How To Use Money To Make You Happier
In this post, I will show you how to use money to make you happier.
In the 21st century, money is critical, essential, influential, significant, vital, fundamental, and important.
We go to school, college, and then university to become capable of earning it. After graduation, we spend the next four decades, making it. We think about it, how to make more, how to spend it, we worry about it and finally dream about winning the lottery.
Is money the root of all evil or can it be used to make a difference in society? In a divorce, arguing over money is one of the reasons given for separating. Our emotions ride high and low with how the stock market behaves or the value of the real estate. Some want the easy way out and resort to crime to achieve it. The world is judged by being first, third, and developing based on how much they have in terms of money.
In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett started the Giving Pledge. The top 1% is being asked to give more than half their net worth to sustain the environment, reform criminal justice, culture, arts, medical research, empowering girls and women, to get rid of poverty and other causes. 154 billionaires have signed the pledge. They do not want to leave the money for the next generation.
I found myself having to deal with money when I was in grade 8. I was in boarding school and a bank account had been opened for me. I was allowed a set amount of pocket money a month. At Bishop Cotton, the bank was on campus. However, all withdrawals had to be signed by the housemaster.
At college and university, I had to budget and make sure I never spent more than I had in my bank account. I did a co-op (internship) at Hotel De La Paix in Geneva. The crème de la crème of Geneva had their meals at the hotel. The tips were great.
I worked at a bank for a decade of lending money and then managing money for individuals. After that, I spent more than 15 years on Bay Street. Every couple of years, we had to update the client information. When I called clients for information on money, it was a tough fight. I soon learned that people are willing to talk about everything but money. It is an emotional thing. Our ego, identity, and everything else is attached to that paycheck.
Money is essential so we can have food, clothes, and shelter. Money can give us many options. However, do we use the money to have more free time or more things?
Does money make us happier? From the 1940s to the 90s, the purchasing power of Americans increased by 150%. Here is an interesting stat. The stats reveal that depression among people during that period went up by more than 10 times.
Tibor Scitovsky in 1976 wrote The Joyless Economy about human satisfaction. The author comes to an amazing conclusion. The best things in life cannot be bought with money. All research has shown that purpose, meaning, relationships, and connecting with nature bring people satisfaction.
Join me on the money series as I write on how to create a household budget, save for emergencies, retirement, and vacations, how to pay off debts, give to charity, and use credit to your advantage. I promise you this series will transform how you look at money and your life. You will learn how to use the money to make you happier.
Much needed blog… Wanna join you for household budgeting blog, vacations of your money series …. brilliant it is 👍👍👍
Looking forward to this blog series. Yes, money can buy you a lot of things but it cannot buy you happiness or satisfaction.
Money can definitely make life easier. I look at it as a tool for helping me create a life that makes me happy. But if you don’t know how to manage it money can make you very unhappy.
so helpful to hear these tips – money is a tool and you decide what you build with it
Can money make you happy? Money itself is just a tool, not good or bad. However, if you don’t have enough money life can be very hard. True happiness comes from within, though. It is not related to money. Yet, if you are living beyond your means and in debt, or struggling to make ends meet in a low-wage job, money can make life easier. The trick is to learn how to manage money to align with your values. That is especially true for someone who earns enough, but is living paycheck to paycheck with a lot of consumer debt. For someone who works a minimum wage job and lacks access to opportunity, they are already pretty good at stretching money – they just don’t have enough of it.
Very interesting title! I view money as a means to an end. Rather than being able to buy things, money can be used to buy time. With the right financial freedom time can be spent at home with your family rather than working Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm.
Money is everything and that’s what the advantage of it too. People is willing to fight each other because of money. Money can get us shelter, let us buy what we need like food, clothing and help us pay with medical emergencies. Without money it’s hard to function that’s why we need to learn how to manage it and live within our means.
Great Read! I think it’s important to note that money is not always the rooot of all evil and can be used for a lot of good and that it’s okay to want more money!
These money tips are helpful! Thank you for this series!
a very useful outlook on money- thanks!
I’m looking forward to this series. I have found it’s not money that is evil, but when that is our highest value. That love of money can cause a lot of pain and destruction. I have found peace and freedom when I stopped letting money control me and built up an emergency fund and savings. Now I tell my money what to do instead of living for it. Can’t wait to read these.
I think one of the best things you can do with your money is to enrich the lives of those who are not as fortunate as you 🙂
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
Money can buy many things such as financial freedom which can lead to happiness. Or simply a family vacation or other things which do truly lead to happiness. Look forward to reading more.