Having money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness. It can buy frivolous things but not happiness. You don’t need to be rich to live life. As long as you pay for the essentials you should be ok. While yes some studies show that people with more money are happier than people with less money, you have to question whether or not it’s the money that’s making them. 

There is a valid argument that money buys materialistic things and those things make people happy, and while that can be true that happiness tends to be temporary. After spending money on these materialistic things we are usually filled with happiness and joy but, eventually, it all goes away. When this temporary happiness fades away people sometimes like to chase it by buying more things which can lead to feelings of guilt and stress or sometimes those feelings just automatically take the place of once was happiness. Just look at the people who spend so much money on houses and cars and eventually go bankrupt or have to sell their stuff because they couldn’t afford the upkeep or responsibilities of those items.

Experiences can easily be made without money and the most influential and genuine experiences don’t have price tags. Most people when reminiscing about past experiences don’t remember or care about the price of the memory they remember and care about the people they share the memory with. In addition to that, excessive money tends to lead to fake friends so while money can allow you to have extravagant experiences with loved ones you run the risk of being taken advantage of by others and building relationships based on the number in your bank account.

“Money doesn’t buy happiness,” senior Maya Helbig said. “Things you buy may bring happiness, but in the end, it’s more of the memories you make with people and things you care about.”