Are People With More Money Definitely Happier?

Is Money A Measure Of Happiness?
Does Money Create Happiness?
Do You Need Money To Be Happier?
Those Three Questions Have Been Asked Over And Over Again
What Do You Guys Think?

Hm...I certainly think that having enough of it to live comfortably relieves that bit of stress, but I also feel like even that comes with a price. I think people with money are expected to maintain a certain lifestyle, so there is that pressure. There's also the concern that anyone who wants to be your friend might just be using you, so that's rather lonely. There have been people who inherited money somehow and claimed that it ruined their lives.

I would just like to have enough not to worry - I'm a pretty simple chick. I would love to be able to help out some charities. You do have that advantage with money.

Crystal Castles:

To add, you can be rich in money but poor in other areas of your life like love. Corny I know, but it's true. If some one close to you died, all the money in the world wouldn't matter if you couldn't bring them back and I'm talking from experience here. Also, you can have more money than sense, which can fuel things like drug or alcohol abuse.

Not corny but true, and I'm sorry for your loss Your post reminded me of a special I saw about a man who won Lotto, and bestowed everything he could upon his beloved granddaughter, just to lose her to drug addiction - it reminded me of King Midas; it was so sad. He wound up cursing the day he ever won that money.

I think it matters how a person lives with their money. If they are foolish, and they get themselves into a situation where they find friends and boyfriends/girlfriends who want their money and force them to keep up a certain lifestyle, then money can be a horrible thing. also, if you spend it too fast thinking "I'm so rich" then you'll go into debt.

money can't buy you love, but it makes being alone so much more attractive.

If you're an idiot, then no amount of money can make you happy. I was raised in a relatively middle-class family and never appreciated money until I was out on my own, broke as a joke, but even poor as dirt my husband and I were happy... just stressed. Having our daughter has made us work harder to provide a better life for her, and yes, we are a lot happier to not have to worry about whether we can afford to pay the phone bill. We don't feel the pressure that a lot of people seem to feel to live it up with the money we have - sure, we blow some on stupid luxuries but we're not out financing flat-screen TVs, brand-new sports cars and designer clothes using money that doesn't belong to us (ie, the banks). In fact, we don't even have one credit card - we live on cash and I think that's the key to being happy - knowing that you don't need to stress about money, but also knowing that you're spending only money that you have sweated to earn, and not spending it on crap you don't need.
Material possessions don't make a person happier or better. Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a more comfortable, stress-free existence.

The people who come into money and are still miserable, are the ones who are too dumb to appreciate it. They're the ones that win the lottery and then buy five new cars, two mansions and blow the rest on crap - and then they go crying about how money is the root of all evil. That may be true, but a fool and his gold... All you need to do is to be smart, know the difference between needs and wants, and not give a crap about what other people think about how you live.

Sure, it can be a pain in the ass having to work long, hard hours in a job you don't like in order to earn more money, but people always have a choice - they can be broke and convince themselves they're 'happy' because they get to sit on their ass all day, or they can be miserable in their job but happy at home because they are able to give their family nice things and see that their efforts aren't in vain. To my husband, he'd rather gouge out his eyeballs with a rusty fork than go to work for 10 hours a day, but when he drives to work in a decent car, sees his daughter is well-fed and wearing nice clothes, that his wife is no longer crying herself to sleep at night worrying about where the rent is coming from, and he can afford to buy video games for his own entertainment, he knows working isn't so bad after all - it's worth it. (And, of course, it makes him feel like a big man to be able to provide for his family, so everyone wins!)

I might be biased because I pretty much had all the areas of my life in perfect order before I had the money to complete it - I had a husband, a child, and I have never been without a home or the opportunity for a job. I have now, however, experienced first-hand how you can come into money through the loss of someone close and while we'd hand it all back in a second to have her back, we're still glad that something so awful can have a positive thing for us included in it. That's not to say by any means I'm glad we lost this person, in order to get the financial gain, but the fact is that if she had to die, better for us to take something good from that than to lose her and be no better off financially.
Heartless though that may be (and to be honest I don't think it is), that's the way the world works - unfair and a real bitch most of the time.

To sum up so far the general feeling is that money can make you happy if you know how to use it.

I think that money can make you happy if you know how to use it. Take a homeless guy on the street. Something tells me he's not going to be jumping for joy, because his lack of money has left him with no roof over his head and no food, on the other hand, parents of a child may feel they need to give he or she everything they want which is often made possible with money.
Im not saying if you dont give your child everything they want you are a bad parent.
To sum up money is important in western society

*cough*

it's definitely

*cough*

Tallulah; Schechter:

money can't buy you love, but it makes being alone so much more attractive.

very true.

happiness is really such an abstract idea and people seem to think they know how to get it when really they don't. Therefore poor people think they'll be happier if they get more money and people who do have the money either think they'll be happier if they just have a bit more or are in denial and tell themselves they're happy.

Faye Merci:

*cough*

it's definitely

*cough*

What??

you spelt definitely wrong in the topic title.

EeVie !:

happiness is really such an abstract idea and people seem to think they know how to get it when really they don't. Therefore poor people think they'll be happier if they get more money and people who do have the money either think they'll be happier if they just have a bit more or are in denial and tell themselves they're happy.

So what's to say some people, whether they have money or not, ARE actually happy?
Are you saying that people who don't have money are miserable, and those who don't have money are still miserable, just lying to themselves?
I consider myself pretty happy. Nobody can tell me any different.

Cigarettes And Suicide:

EeVie !:

happiness is really such an abstract idea and people seem to think they know how to get it when really they don't. Therefore poor people think they'll be happier if they get more money and people who do have the money either think they'll be happier if they just have a bit more or are in denial and tell themselves they're happy.

So what's to say some people, whether they have money or not, ARE actually happy?
Are you saying that people who don't have money are miserable, and those who don't have money are still miserable, just lying to themselves?
I consider myself pretty happy. Nobody can tell me any different.

I think what she means is that some people who have very little money may think that being rich would solve all their problems, while some rich people delude themselves into thinking that any happiness they have comes from their money and therefore become incredibly greedy and just want more money.

I have to say that I don't think any amount of money can make you truly happy. I've read about homeless people who actually are happier being homeless, who, when they had homes and money, got so overwhelmed by it that they ran away from it all. I'm a firm believer that all that you need to be happy, you already have. It's not about money or material things, what makes people happy (at least in my opinion) is giving and receiving love, and you can't put a price tag on that.
(Oh god, I sound so cheesy; I sound like Oprah or something.)

-edit-
Not to say that you can't have money and be happy, but if you're absolutely miserable a large some of money isn't going to make you magically happy.

Cigarettes And Suicide:

EeVie !:

happiness is really such an abstract idea and people seem to think they know how to get it when really they don't. Therefore poor people think they'll be happier if they get more money and people who do have the money either think they'll be happier if they just have a bit more or are in denial and tell themselves they're happy.

So what's to say some people, whether they have money or not, ARE actually happy?
Are you saying that people who don't have money are miserable, and those who don't have money are still miserable, just lying to themselves?
I consider myself pretty happy. Nobody can tell me any different.

nope not what im saying. im saying those who put too much emphasis on money are this way, instead of just living their life. sry didnt clarify

The Future Is Dead:

Faye Merci:

*cough*

it's definitely

*cough*

What??

You wrote definatly in the title.

i believe it's definitely.

it's hard to want to comment on a thread when there's stuff like that in the first thing you read. it's sort of off-putting in a serious discussion board.