Money and Happiness

They say money can buy luxurious beds, but not the sound sleep; or a good house, but not the family bond. But, on the other side, one has to work throughout the day with huge effort to buy a luxurious bed, and by the time he gets back to sleep in the bed, he will obviously get sound sleep.

Had there not been a good house to live in, how could there be a good family bonding? Members of five staying in a single room and living in a 3BHK – where would someone be more satisfied? It’s money that can again buy you time. The time taken to reach Biratnagar can be reduced by eight hours only if you could afford yourself a flight ticket. Or be it other parts like money can save your cooking time by getting into nearby restaurant, and hiring dish-washing service can save your dish-washing time.

But, is spending money all about happiness? Maybe not, we try to seek some utility out of money that has been brought down in value of exchange. We look for some ultimate end, making money gives us the means. Let’s say you have Rs. 1,000 to spend. Where will you be more satisfied – buying yourself a tee or taking your friend out for a movie? Well, choices differ but researcher Norton explains buying experience makes us more satisfied than buying something materialistic.Happiness itself is an abstract term, and we don’t know when to be happy. It’s not always we find happiness in social service, but there are cases when happiness arrives out of satisfaction. And, this kind of satisfaction can be obtained through money. Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School came up with the finding that earning $75,000 annually is a benchmark. The higher the amount, the happier s/he is, and the lower the amount, the less happy s/he becomes.


There are cases, which we explain and learn about happiness being away from money. Someone who is at hospital in his last stage of life, with enough money, how can he buy happiness? But that is not the case all the time; look at those kids begging around temples too. Those children do find out happiness in the absence of money too, but had there been money in their life, maybe the happiness level would be higher. Or let’s say, those students who have to think twice – whether to get into Friday’s party or watch the movie, or save it for some friend’s birthday gift – as they have limited budget. For them, obviously it’s money that counts in serving happiness out of satisfaction.




A version of this article appears in print on July 05, 2017 of The Himalayan Times.
https://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/money-and-happiness/