My Personal Philosophy #6: Money Can’t Buy Happiness

Hello, this is Sara here. Welcome to my personal philosophy series! In this series, I’ll be writing about my personal experiences and my learnings from them. Please do not take any of this as the ultimate truth as my personal experiences do not reflect anyone else’s.

Money does not buy happiness. But what it can buy is healthier food, better education, and proper healthcare. All of which directly impacts your overall happiness.

Let's compare.

When someone is working a minimum wage job, what happens when they feel sick? They still go to work. They need the money, they cannot afford to miss a day of work. Missing a day’s worth of pay means missing a day’s worth of food, toiletries, rent. Just with a day, they can lose so much just by taking a day off. Eventually, working constantly while physically sick takes a toll on their mental health. They feel drained, frustrated with nothing to turn to. They can’t go see a therapist. They would have to take a day off and they can’t afford it either. They just have to keep going. They have to rely on fast food, chips, and other unhealthy foods to feed themselves. These are affordable and tasty. This can lead to long term health problems like obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

On the other hand, when someone who works a white-collar job falls sick, they call in sick and work from home. In most cases, they will still have food to eat, proper healthcare, and money for rent.

Money cannot buy happiness applies to people only when they have reached a certain income bracket. But for those living off of minimum wage, money can buy them the time they need to be happy and lead a healthier, longer life.