Can money buy happiness?

squinney, Thomas; now stop that bickering!

the best thing to do is to put all that loose cash in a safe reliable place until this little tiff is settled - maybe a bank - er, trust account, - maybe bonds........

oh, here, i'll hold it!

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Perhaps I'm being unclear. I agree wholeheartedly that money alone cannot buy happiness for all people. For me it could. My excursions to Costa Rica have proven this. You've heard me say before "a happier populace, I've never seen". While there; no one is happier than me. Given a windfall of money, I'd relocate there in a heartbeat and may yet without it. In the event it became boring; there are a thousand other places I want to see. If you consider money a means to an endless, rather than the end itself, than I believe you are perfectly capable of purchasing happiness with it. I know I am. Remember when Forest Gump learned that he didn't have to worry about money no more? He thought; "Well that's good, one less thing".

I should disclose that in my entire life, whether I've had money or not, I've always been a pretty happy person. The "Costa Rican Withdrawals" I'm going through now, are as close as I've ever been to depression. On the other hand, even as I write this, I'm sitting here smiling... and I have a pretty ugly day ahead of me.

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OCCOM BILL wrote:

There was one Powerball winner in the state of Pennsylvania for the last drawing's $213,200,000 grand prize!

Poor bastard. Imagine the misery.

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syracusa wrote:

OCCOM BILL wrote:
There was one Powerball winner in the state of Pennsylvania for the last drawing's $213,200,000 grand prize!

Poor bastard. Imagine the misery.

I was really hoping that that would be my time to win!! Embarrassed

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O'Bill, when I read your first paragraph I was gonna say what you beat me to in your second... yer just happy!! :-D

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OCCOM BILL wrote:

I believe it would take an exceptionally unhappy person to remain unhappy once they can afford to do what ever they like with their life.

Perfect choice of words.
I have been trying to put this argument in words for a while now but it always ends up long-winded.
This is great essence.

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BoGoWo wrote:

i remember a customer who was a dentist. he had money coming out of his ears, and he and 'Ms. Dentist' wanted only the most expensive (not best) appliances and trim that i could find.
it also became apparent that his debts were readily keeping pace with his income, and he had to virtualy 'live' at his office, and was constantly responding to 'final notices' with 'payments in full'.
Ms Dentist totally bored herself with every child appliance known to 'yuppydom'.
he was a nervous wreck, and a thoroughly nasty man!

happy?

Great point.
I think that the only way for non-rich people to be happy is to give up the "yuppiedom" mentality; to cut back on material wants and curb the instinct to "prove yourself" in order to be able to save something - both in terms of money and in terms of time.

I believe that for happiness to occur, a good chunck of your time needs to be spent in the presence of people you have some sort of emotional attachment to.

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sozobe wrote:

O'Bill, when I read your first paragraph I was gonna say what you beat me to in your second... yer just happy!! :-D

Be that as it may; I assure you I am capable of purchasing additional happiness. :wink:

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For a while, anyway... ;-)

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excellent points;

money buys nothing, if not 'freedom of choice';
and happiness is 'people'!

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squinney, I see two sides to that yacht scenario. When traveling the world, you want to make contact with people during the travel and at your destination. It would seem to me that a yacht isolates the traveler unless he brings family and friends along on the voyage, and the invidiual is able to mix with people once at the destination. Staying in first class hotels to be catered to all your whims and desires is not really seeing the country one travels to - IMHO. I could be wrong, but I highly value my contacts with people on my trips.

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squinney; i think you have just managed to fill a post to its absolute fullest!

if this were life...............................

[will that be Visa, or Mastercard?]

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Cicerone- Perhaps YOU want to have contact, but others may not. It is up to the individual to find what makes them happy. In the end I may donate my symbolic yacht to the Yale Yacht Clubbecause I have watched them compete on TV for several years with an inferior yacht. You may donate yours to a poor fishing village after having made contact with them and taught them to fish. Because my gratitude reaches 20 and yours 100 doesn't matter (according to Wattles) because we have each shown gratitude in a way that again makes each of us individually happy.

BO GO WO- Sorry, all I have is a debit card. But I'll be happy to send you an IOU.

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squinney wrote:

......BO GO WO- Sorry, all I have is a debit card. But I'll be happy to send you an IOU.

if IOU s were money, i'd be happy! Laughing

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I forgot to add that other result of the study that was done on happiness and income. Those who were indigent, were miserable.

squinney, as long as the Bi plays, and as long as you manage the books, you'll stay out of debtor's prison. Smile

Still like Thoreau's observation;

"...simplicity, simplicity, simplicity..."

But then he didn't have no family nor cubs.

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and he obviously didn't sell real estate!

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Hi, Letty!

Some things I like simple... Like not acquiring things that require more dusting, more washing, more scrubbing, more mowing.

Some things I do NOT like simple... Like meals, books, and my spouse's mind.

Was Thoreau married?

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Letty, But debtor's prison means free transportation to Australia. Not too bad a deal, if you ask me! LOL

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No, squinney. Thoreau was NOT married. That's the reason he could afford to go to Walden and watch the ants. Me? I can watch 'em for nothing. Very Happy

C.I. Poor old Columbus. That Italian did all that stuff for Spain and ended up without a pot. They won't let 'ya grow that stuff in debtor's prison, ya know. Even Australia and Canada aren't that liberal.

And for dys. Didn't the Lord buy you a porshe instead of a mercedes-Benz? For shame!

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Can money buy happiness?

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