Money Cannot Buy Happiness
What else does it do?
I’ve talked to several people on the importance of money management and helped them understand how to use it to benefit their life.
While, I have had friends and family deny the existence in the money — happiness relationship.
- Let’s say you are getting a divorce and you will be a single mother who was dependent on the husband’s finances. It’s not an outlier situation.
I’ve met a young woman who had 2 jobs and had 2 kids. She lived paycheck by paycheck with just gas money left. No vacations. No work benefits. No professional attitude at work, just the stress of the fight to stay afloat. She almost lost her car and would have had to quit both jobs and lose the kids. She would have lost her car if she did not give up housing to pay for her car and her kids lived in a car for a few days. For her kid’s birthday party there were no friends or trips, just a small cake. She had no friends. Guess how happy she is today? She is grateful for having her kids still, but “happy”? Is this the life you would encourage?
What a joyous life when a free benefits-babysitter raises your kids and they begin to call her mom.
We’ve all heard about mother food servers who’s kids sit in the back.
There is no 2. Money is just a fact of life. Money is NOT the ROOT of life, but it is your ASSISTANT. If you live off grid, that is perfect. But, if you are reading this, you are not off grid and need it.
Just today I seen a college boy with his father’s 1987 pickup truck — as of right now — and I’m willing to be corrected — all woman on dating sites say stuff like, “looking for someone who is just like me; house, 2 cars, 927 credit score, career job (may or may not have used women sale tactics to get it, but that’s beyond the point), regardless of what you get paid you should be able to afford $4,000 hockey season tickets, because my dad can (he’s just an aerodynamic engineer), and 1.5 kids (but you can’t have already have kids, only me).”
What if a person had to pay for their parents funeral because they did not have life insurance? That’s not something you will know on date 1. You don’t deserve that information on date 1, but I bet there will not be a date 2, just a ghost. Right? We, as a society, don’t even get to know Why before we judge.
Money Can Buy You America
He [Mr. Cruz] was $12,630 in debt
What happens to all women who lose their money coming up? Money might not buy their happiness, but it buys their dignity and prevents trauma.
Money buys:
- Haircuts
- Library cards
- Face products
- Cameras
- Working phone
- Different dress for every occasion
- Men’s Autumn cardigans
- Office desk
- Marble countertops
- Women’s 9-foot ceilings
- A place to live where you literally do not hear your neighbor blowing their nose (most places that are less than $700 a month are just like that, but you wouldn’t know — because money)
- Boat rental, $100/daily for a boat with a hole, $900/daily for an Instagram worthy boat
- Kayaks — $1,000
- I have two nice life vests and they were over $70 a piece
- To have more than 4 pairs of jeans
- Office men buy new white t-shirts every 2–3 months
- Buys time off from having to work 2 jobs
- Paid retirement
- Popular golfing shorts to show “social acceptance” when the temperature is over 80. If there is a group of people gathered and someone tells me there is not a dress code — I’ll say that is full of shit. (I know you care about relevance, even Jesus was relevant for His time)
- Pet bills
- Laptop
- Smart TV
- Amazon Prime, Netflix, and all other services that you only use 3x a month
- Company marketing for men costs $$$$
- ATV rental — $100 per ATV
- Movie theater popcorn — $400
- Vacations are at least $400 if there are plane tickets, 1 night at a hotel, 1 meal, and flowers involved
- Average vacations are $1,000 per person
- It gives you the opportunity to not have to choose between either flying and spending a holiday with a significant other or flying for a funeral, because you can only afford 1 plane ticket
Ask any man if he is happy if he cannot do even obtain 1 thing on this list for his woman. She’s happy with his love, but his brain isn’t.
Money might not buy happiness, but money can buy good mental health professionals & assurance. My cost if someone doesn’t come through the non-profit Restore the Family: Military Transitions is $60–$80/hr.
Critic: Money doesn’t buy yoga class!
Private yoga class = $50/hr.
Homeowners make a median of $63,024 per year, homeowners have a median income of over $120,000
“Money doesn’t buy happiness” — but, it gives you a financially-stress-free life; a life instead of death after $300,000 cancer treatment; a post-college job that you can look forward to renting a 3-legged mule for 20 minutes, afterwards get back into your air-conditioned car, and drive back to your air-conditioned home after dropping $50 for dinner.
On a serious note, I have a friend who used to take family trips every weekend, 4 plane tickets, 2-day 5-star hotels, 4 paid meals, and gifts for the family. If you ask the family now, after the divorce, if they were happier when they were together or separate, they will say together. After the divorce, he was able to give her the family Mercedes SUV and he bought a new car for himself with a check. Guess what her stress is now with no child support, yet? That’s right, magic.
Money doesn’t buy happiness, it buys missionary trips, shoes for kids overseas that only 1 of 2 people I mentioned could have mailed out, water wells overseas, awesome church operations, good child education, memories, Medium subscriptions, self-funded nonprofits, and →
The 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread Jesus multiplied. What, did the kid steal the shit? No, ha-ha!!
Money is not happiness. Money is a BLESSING for others.
Money is responsibility.
— Joshua J. Lyon, Kryptonian
“Love. Lead. Learn. So others can be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.”
This story is Medium’s 10,000th “Money” tag.