Can money buy happiness?

Tia

“Retail therapy” is a term that has been thrown around since the 1980’s. It puts into words how shopping can be a therapeutic activity that can bring you joy and stability. Contrary to popular belief, there is truth behind that statement. As the years went on and people became more and more dependent on money, the saying “money can’t buy you happiness” became an increasingly common and well known statement. I stand by science when they say that money can buy happiness. 

When broken down to its core, happiness is chemicals being released into your brain. The four main chemicals that create happiness are dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. When someone thinks about making a possible purchase, their brain releases dopamine. This being said, making an actual purchase releases even more. It’s similar to the reaction one would have when receiving an award. The prospect of being able to buy something puts you into a state of euphoria known as “shoppers high”, similar to the rush of emotions you get when gambling or drinking.

The saying “money can’t buy you happiness” refers to being materialistic. But that’s not what it's about. It’s clear that money cannot directly buy you happiness; nothing can. But you can receive happiness as a result of using your money. Everyone has guilty pleasures- whether it be indulging in activities with friends, travelling to new places, trying the new restaurant from across the street or buying the latest phone, we all have stuff that puts a smile on our face. Almost everything in life comes with a price tag, and as sad as it may be, that's the truth of the world we live in. 

A primary argument against this side of the debate is that money can’t buy you friends. And if it does, are they really true friends? Needless to say, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. It doesn’t buy you friends. But it makes it easier to make friends. Think of it like this, if you were at a bar and a stranger bought you a drink, your immediate thought would not be about how much money they have, but rather of their intentions. You’d thank them before thinking about their financial state. That is what is so heavily overlooked. Having money doesn’t mean being rich. Nor does being rich mean that you’re lonely, selfish or any of the negative stereotypes. Not everyone uses their money for materialistic things.

While one’s self worth cannot and should not be measured by how much money they have, it can indeed impact one’s happiness. Whether or not this is a good thing is a debate for another day. Money can make you memories, it can help you give back to other people, it can help you make donations, it can help you build up a family. It’s all about what you do with your money that matters. I agree that there are certain things money can’t buy. For example, money can’t buy you time nor can it buy you trust. But to say money can’t buy you happiness, or at least can’t help you obtain it would be a rash thing to say. 

When people say money can buy you happiness, they come off as vain and materialistic when in reality there is a much deeper argument to be made. Money, although seen as “the root of all evil”, can possibly be your ticket to happiness, so long as it’s spent wisely. With that being said, I’d like to leave you with one final quote that sums up my argument quite well. "Whoever said money can’t buy happiness isn’t spending it right.”.

Kate

Can money buy you happiness? A question asked by many adults, friends and family. When we come across that quote we’ve heard it so often that we don’t think much into it. Money is a necessity for our living but is not needed nor can it buy our happiness. Friendship, family, trust, these are things in our lives that we cherish that not any amount of money can buy. There are things in life that money just cannot purchase in our day-to-day lives. Money can buy many things, but money can’t buy your happiness.

Money can’t buy happiness but it is essential to live. I have to be honest when saying that money is a staple and that we need it for our survival, yet money is not something that buys you everything you need. Research shows that when you earn more money than your friends it can lead to resentment in your relationship because of jealousy or insensitivity. When your friends stop trusting you, it makes them stop believing your promises and commitments to them which in turn makes you lose a relationship. All relationships no matter if it’s friend, family or your partner rely on trust which is something you cannot buy.

Your self worth/esteem is not valued in money. When you get the newest gadget you have a temporary feeling of self worth but that eventually goes away when the better thing comes. The sense of achievement you get when you buy a new item is only temporary and it only lasts however long it’s new for. When you let money dictate your self value, you won’t authentically value yourself. Deep-down has a desire to have certain traits and qualities and money won’t change your confidence and self-respect.

There are times when the pain of parting with your hard-earned cash outweighs the pleasure of new stuff. When you spend your money, it makes you think about what to spend it on rather than just going on a massive shopping spree. If you have billions of dollars then maybe parting with your cash isn’t as hard but when you are only a part of the working class, it makes you think about how to spend your cash or if you should spend it at all. Out of the 7 billion people on earth, only 2,825 of them are billionaires. People suffering in poverty know how to spend their money wisely, only spending it on food, water and other basic necessities. On the other hand, the rich will throw their money blindly and expect that happiness will come their way. As I stated earlier, happiness is not purchasable by money, especially since there is no long term satisfaction when you buy something because it’s part of human nature to always long for more than what you have. 

Whilst money can buy you the items you desire, money cannot buy your happiness, family, self-worth, friends, emotional relationships, time and success. The desire to want something is not necessarily wrong but you have to work for it to achieve success or in this case to get what you desire for. You can’t attain happiness just by just earning money but to have different relationships with people, to have success in life, to have people behind you supporting you no matter what.

Money only gets you so far, yes, money will remove some issues you are facing but at the end of the day your level of happiness is determined by other factors of your life. As Jim Rohn said, “Time is more valuable than money. You can get money but you can’t get more time.”