to think that the saying 'money can't buy you happiness' is a lie?

[manicinsomniac]

I don't know whether this just makes me ridiculously materialistic but I think that plenty of money can at least go a long way towards making you happy.

If I had the money for a large penthouse in the west end and all the holidays, extra curriculars, trips and stuff that I or the children wanted I do think I'd be happier. And if I was watching every penny, living in a run down house in a difficult area and watching every penny while trying to cope on benefits we would be significantly less happy.

I know there are many unhappy rich people and many happy poor people but I don't think their happiness is linked to their income.

Money won't make an unhappy person happy. But I think it will make them happier and make the average person with no significant problems very happy.

AIBU and shallow?

Sorry that was to violator.

But I absolutely agree with the swap comments - if it was money OR someone's life then let me be broke, but if you have to have the shit in life anyway then money can make it easier to be happy in the face of the shit.

Cailin I agree that the more we acquire, the more we want.

Someone earning £300k per annum is very wealthy to me but if they socialise with people earning £500k+ they will feel like the poor relation and want to increase their earnings.

Before dh and I were able to get a mortgage I dreamt of having a standard 3 bed house with a garden. I grew up in a top floor council flat.

We got a mortgage and I was happy. Fast forward two years and I yearned for a bigger house in a more affluent area. I cannot help but look at the houses nearby on tree lined roads with landscaped gardens and compare them with our very average 3 bed terrace.

I want to move 'up' now. I have outgrown this house. The problem is our household income does not allow it

Thank you NCed.
Honestly no need for you to apologise but it's very nice of you anyway.
I didn't think you were being offensive,I was just explaining why I disagree.

YANBU

How's this as a summary:

Some things that make people unhappy can be fixed with money.

Some things can't.

Therefore money can buy happiness for some people, depending on what their problems are.

I have known true sadness , but having more money would make my life easier and yes it would make me happier.

Pag

(hugs)

and I love you.

Money can't buy happiness but it let's you be miserable in comfort!

I disagree, having money may stop you feeling unhappy about money, but it won't stop you feeling unhappy about other things.

Money definitely makes life easier. Whether you are rich or poor you will deal with death/ill health/ relationship issues/rejection/self esteem and so on.

Having money means;

Taking a cab rather than walking a mile home in the pouring rain.

Not pondering whether to break into a £1/£5 for a drink when it is hot and you are thirsty.

Not having to check the menu of an eaterie before going for a meal to identify your food choices in advance to stick to a budget.

Going to the hairdressers

Buying a coffee/tea at the station because you can

Not thinking about the cost of every single thing

Not oohing and aahing over buying a £2.50 hot chocolate as you could buy a tub to last two weeks for that price.

Buying a take away or eating out when you are too tired/stressed to cook

Treating yourself without any form of guilt.

at Zing

Anatana we had money. The best 'treatment' money could buy. I still wanted to die though. No amount of money could fix what was wrong.

With money you would be better off materially, so wouldn't have to worry about affording enough food, heat etc. But you wouldn't necessarily be happy.

It's interesting, I think some people are defining happiness as never being sad. But sad things are always going to happen because life.

I am defining sadness as never being happy. So long as you have some happiness from time to time, that is happiness to me. Small good things. Little victories.

Thank you everyone.

money can not make you happy

but having no money can make you very very unhappy

worrying constantly about bills, rent, mortgage and cost of food etc is terribly stressful

suffering depression with or without money is suffering depression but the added pressure of having no or very little money can and likely to cause more anxiety

Someone I know, who is rich, has a two year old daughter, who has cancer in both her kidneys. One is being removed, and the other is having radiotherapy. No, money does not buy happiness.

I was a single parent until a few years ago, on the poverty line so I know how not having money can grind you down. I also suffered from depression, not as a result of being poor I think but it definitely made it harder to recover.

These days I'm very comfortably off, no longer single and definitely a happier person. But I am still affected by depression, although now I have more options (like I could pay for private therapy if I wanted, and I can afford to do activities like sports and arts which help my depression). And it's much nicer to be miserable but in a comfortable, warm home, with the option of ordering a nutritious warm meal, than being stuck in a cold, substandard home with the cheapest supermarket food.

I also have a disabled child, which money can't change but I think having funding for private therapies/education has definitely made a difference to his care and prospects. It does make me happier to think that he has the hope of being more independent in the future, which he wouldn't have if he'd been left in the sub-standard, cheapest provision which would have been the local authority's first choice.

I am so sorry to hear about all the personal tragedies shared on this thread.

But, to be fair, I did say, more than once, that I know there are lots of very unhappy rich people and that I thought that money could make the average person with no significant life problems happy. Of course death, disability and serious illness and injury are going to cause unhappiness, regardless of income.

Good points made about always wanting more and the worries of having further to fall though.

Money makes life easier and less stressful. It can't make you happier but it can remove a lot of problems.

I agree about the easier and less stressful. But I still think it could make me happier (not that I'm unhappy at all). Yes, I have known true sadness but at the moment I am not experiencing any major problems and am fairly sure that I would be very very happy if I suddenly had enough money to live in London, buy a house, double or triple the number of dance classes I and my daughters take, go part time at work so I could do more fun activities and (worst of all!) do some serious shopping! On a more noble level it would also feel good to be able to help those I care about financially, I know a lot of people going through shit that is purely due to money.

But then, on the other hand, I already have somewhere decent to live, extra curricular activities and a good job which many people don't so cailin and others probably have a good point about never reaching satisfaction.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but neither does poverty.

Mmm, I have been thinking about this thread and I have changed my mind - I think having money does make me happier. I definitely don't yearn for more but having what I have gives me confront and, dare I say it, pleasure. . I can help my kids go to Uni and I can help them buy houses and I have no worries as to how we will manage when we are old. That makes me really happy.

No one has a clue how much we have as we are not the least bit flashy so my money 'happiness' has nothing to do with 'Keeping up with the Joneses' but more to do with feeling very secure.
Obviously, other things would make me sad and I would rank health and family over money any day.

Comfort not confront

There have been quite a few academic studies on this.

Up to a point, money increases happiness but the point at which it stops increasing happiness in people is well below the average wage level. People in severe poverty are unhappy but once basics like food and shelter are covered then happiness only increases if people feel loved, have an interesting job, etc.

Also happiness and money are a relative thing. People feel unhappier if a lot of people around them are very wealthy. It is the feeling of relative poverty - not absolute poverty that induces unhappiness. For example, some one earning £250 k per year will fee unhappy if all their friends are earning £1 million.

I worked with people in the City who were very unhappy earning well over £1 million a year. They self destructed with alcohol, drugs and broken marriages. Their main source of unhappiness was that they were not earning £5 - 10 million per year.

It might not be able to buy happiness, but it can certainly take away a lot of the causes of unhappiness.