To think life is just so much nicer with a bit of money

[Idontwantaworldfullofrobots]

I’m not talking loads necessarily but just not constantly watching what you spend.
We’ve had times where we’ve had to watch every penny (currently sort of like this but grateful to have nice Christmas dinner & presents for Dd) and times in the past where we could go for mini breaks at Christmas or nice meals out and activities, maybe treat each other, not huge things. Life is just so much more enjoyable with a bit of money and really quite crap without, isn’t it

My DD died a few years ago and I had a huge breakdown, we bought in help to assist with us coping. We paid for private therapy at one point and also a cleaner as I just could not function enough to do stuff.

@FestivePinkFairy your late DF was 100% correct.

It also meant that we could make the decision for me to stop working so that I could become a SAHP to our other child who needed me. I never did return to work and my other child is now a young adult. What I ended up doing was voluntary work working with very vulnerable groups as opposed to my actual paid career.

I will never have to worry about money, we were in top 5% income when I was working and we made some amazing investment decisions, that’s a position of absolute privilege but I would trade it to have her back.

I know where you are coming from. We are careful and I remember the days of watching every penny carefully. But it’s so nice to occasionally splash out a little or even not have the worry of can I afford to heat or eat?

I will be donating to the food bank this year because for so many this is a reality

Your “worryometer” resets to a much lower level if you aren’t constantly panicking about how to pay for things. You still have worries just different ones

I know exactly what you mean as have been there myself. No one is saying having money cancels any further worries but it is a massive advantage mentally to have enough where you don’t worry about the postman arriving.

Yes facing money is good, you still have shite going on in your life but you don’t have the shite and money worries.
When money becomes not a thing it frees up a lot of time and energy.
It is really nice to not particularly look at food prices or think about the heating, for an invite to arrive and be excited to book a hotel stay and plan a new outfit, to book a little mini break
just because you have a bit of a gap between holidays etc, etc.

Next thread....."AIBU To think the Pope is Catholic" 🤣

Of course having money means more choices and a more comfortable life style. Because we can afford it DH has been able to retire at 62, I can work part time at a job I love but is really not very well paid ... but that doesn't matter because we have savings & investments to fall back on. When our DS was born with a rare medical condition it was a horrible, scary time but having financial security meant we didn't have to worry about the costs involved in getting to the specialist hospital, staying in hotels overnight to be near him, even just eating out whilst we were away from home etc.
Financial security gives you so many choices ... and I count my blessings every day. Of course we still have sad times, difficult experiences etc but none of the grinding, relentless despair that comes with not being able to afford food or heating for your family.

😆

I agree OP.

I have just gone back to work part time, and although it's only added an extra £800 per month to our income it's completely changed our affordability for things.

I've gone from watching every penny and being in the overdraft every month to affording to pay the bills without worrying.

There's not much left over due to energy bills and the mortgage going up but it's us given peace of mind and a couple less things to worry about.

Is anyone going to disagree?

Money cannot buy your health which is the most important thing.

Neither can poverty though. And if I had to choose, I'd rather be unwell and well off than unwell and poor.

You have to be able to handle money if you've got it.

Look at Boris Becker he has just come out of prison. Several well known ppl have been done for tax evasion.

It can certainly help. Money means you can eat well, have access to exercise facilities, be able to pay for therapies etc. My youngest is disabled and we are lucky that we have some spare money to use on private therapies which help him immensely.

Over the last twenty odd years I’ve experienced having lots of disposable money and then life turning and having no money. I much prefer having plenty of money on a practical level but I’m much happier emotionally (though very financially strapped) without the ex who provided it.

Also, there is masses of evidence that the better off you are, the longer your life expectancy. Money can't guarantee a long healthy life, but it definitely improves your odds.

Money cannot buy your health which is the most important thing.
Not sure this is necessarily true actually. It can make all the difference in the world if you can afford to see a top consultant tomorrow.. as opposed to being on an 18 month NHS waiting list....

Money can certainly help with health issues ... as others say ... better nutrition, better living conditions, access to private health care ... etc etc. It can't guarantee good health of course but it can enable decent care.

Can't stop you having cancer or a heart attack though or many other things.

Also generally people with alot of money always want more. How much is ever enough, what is alot of money?????

To people who live in 3rd World countries we are rich.

All of the data available shows that the better off you are, the longer your life expectancy. And also, the longer your healthy life expectancy.

So money doesn't prevent heart attacks, but the better off you are the less likely you are to die young of a heart attack.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/trendinlifeexpectancyatbirthandatage65bysocioeconomicpositionbasedonthenationalstatisticssocioeconomicclassificationenglandandwales/1982to1986and2012to2016

I mean yeah you can't just wave a massive wad of cash, say "Get rid of my COPD and pancreatic cancer!" and expect to be cured.

But being born to a well-off family means growing up with a higher chance of having access to all the healthy environments and warm dry bedrooms and diverse foodstuffs and varied physical and educational activities and safe modern cars and timely medical and mental healthcare and high quality education that money can buy, and then of being an adult and having a higher chance of having access to those same things, plus being able to buy spare time for relaxation by outsourcing chores, and benefitting from all the other advantages that come with having money.

You'll likely be healthier for longer, and live longer, than someone born to a less wealthy family who has a modest income all their life, with a higher chance of mould-ridden childhood bedrooms, polluted air around the home, insecure housing, insecure employment that's more likely be detrimental to health in itself than many of the better-paid occupations (rotating shifts, manual labour that's hard on bodies, high-stress low-control jobs that affect long-term stress hormone levels with long-term effects), a diet limited by food costs and cooking facilities and how much energy a parent has (or, later, that you have) to spare after work, overstretched health services, overstretched education services, little space at home to study, recreational activities limited by finances, and so on.

Technically money can't directly buy health. Money can't buy you a raffle prize either but it can buy you a lot of raffle tickets to improve your chances.

And in other news today; Do bears shit in woods?

People who said "Money can't buy happiness" because they are rich.
maybe RICH is not the proper term. but I mean, for those with enough money to have a quality life. they already buy happiness with money, so they didn't aware.

I always don't need to watch what I spend.....
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in Lidl or Aldi
lol

A warm, dry house and a healthy diet mean you are less likely to suffer from certain cancers and other life limiting conditions. The data shows that wealthier people live longer and healthier lives.