How much money do you need to be happy?

lostinrates

aldo wrote: »

The more you earn the less bothered about bargain hunting, I guess people think if they work harder to earn more they should be rewarded.
A couple earning £12k each should find it enough to live on and bring up 1 child.

Why £12k? and do you mean £12k with the currently in place beneifits/whatever tax credits that that income would be entitled to or a straightforwad £12k each?

INT1

It's a comfortable figure in my mind, 2 x 12-£24 total, given Working tax credit etc etc
It teaches a child too not to be spoilt and for people to be less wasteful on food etc.

RHYSDAD

We have a joint income of around £30k and we're more than happy thanks. We have two lovely boys, have a nice home in a nice part of our town and we don't go without anything. Have a holiday a year and have some savings too. Money is only worth what you want it to be worth,. I've lost count of the people driving X5's, Porsche Cayenne peppers and Merc's, with faces as miserable as sin. If that 's what 'wealth' does for you, you can keep it!!!

moggylover

lostinrates wrote: »

Why £12k? and do you mean £12k with the currently in place beneifits/whatever tax credits that that income would be entitled to or a straightforwad £12k each?

And what about local housing costs? £12K each around here would not be too bad but £12K in London would probably not touch the sides even for a small flat rather than a house:rolleyes: .

I see where you are coming from with employing others, and yes I could see myself wanting money for that and also so that I could have my much wanted dream of an animal sanctuary and for charity work.

However, the point is that I don't think "money" as such makes you happy, although having too little to live with any degree of comfort at all might be stressful enough to cause grief. I think the things that make one happy are those that you have to strive to find: and anyone that thinks they will become a happy person just because they have "x" amount of money needs to look deep inside themselves because I fear they are probably doomed never to be happy.

After my earlier post, I wandered off and did a small amount of gardening (it has to be small at a time due to back problems - and I think I would be a lot happier if I did not have to fit my life around "accomodating" my spine and my balance:D ) and whilst I was at it I looked around my garden (which is not several acres of professionally landscaped perfection but a real, home-made garden:D ) and felt complete contentment at the masses of snow-drops, crocuses, primroses and daffs all over the place, and the big fat buds on my favourite camellia. I was amused by the antics of our pet robin who came to help me and sat singing to me and felt the lift that warm sun always gives and just knew that those things, plus the love of my family and respect and affection of my friends were worth 100 times what others think is necessary for a "comfortable" life:o .

Anyone who equates money and "things" with happiness is probably lacking the happiness gene anyway:D

lostinrates

aldo wrote: »

It's a comfortable figure in my mind, 2 x 12-£24 total, given Working tax credit etc etc
It teaches a child too not to be spoilt and for people to be less wasteful on food etc.

Just to be clear you are saying £24k plus tax credits?


I wonder what that would be in total?

lostinrates

moggylover wrote: »

And what about local housing costs? £12K each around here would not be too bad but £12K in London would probably not touch the sides even for a small flat rather than a house:rolleyes: .

I see where you are coming from with employing others, and yes I could see myself wanting money for that and also so that I could have my much wanted dream of an animal sanctuary and for charity work.

However, the point is that I don't think "money" as such makes you happy, although having too little to live with any degree of comfort at all might be stressful enough to cause grief. I think the things that make one happy are those that you have to strive to find: and anyone that thinks they will become a happy person just because they have "x" amount of money needs to look deep inside themselves because I fear they are probably doomed never to be happy.

After my earlier post, I wandered off and did a small amount of gardening (it has to be small at a time due to back problems - and I think I would be a lot happier if I did not have to fit my life around "accomodating" my spine and my balance:D ) and whilst I was at it I looked around my garden (which is not several acres of professionally landscaped perfection but a real, home-made garden:D ) and felt complete contentment at the masses of snow-drops, crocuses, primroses and daffs all over the place, and the big fat buds on my favourite camellia. I was amused by the antics of our pet robin who came to help me and sat singing to me and felt the lift that warm sun always gives and just knew that those things, plus the love of my family and respect and affection of my friends were worth 100 times what others think is necessary for a "comfortable" life:o .

Anyone who equates money and "things" with happiness is probably lacking the happiness gene anyway:D

moggylover, on a purely theortical level I agree with you. As you know from a point of mutual shock , I'm not a universally greedy person and realise the valuee of more than mnoney, children, robins and camelias....(I'm sitting in the sun now with two chooks and two cats playing together and it makes my heart happy). But taking in from theroy and putting this into a practical scenario I don't see how the practical implications of this can be ignored in answering the question. My chooks in te sun make me happy. To have the chickens I have to have somewhere to keep the chooks. It might become my dream to...lets say...produce non intentensively reared chicken from my happy chooks....how do I buy this asset? The money to fulfil my (imagined) dream of chook liberation from confinement costs more than my dream if i just wanted two chickens in the garden. Why should my dreams be clipped like a chickens wings if I can get income to live my dream?

ETA: I am allowing myself the whimsy of the chicken scenario because it seems the very nature of the thread is an ideological whimsy.

bendix

You see .. the entire debate is futile. Like all utopian theories it starts with a high-minded ideal and then descends into a maelstrom of 'what abouts?' and 'oh but, what ifs?', and 'yeah, but, you've forgotten thats' etc.

The bottom line is this. Utopian ideologies dont work because they fail to take into account one thing - human nature. If they did work, they would have prevailed, but none have. Even small utopian sects started off with the highest motives have invariably descended into chaos, cults of leadership, sexual abuse and - in the worst cases the carnage of Jonestown or Waco.

It's all utter nonsense. Human society has developed because of it's competitive nature. Attempting to stifle it is doomed to failure - it won't and can't happen.

jay3_2

moggylover wrote: »

After my earlier post, I wandered off and did a small amount of gardening (it has to be small at a time due to back problems - and I think I would be a lot happier if I did not have to fit my life around "accomodating" my spine and my balance:D ) and whilst I was at it I looked around my garden (which is not several acres of professionally landscaped perfection but a real, home-made garden:D ) and felt complete contentment at the masses of snow-drops, crocuses, primroses and daffs all over the place, and the big fat buds on my favourite camellia. I was amused by the antics of our pet robin who came to help me and sat singing to me and felt the lift that warm sun always gives and just knew that those things, plus the love of my family and respect and affection of my friends were worth 100 times what others think is necessary for a "comfortable" life:o .

Anyone who equates money and "things" with happiness is probably lacking the happiness gene anyway:D

It sounds idyllic. But, that robin wasn't singing, he was trying to tell you to open that new pack of bird feed. And you ignored him (sigh).

You're spot-on with the happiness/money thingy. I just need enough to prevent me having to sit in a dreary office for appox. 5/7ths of my life, and potter about in the garden instead. No more, no less.

moggylover

RHYSDAD wrote: »

We have a joint income of around £30k and we're more than happy thanks. We have two lovely boys, have a nice home in a nice part of our town and we don't go without anything. Have a holiday a year and have some savings too. Money is only worth what you want it to be worth,. I've lost count of the people driving X5's, Porsche Cayenne peppers and Merc's, with faces as miserable as sin. If that 's what 'wealth' does for you, you can keep it!!!

:T :T :T :T

michaels

I have this theory about being rich - those people who are driven enough to get rich are psychologically not able to retire with their 1st million and live off the interest whereas those of us who would be able to appreciate that much money will never get there but just continue plodding along hoping each months pay check will cover that months spending