalism when you have to. If we all really had to go back to living a subsistence lifestyle, then many of us wouldn't survive the first bad harvest.

When we were really struggling I was miserable that I couldn't buy my dcs what I wanted to eg new clothes. I was constantly thinking about money and felt worn out by hunting for cheap food. We didn't have a big house or a fancy car but my dh and I were both working 50 hours a week just to try and keep afloat. I don't think having load of money makes you happy but having none made me feel consumed by fear. We had no cushion if one of us had become ill we would have lost our house.

I think being rich and unhappy is very very different to being poor and unhappy.