I would really love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.
Is Life Easier Or More Difficult When You Have Money?
- Thread starter dannyboy24
- Start date
shellyann36
Active Member
That could go either way. Having money would mean that you would not have to worry about if you are going to be able to make the mortgage payment and where your next meal was to come from. On the other hand having money would also mean that you would have to be responsible for it and watch out for people trying to take it from you or swindle it out of you.
I would like to have enough money to pay the bills, have good health coverage and the extra bit of cash to be able to enjoy some of the things in life that seem to cost so much these days. Going to a movie is crazy expensive for a family of five these days. It would be nice to be able to hit the movies and have dinner out a few times a month without breaking the piggy bank!
I would like to have enough money to pay the bills, have good health coverage and the extra bit of cash to be able to enjoy some of the things in life that seem to cost so much these days. Going to a movie is crazy expensive for a family of five these days. It would be nice to be able to hit the movies and have dinner out a few times a month without breaking the piggy bank!
Short answer: more money, more problems!
Longer answer: Having more money makes life easier in a sense that you're not living paycheck to paycheck, struggling, hoping that you'll have enough to pay for the roof over your head and the food in you kitchen, and so on. Knowing that you can afford it would certainly alleviate stress.
On the other hand, with more money comes the moochers, the leeches, and the opportunists. The type of people who are happy to take but if you ever needed something from them, they are nowhere to be found. We see it all the time with celebrities who crash and burn. Most of them are surrounded by "yes men" who will say and do anything to continue to enjoy the perks of being in the inner circle of someone with a lot of money. That's the downside of having a lot of money - the number of people you can genuinely trust seems to dwindle.
Longer answer: Having more money makes life easier in a sense that you're not living paycheck to paycheck, struggling, hoping that you'll have enough to pay for the roof over your head and the food in you kitchen, and so on. Knowing that you can afford it would certainly alleviate stress.
On the other hand, with more money comes the moochers, the leeches, and the opportunists. The type of people who are happy to take but if you ever needed something from them, they are nowhere to be found. We see it all the time with celebrities who crash and burn. Most of them are surrounded by "yes men" who will say and do anything to continue to enjoy the perks of being in the inner circle of someone with a lot of money. That's the downside of having a lot of money - the number of people you can genuinely trust seems to dwindle.
I've been on both sides of that coin and life is much easier with more money. But I think a big mistake people make when they have a lot of money is they feel the need to spend it all the time in one way or another. I was never bad for that but some people just have to go shopping constantly or sign up for tons of services they don't need and stuff like that. When you do that, having a lot of money can become a problem, especially if something happens and you suddenly don't have the money for all that stuff.
But living paycheck to paycheck is awful. I feel like people roll their eyes when they hear that phrase because so many people use it these days when what they really mean is "Gosh, after I pay for a gazillion things that I don't need or even use I have no money left". There is a huge difference between living like that and being the person that goes to the Dollar Store because it's the cheapest store in town and looking at the cheapest, off brand stuff you can possibly find and looking at a $2 bottle of shampoo and a $2 bottle of body wash and you're like "Which ONE do I get? I really need them both so I won't be nasty but I don't have enough money for both." Or having to choose between eating or getting your life saving medications filled. Or having to choose between paying car insurance or rent. Or feeling another piece of your tooth break off because even though you take care of your teeth the best you can, you've had a cavity that's needed attention for a long time and going to a dentist isn't an option. At this point you're no longer concerned with the fact that it might ruin your looks. Now you're just terrified that if it gets bad enough, you'll end up in horrible pain and not be able to do anything about it.
When you're that poor you micro manage EVERYTHING. You have to. You begin to think things like, well I just took a shower yesterday. I'd like to take one today but I'm not that dirty and I don't plan on going anywhere so that would be a waste of a day's worth of shampoo and body wash and I don't know when I'll be able to afford to buy more. Can I cut this life saving medication in half and still get the same effect as a full dose? You stop eating breakfast and try not to eat until you get so hungry you can't stand it later in the day. This helps save money on food. Pretty much anything you've ever done for fun is out of the question. Netflix account? It's about $10 a month but that is $10 you could use on something else that you actually need. Going to the movies or out to eat is out of the question. You start to feel guilty for spending money on anything that isn't an absolute necessity. Your clothes start to wear out. You fix them and patch them up as much as you possible can but they look like crap which is really bad for trying to get a job. But you might be one of those horribly unfortunate people that lives in the middle of no where and literally doesn't have enough gas money to get to a job and back until you get a pay check anyway. If you get bad sick your only option is to go to the ER (no matter what's wrong, even if it's not a real emergency) because they're the only place that is required to treat you by law without upfront payment. (And I'm a former EMT so I know how much they hate that stuff which makes it even more embarrassing.)
You get depressed because you feel like a failure and you get withdrawn because you have nothing to talk about. You've probably canceled your cable so you can't talk about any new shows or anything like that. You can barely afford to leave the house unless absolutely necessary (the cost of gas and all) so you haven't done anything worth talking about. So it becomes embarrassing if a friend calls (assuming you can still afford a phone bill) or drops by and they're like "What have you been up to?" and you honestly have nothing to say. Oh you could tell them all about being poor but no one wants to hear that. So you start avoiding talking to people because you have nothing to say. You hardly have a moment when you aren't thinking about money. Every day becomes a struggle and you dread waking up in the morning. And I know it isn't really possible but I swear I think there is some kind of universal law that when you have no money everything you own has to break. The car breaks down, the heating/air conditioning breaks (not that you can afford to use it much anyway), the water heater breaks...it feels like it never ends.
Sometimes things are so stressful you seriously consider just dropping everything and being homeless. You start brainstorming about where you'd go and how you'd live. Would you live in your car? Where would you shower? Maybe you could find a place to park your car and just live in it and shower at a friend's house once or twice a week? What about food? Maybe you could hunt? Or is there a soup kitchen type of place nearby? I know this all sounds ridiculous but sometimes when you can barely survive these are things you seriously think about.
Money shouldn't be everything, but unfortunately it is. The society we live in has placed so much importance on it that it is literally your life at stake if you don't have enough of it. My dad worked in the coal mines most of his life and is now retired. His company was supposed to provide medical insurance for the rest of his and my mom's lives. His company filled bankruptcy and completely dropped them. Actually several companies are doing this to their former employees and they absolutely did it on purpose but I won't get into that here. (The one that's getting the most attention is Patriot because their decision is affecting the most people. The union keeps protesting and fighting the decision (you might have seen this stuff in the news) but they don't seem to be getting anywhere.) Anyway my point is my parents are really unhealthy people with tons of health problems (some life threatening) and now they have to pay for doctor appointments and medications out of pocket and can't afford to do so. My mom has a few good doctors that help as much as they can by giving discounts, letting them make payments, etc. but most of them refuse to treat her. As soon as they hear "no medical insurance" they suddenly lose interest. She was turned away from the ER the other day even though she was told her sodium levels were so low that she could go into a coma and die. This happened once before when she had insurance and she got treated right away. This time they sent her home saying they can't help but at the same time they were telling my dad "Now if she goes into a seizure be sure to roll her over on her left side." How sick is that?
"Money doesn't buy happiness" is a cute sentiment and all but the truth is that it buys much more than that. It ensures your survival in a world that literally couldn't care less about anything else.
But living paycheck to paycheck is awful. I feel like people roll their eyes when they hear that phrase because so many people use it these days when what they really mean is "Gosh, after I pay for a gazillion things that I don't need or even use I have no money left". There is a huge difference between living like that and being the person that goes to the Dollar Store because it's the cheapest store in town and looking at the cheapest, off brand stuff you can possibly find and looking at a $2 bottle of shampoo and a $2 bottle of body wash and you're like "Which ONE do I get? I really need them both so I won't be nasty but I don't have enough money for both." Or having to choose between eating or getting your life saving medications filled. Or having to choose between paying car insurance or rent. Or feeling another piece of your tooth break off because even though you take care of your teeth the best you can, you've had a cavity that's needed attention for a long time and going to a dentist isn't an option. At this point you're no longer concerned with the fact that it might ruin your looks. Now you're just terrified that if it gets bad enough, you'll end up in horrible pain and not be able to do anything about it.
When you're that poor you micro manage EVERYTHING. You have to. You begin to think things like, well I just took a shower yesterday. I'd like to take one today but I'm not that dirty and I don't plan on going anywhere so that would be a waste of a day's worth of shampoo and body wash and I don't know when I'll be able to afford to buy more. Can I cut this life saving medication in half and still get the same effect as a full dose? You stop eating breakfast and try not to eat until you get so hungry you can't stand it later in the day. This helps save money on food. Pretty much anything you've ever done for fun is out of the question. Netflix account? It's about $10 a month but that is $10 you could use on something else that you actually need. Going to the movies or out to eat is out of the question. You start to feel guilty for spending money on anything that isn't an absolute necessity. Your clothes start to wear out. You fix them and patch them up as much as you possible can but they look like crap which is really bad for trying to get a job. But you might be one of those horribly unfortunate people that lives in the middle of no where and literally doesn't have enough gas money to get to a job and back until you get a pay check anyway. If you get bad sick your only option is to go to the ER (no matter what's wrong, even if it's not a real emergency) because they're the only place that is required to treat you by law without upfront payment. (And I'm a former EMT so I know how much they hate that stuff which makes it even more embarrassing.)
You get depressed because you feel like a failure and you get withdrawn because you have nothing to talk about. You've probably canceled your cable so you can't talk about any new shows or anything like that. You can barely afford to leave the house unless absolutely necessary (the cost of gas and all) so you haven't done anything worth talking about. So it becomes embarrassing if a friend calls (assuming you can still afford a phone bill) or drops by and they're like "What have you been up to?" and you honestly have nothing to say. Oh you could tell them all about being poor but no one wants to hear that. So you start avoiding talking to people because you have nothing to say. You hardly have a moment when you aren't thinking about money. Every day becomes a struggle and you dread waking up in the morning. And I know it isn't really possible but I swear I think there is some kind of universal law that when you have no money everything you own has to break. The car breaks down, the heating/air conditioning breaks (not that you can afford to use it much anyway), the water heater breaks...it feels like it never ends.
Sometimes things are so stressful you seriously consider just dropping everything and being homeless. You start brainstorming about where you'd go and how you'd live. Would you live in your car? Where would you shower? Maybe you could find a place to park your car and just live in it and shower at a friend's house once or twice a week? What about food? Maybe you could hunt? Or is there a soup kitchen type of place nearby? I know this all sounds ridiculous but sometimes when you can barely survive these are things you seriously think about.
Money shouldn't be everything, but unfortunately it is. The society we live in has placed so much importance on it that it is literally your life at stake if you don't have enough of it. My dad worked in the coal mines most of his life and is now retired. His company was supposed to provide medical insurance for the rest of his and my mom's lives. His company filled bankruptcy and completely dropped them. Actually several companies are doing this to their former employees and they absolutely did it on purpose but I won't get into that here. (The one that's getting the most attention is Patriot because their decision is affecting the most people. The union keeps protesting and fighting the decision (you might have seen this stuff in the news) but they don't seem to be getting anywhere.) Anyway my point is my parents are really unhealthy people with tons of health problems (some life threatening) and now they have to pay for doctor appointments and medications out of pocket and can't afford to do so. My mom has a few good doctors that help as much as they can by giving discounts, letting them make payments, etc. but most of them refuse to treat her. As soon as they hear "no medical insurance" they suddenly lose interest. She was turned away from the ER the other day even though she was told her sodium levels were so low that she could go into a coma and die. This happened once before when she had insurance and she got treated right away. This time they sent her home saying they can't help but at the same time they were telling my dad "Now if she goes into a seizure be sure to roll her over on her left side." How sick is that?
"Money doesn't buy happiness" is a cute sentiment and all but the truth is that it buys much more than that. It ensures your survival in a world that literally couldn't care less about anything else.
I think it depends on the type of person you are. More money may mean more problem, or it may mean more money to deal with any problems. If you are disciplined and know how to plan well, more money is a good thing. The crazy celebrities show us the bad side of having too much money, and it's good to learn from their mistakes.
I think it is easier for me, it's less a concern, I just spend what I need not worrying if I can or not and I don't need to make choices on what to buy...
Life is always easier with money. It may not be fulfilling or even honest, but it is easier. Very little is more peaceful than knowing you have a place to live and food to eat with clothes on your back. All other issues come with riches or poverty, but shelter, food and clothes come with money.
I disagree. When you have a mother or father with a secure paycheck (and/or a secure line-of-credit, or however grownups have all the money they need on 'that card'
), you don't need to worry about money.I understand that you're talking about those of us who live "independently." And my disagreement is pretty much the same. I'm too "disobedient" to submit to an employer, but my mother ... well, she's not "in a mansion"; but she's got plenty enough for where she is.
THAT's what "schooling" provides: it doesn't provide 'education' (which you'll pick up wherever you are, if you're smart), it provides proof that you are obedient to future employers! My mom is a teacher in public-schools (infamously not the highest income jobs in the country), but--with a Bachelors' in Early Childhood Learning, a Masters' in Reading & about a decade of experience in the employ of Putnam City Public-Schools--her credit is GOOD.
Oh, and--getting back to the question--it's different. 'With money' & 'without money' are like two different automobiles: you can drive either one, as they're both modeled on the same mechanism; but there's a little 'unsureness' in switching from one to the other.
Have you noticed that things seem to get more-expensive as you have more money?
Have you noticed that things seem to get more-expensive as you have more money?
Once again, ALL of the problems that occur when you have money will occur when you don't, but you'll still be able to eat, provide shelter and clothe yourself.
You pay taxes when you're poor. You pay bills when you're poor. You everything you do when you have money, except easily eat, pay rent and clothe yourself when you're poor. No amount of semantics or word play will change that.
You pay taxes when you're poor. You pay bills when you're poor. You everything you do when you have money, except easily eat, pay rent and clothe yourself when you're poor. No amount of semantics or word play will change that.
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