Want happiness? Get (and give) more money!
I’m not your typical woman shopper. I’m not going to go to three malls and fourteen stores to find the best deal on something. I have essentially one main store I go to for clothing, and while I do try to only buy things there when they’re on sale, I admit that I can’t always hold true to that rule. Once in a while I’ll shop at a “bargain” store if what I’m needing isn’t something really nice, but rather something really practical, but for the most part, I really just don’t get the whole “shopping day” mentality that women like my friends, my mother and my aunt share.
That being said, I LOVE shopping for gifts. Come Christmas time, I’m all about going online and searching for hours for the right thing, and then going out to the stores for stuff I need to see in person. Amazon.com is one of my best friends at Christmas, and birthdays are no exception. I love giving gifts to people, even if there isn’t a reason.
A new study says that money CAN in fact, buy happiness - to a point - when you’re using it to buy things for others. No, not just happiness for the person receiving the gift, but also for the one giving, because see… GIVING makes you feel good.
Of course, that’s the twist on an all-too-true idea that having more money makes one happier. I suppose in a way, when we have more money, we’re apt to spend more on others, which therefore reinforces the idea that giving makes you feel good. But in the same respect, being financially successful can make one happy by easing burdens and money woes. This in turn gives couples one less thing to argue about (”They’re going to turn the lights off and take our home!”) which improves the quality of the relationship. Being able to afford to put your child into a good private school might encourage a less dangerous lifestyle (though this is no guarantee, of course) and will indeed give them a better education, which will lead them to more options for college, and then a better job, which will make them more money, and so the cycle begins again.
The problem here is that I think people get too accustomed to a certain standard of living, and then aren’t fully prepared for the times when something might go financially wrong. My father has a friend who was used to making $1500 a week take home pay. All of the sudden, the work slowed down and he was only making $1000 a week, and he was in a slight panic about how he was going to make ends meet. On $1000 a week! And here I am wondering what to do with my occasional $2k - which bill to pay first, which bill to hold off on.
Would I love to be able to have the problems of my dad’s friend? Hell yes.
Would I relish the idea of being able to spend more on friends and family? Absolutely.
That’s why I’m here.
