The question that people have been asking since currencies were established: can money buy happiness? Money is a funny thing; no matter how much you have it, there never seems to be enough.
It’s one of the most addictive things on the planet. And even if it doesn’t kill you, like drugs or alcohol addiction might, it sure can break you mentally. So, why do we think that money could buy happiness?
I’ll spill the beans straight up: me and my family would be classified as rich, if we believed in such classifications. What that means is that
- we’ve never gone hungry
- we’ve always had everything we’ve ever needed although not much extra
- even managed to travel and save some money.
But then again, I myself have struggled financially most of my adult life. Due to bad job choices and moving to a country where salaries didn’t correspond with living costs, I’ve seen some tougher times. I know very well that lack of money causes constant stress because you can’t live a normal life.
By that I mean missing out on seeing friends or even buying food. In addition to which, something unexpected, like a visit to the dentist, could hurl you into the very deep pit of debt. Sleeping problems and depression easily ensue.
Can Money Buy Happiness? Guide On How to Use Money Smartly
You don’t need to scroll social media for long until you come across dozen influencer content creators advertising products that you HAVE TO HAVE. The message that we are bombarded with is that happiness, success and self worth is achieved by buying. That money does buy happiness.
This worries me. I do believe that kids today will be much smarter than we and our parents’ generations have been in terms of consumerism. But at the same time the fact is that the number of young people having incredible amounts of debt is growing.
And to some extent it’s due to social media spreading this completely false image of unattainable life. It creates actual mental problems because such a “life” can’t be achieved. It doesn’t exist except on Instagram.
Money is a sensitive subject to many people, but that doesn’t do any of us any favours. As an example, I’ll give myself and my friends. We talk about our salaries, debts, and spending habits all the time. Because how could we ever reach financial equality between genders if we don’t talk about money? Well, we can’t.
So, I wanted to take a look at money overall. The thing I want you to remember is that having, or not having money isn’t a reason to be embarrassed. So, can money buy happinees if people come before profit and money is no longer the value of us?
How to learn about money
Learning about money should start from early childhood on a family level. But obviously not all families are capable of teaching their kids about acquiring and using money smartly. That’s why it is crucially important that primary schools would also teach the basics of using money.
If your education has failed you on this regard and you find yourself being unsure about money, no worries! There are plenty of resources online where we can learn to be smarter with our spending. Check out SAM, for example, for free online courses!
I have to give sooo much credit to my parents here! They taught me about money in a manner that I will definitely be adopting if I ever have children of my own.
Read also: 8 Reasons Why I Love Paying Taxes
One of the easiest ways to make a child understand the worth of money is to make them earn it. Me and my brother would do little household chores, like mowing the lawn or vacuuming the house to get pocket money. This money was then ours to spend, and we quickly learned the value of it.
In essence, the answer to the can money buy happiness question is yes, when it comes to kids. We learned at a very young age that money can buy happiness, aka candy, if you know how to make it.
How to use money smartly
I know the word ‘budget’ sounds as dry as Sahara desert. But take it from me, when you do a basic budget once, it’s done for good. It’s all about knowing your basic everyday spending. Here’s how to go about it:
- Count how much money per month goes on rent/mortgage, utilities, possible loan payments and bills. Detract that sum from your monthly salary.
- Make an average calculation of your monthly food bill, the sum you spend on clothes/shopping monthly, and how much you spend on nights out. Detract these from your monthly salary as well.
Once you’ve done this you’re left with the amount of money you have in your disposal per month. Is it thousands or hundreds? Whatever it is, it’s what you’ve gotta go on.
Always remember that you should first and foremost prioritize the living costs. No matter how much you want a new dress, pay off all the living costs first and then see if you can afford the dress. Because that dress won’t keep you warm when you’re homeless and without a credit score.
Can money buy happiness? Nah, but it can keep you alive.
How to save money
My parents taught me the importance of saving at a very young age. So, when I got the idea at the tender age of 12 that I would move abroad, I knew that first I needed money.
We Finns start working already in our early teens. And all the money that came in, went straight into my savings account (a basic bank account that I didn’t have a card for). Within 5 years I had saved 10,000€. I was 19. That means putting aside 166€/month. Not bad, eh?
And if I was able to do that as a teenager, it definitely is possible for you as well! And here’s the thing: you don’t need to save a lot per month. Even couple dozen €£$ will quickly grow to a substantial sum. While wondering can money buy happiness, you can at least accumulate it.
- The easiest way to start your saving journey is to put aside a set sum each month.
- In the previous part we calculated a basic budget, so you should know how much you’ve got to spare.
- Choose a comfortable sum from that amount and make sure to transfer it to a separate account (with high interest rate preferably) immediately when your salary comes in.
- Don’t leave it for later, because you’ll just end up spending the money on something else.
Even if you’re not saving for anything in particular, we should all save up a little bit per month for an emergency fund. Just in case there are surprise doctor/dentist visits, breakages, incidents, etc. You never know what life will throw at you, but you should have a bit of a cushion to prepare for anything.
The thing about debt
I absolutely hate owing money. It’s not so much the fact that I’d care what the people think of me owing them money. It’s more about the fact that I want to use that money on myself, but which I have to instead give away because I owe it.
And I think we should all look at debt in that way. To give it a wide berth as far as we’re able. We probably can’t avoid debt indefinitely, but it’s not something we should strive for.
The world has been built in a way that it runs on loan money and people being in debt. And that seems like a completely unfair system to me. Debt is nothing but money out of my use.
And here’s the truth bomb: you’re not paying that mortgage to yourself. That’s just a fairy tale you were told to ensnare you into taking that mortgage in the first place. Instead, you’re paying it back to the bank.
That money was never and will never be yours. And on top of paying the mortgage back, you pay a shit-ton extra for interest rates.
I’m sorry to burst the bubble, but there’s only one winner in debt, and it definitely isn’t you. But debt is also a necessary evil, especially when buying a house or starting a business. So, we must learn to live with it and make sure we don’t go over-board with it.
Can Money Buy Happiness
So, finally we arrive to the big question: can money buy happiness! The simple, and in my opinion obvious answer to this infinity-question is
no, of course it can’t.
Happiness isn’t a tangible asset that one can claim. But money can make life much easier and less stressful. There’s a very straight-forward formula that showcases why, in my opinion, money does not equal happiness.
I found this on Pinterest and it’s so very spot on. So, the thing to remember is that money can buy:
A bed but not sleep
A clock but not time
A book but not wisdom
A position but not respect
Medicine but not health
Entertainment but not happiness
Acquaintances but not friendship
A house but not a home.
Since this is such a difficult, and perhaps even personal, subject for many I would like to repeat that money really isn’t any sort of a measure of you as a human being. You can have millions but still be a person that nobody wants to be around.
And because this is a subject that is rarely talked about, I’d love to hear your opinions on it!
Do you like talking about money or is it something that you avoid as far as you can?
And most importantly, what do you think, can money buy happiness?
Please comment below or hit me with an e-mail at outlandishblog@gmail.com ♥
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