View Full Version : Do you have to be rich to be happy....?
In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...
Is it more important to be rich to be happy?
Now before you all jump in with your 'best things in life are free' and 'all you need is love' type comments, think long and hard about it.
I'm interested to hear peoples' opinions but don't post until you've thought long and hard about what you are saying.
And as an aside (and I'm sure I don't need to spell this out to you) but 'rich' is open to each of your own personal interpretations.
martin macdonald
02-Nov-06, 19:08
In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...
Is it more important to be rich to be happy?
Now before you all jump in with your 'best things in life are free' and 'all you need is love' type comments, think long and hard about it.
I'm interested to hear peoples' opinions but don't post until you've thought long and hard about what you are saying.no. no. but it helps:Razz
I guess as long as you have enough so you don't have to worry about where next months rent/mortgage/whatever type of payment is coming from and are content with the direction your life is taking then that's all that matters.
danc1ngwitch
02-Nov-06, 19:25
I ain't gonna think long and hard about it... I beleive that i am rich, rich in many ways... See like i said i, me, myself can look outta ma window and see past all the material stuff, once u can truely do that and be thankful for what u have and cherish what u have then i think u are on ur way ta being rich... but then listen to me rattle on about something that many will never have... so allow them to dip into the pockets of plenty, ;)
If i honest im not well of BUT owned my own house when i was 15 so over the years moving from one to another house i paid of my mortgage 16 yrs ago and now dont have to struggle, dont get me wrong money has never been plentiful but i am now more than comfortable, AND happier so i would say yes money does make you happy. jan x
i dont think you have to be rich to be happy but i do think that money could could buy me a good time..
danc1ngwitch
02-Nov-06, 19:56
i dont think you have to be rich to be happy but i do think that money could could buy me a good time..
oh u hussie lol... [lol]
David from Stockport
02-Nov-06, 20:29
Dont worry midi - someone has started a tread about entering and leaving the country to replace the Sutherlands/ Polish tread , its a new one and Scotsman doesnt seem to have seen it-yet.
As for your question well being rich would be nice and whilst that alone may not make you happy it would help, in my case i work 6/7 days a week to attempt to keep my head above water , im early 40 s earn £ 13,500 basic and cannot afford to buy even a studio apt here in England , i went out for a drink about 10 weeks ago. Im not bothered about being rich but i would like to be able to afford to have some life - that would make me happy. Mind you if i do start to improve my lot Tony Blair seems to be intent on taxing me out of it .
Now lets see if Scotsman has seen the tread about entering and leaving yet!!!!!
I am happy with what i have a bit extra money would be the icing on the cake (so to speak) :Razz
I am not rich, but reasonably happy, if I were rich would I be happier? I honestly dont know, I can walk to and from my local, when I want, buy Mrs G what she wants, can chew a nice rare steak (ok the teeth are false) have a full cocktail cabinet, a free bus pass, what more do I need? :confused
Bobinovich
02-Nov-06, 23:14
While I learned the lesson "there's more to life than money" at quite an early age, a little extra would never go amis. Like most people we have debts and would like to reduce/clear them sooner rather than later, however the reality is that, over time, they will get paid off anyway so another valuable lesson "patience is a virtue" kicks in, so we'll probably just have to wait and keep paying!
Does having more money make you happier? No it just eases one of lifes burdens and anything which helps to reduce the stresses in our lives can't be a bad thing. However too much money can also change people and their lives for the worse, so inducing more/different stresses.
It can be a double edged sword.
frank ward
02-Nov-06, 23:20
I am extremely rich and extremely happy
NoI don't think having money will make you happy if you weren't happy before but I do think that being poor can make you unhappy ie not being able to pay bills etc ,can cause a lot of stress.
I would just like enough to live comfortably and not worry about the bills etc.
Having said that I definitely value other things far more highly than material stuff but being realistic need this as well.
I suppose, as with everything in life, it is getting the correct balance isn't it?
Fraser Macleod
03-Nov-06, 00:50
you need money to survive, perhaps not necaserraly to be rich but enough to get buy.
you need happiness, even if its only a small measure, to keep yourself sane.
you dont need one to have the other, you simply need both as part of the essentials of life.
Wealth and happiness are two totally separate things. Having one does not necessarily mean you automatically have the other.
frank ward
03-Nov-06, 11:31
Who said this?:
"I've been rich and I've been poor, and rich is better"
It was some american actor I think, can't remember who.........
In a bid to start an interesting thread, given that the Suth Bros / Polish one has died a bit, I want to ask Orgers a question...
Is it more important to be rich to be happy?
.
No, but it helps you to be miserable in comfort.
I am happy but i do worry that I survive financially with very little margin for error. I hate bills and i hate the putting my card int he machine and keeping my fingers crossed. Things are better since the Bruce moved in but if im honest a wee cushion would be nice.
"There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet, as Western societies have got richer, their people have become no happier". - Richard Layard, Happiness - Lessons from a New Science.
As long as we have the "basic Biological & Physiological needs" such as fair, food, clothing, drink, shelter and warmth, sex, sleep etc, then we will survive (Maslow's Theory).
It would be nice to be financially solvent, but in most cases it would not make us more happier, as most Lottery/Pools winners will agree that it has brough them more grief than happiness.
We may have more food, more foreign holidays and a shorter working week, and in most cases a better health than our fore-fathers, but it would seem that we are no happier for all that. Money (especially in large or even small quantity's) is a tool that can provide us with a lifestyle that we desire.
£500,000 in your own bank account would seem to make your life a little bit more bearable, and you may possibly decide to give up work. As would £20 a week extra if you where on long-term benefits would have a similar effect (more bearable that is).
It's how you cope with the extra finance, and your personal responsibility for your own life and others who you care about. Money can be helpfull but it can also be the route of all evil [evil]. How we cope with the extra cash, is what it is all about. Happiness is a state where not many people truly achieve in life due to various pressures of modern day living.
If I won the lottery, I personally would donate most of it to charitable causes within the community, which in turn would make me happy to see others less fortunate than myself who suffer for whatever reasons benefit.
To finish, as long as I've got no serious bills/debt, my tobacco (I'm a smoker), food in the cupboard, my health, and a couple of £'s in my pocket, then I'm reasonably happy.
One has to experience total misery, before one can appreciate happiness in any shape or form.
Ciao,
I have been thinking about this and i think that to have more money would make me less anxious and the fact that i am less anxious might make me more happy
Does that make sense?
I think that people who believe they can be happy and poor are naive. I did make a point of specifying 'rich' as being relative to each of us. I think we would classify a lot of people in places such as Ethiopia to be poor - even poorer than people we consider to be breadline in the UK - and these people don't look happy to me.
I think a very, very large percentage of people's happiness comes down to financial security - knowing that come the end of your month, all your bills can be paid and maybe a little let over to treat yourself.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
03-Nov-06, 17:18
Money is uesful.Buys ye whatever yer hearts desire.Too much money and ye become bored,wit wid ye spend it on....a Caribbean cruise...ye've seen it done it.Ye have a wee bit o money so ye go to Majorca...but ye've seen it and done it.No a lot o' money ye go fae basic beans to Heinz.I love own label beans me!!!!!!:lol: :lol:
Money is uesful.Buys ye whatever yer hearts desire.Too much money and ye become bored,wit wid ye spend it on....a Caribbean cruise...ye've seen it done it.Ye have a wee bit o money so ye go to Majorca...but ye've seen it and done it.No a lot o' money ye go fae basic beans to Heinz.I love own label beans me!!!!!!:lol: :lol:
Trust me, there's enough to see and do in this world that even with unlimited money there's always something new to experience.
I don't think money makes you happy, but I do believe that you have to have some money to be happy. As long as I can pay my bills, have food on the table and have enough to do something should I want to :ie night out, shopping without having to worry if I've too much in my basket. Ideally, I'd like enough to fall back on if there's an emergency - like my roof blowing off in stormy weather and the insurance not paying out, then I'd be content.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
03-Nov-06, 17:44
Trust me, there's enough to see and do in this world that even with unlimited money there's always something new to experience.
Yer spot on midi,cos wi a 2p bit o' paper and half a bit o a pencil lead.I can go fae a frosty Caithness evening to a Paradise.Ma paradise.....a frosty Caithness evening!!!!:lol: :lol:
George Brims
03-Nov-06, 19:49
A couple of quotes on this subject...
Dr Johnson: "Poverty is no disgrace to a man, but it is confounded inconvenient"
And from the card I gave my wife on our anniversary (author unknown): "Being rich is not a matter of how much you have, but who is by your side". I am very rich indeed.
percy toboggan
03-Nov-06, 20:07
You do not need money to be happy. You do not need to be happy to have money.
I could use forty grand and fast. It would beef up my savings enough for the final piece of life's jigsaw to drop smoothly into place. Would forty grand make me rich? No. Would it make me happy? Yes!
Confused? So am I.
Skint?
shame.
danc1ngwitch
03-Nov-06, 20:08
A couple of quotes on this subject...
Dr Johnson: "Poverty is no disgrace to a man, but it is confounded inconvenient"
And from the card I gave my wife on our anniversary (author unknown): "Being rich is not a matter of how much you have, but who is by your side". I am very rich indeed.
this is very nice indeed, x
Last year I opted to jack in my executive lifestyle and kiss goodbye to the German car, the hot tub and the five bed house. I was spending most of my life away from home sat in traffic, earning lots of money, to pay the mortgage. I now live in the Western Isles, haven't had a salary for 12 months and am happy as Larry. I no longer have to "keep up with the Jones'" or MacSweens as they are here. I'm happy knowing that the tax-man and the mortgage company are not making a living off my hard work! I'm better off not being "rich".
percy toboggan
03-Nov-06, 22:46
Last year I opted to jack in my executive lifestyle and kiss goodbye to the German car, the hot tub and the five bed house. I was spending most of my life away from home sat in traffic, earning lots of money, to pay the mortgage. I now live in the Western Isles, haven't had a salary for 12 months and am happy as Larry. I no longer have to "keep up with the Jones'" or MacSweens as they are here. I'm happy knowing that the tax-man and the mortgage company are not making a living off my hard work! I'm better off not being "rich".
I have a German car , and five beds but not five bedrooms. Two of the beds lie uninflated in a cupboard! I'd love to live with Larry in the Western Isles...well, maybe next door. You made a killing selling yer hoose by the sound of it - good luck to you.
Leave room for folks like me....still need a salary but rapidly outgrowing the idea. (ie. ageing)
celtic 302
03-Nov-06, 23:55
love and similar stuff may make you happy, but what good is love when your on a street corner cos u cant afford the rent...
oldmarine
04-Nov-06, 02:52
When I retired I was concerned for whether I would have enough income to live comfortably. I have been retired for 15 years currently at the age of 81 years. With my retirement and my young wife's income we are comfortably getting by. Some people think we are rich by some standards others think otherwise, but we believe we have been blessed with what we do have.
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