Does money buy happiness?

[sexyrussian]

I come from a very rich family but I have never felt that it has brought me happiness. If the average person came to live in my family for a week they would love it but after a while they would get used to their situation and the thought of getting nice things would bore them.I was thinking about this. If you are poor it takes less to make you happy and therefore you will become happy easier. Money does not buy happiness

[Pippa68]

Exactly my point of view redcrx :o)

The sooner people like this stop thinking that jobs of this sort are beneath them, the country may become a better place to live in! actually, it has long been an opinion of mine that every child should have a few months working a cash register as work experience. You learn an awful lot about life doing that ;o)

A good honest days work reaps rewards ~ whether you are rich or poor!

[loobie]

Ok, seeing that this is a rare civil conversation with SR involved I would have to say i partly agree with Russian. Only very partly might I say!! If I was well off enough in the future I would want to help my kids through university. Obviously if i couln't afford it then i wouldn't be able to.

Having been through uni myself I wouldn't want my kids to come out with the amount of debt that I have behind me if I had the money to help them. My dad paid for my tuition fees (he is not well off but wanted to help) and i only got a job in my second year (which interfered with my studies a bit). I relied almost completely on my student loan and am still 2 years later in my overdraft let alone only paying a tiny amount of my student loan.

For this reason (if any of it makes sense!!) i do hope that in the future I could help my kids through uni if they wish to go. I doubt I will be able to do the same as Russians dad but you never know!! (although i must say �150 a week is quite a lot of money!!!!)

[redcrx]

loobie, no-one here would deny there child the chance of Uni if they could afford it. But I for one would like my son to experience working life (be it just a saturday job) before he left uni. There is such a thing as spoiling a child to the point that they cannot cope with the reality of life. What if SRs parents went bankrupt (it does happen) how would she cope?

[kazza12345]

i dont really agree - if you are studying and can afford not to work, then i think not working is better. After all if you are a medical student you will be "working" as such when you go out onto the wards (a lot of hours a week in most cases) so i would say while you can afford to not work, don't work and concentrate on your studies. Back to the point of the question - no i don not think that money makes you happy, but it would depend on your definition of "happy" ... sometimes it can be synonymous with "warm, safe, comfortable, well fed" in that case yes money can make you happy. If you are talking about happiness on a spiritual level though, money cannot contribute to that at all i.e you can be a billionairre who suddenly realises when she is diagnosed with cancer that money cant restore your health

[sexyrussian]

Sorry yes I did get a car for Christmas but it took a very long time to arrange and to pass my drivind test so by the time I mwas ready to get my car it Christmas had long gone.It still counted as my Christmas present though I only got it months later.

[kazza12345]

working as a doctor/medical student is a job that would be "beneath" most peoples dignity i assure you! I dont know if you have any idea the sort of things junior doctors have to do and go through?

[Pippa68]

I see your point loobie ~ however student loans are another matter...personally I don't agree with them and would prefer grants, but while it is a Government directive there isn't a lot I can do about it :o(

I would certainly like to help my kids out if they decided to go to Uni, but I would also expect them to get a job mainly for life skills. Hopfully they will still be living with us so won't have any major living costs (We are currently in the process of extending the house so they will be comfortable doing this!) of course if they do go to Uni they may welll have to move away..but I shall cross that bridge if or when it arrives ;o)

�150 per week is a great deal of money when you are living rent free ~ however as SR has already (repeatedly) stated, her parents can afford it so it is all relative. I am content in the knowledge that my kids have, and will continue to have, a good sense of the value of money. I am not sure SR has been taught this..getting a job may well help.

[kazza12345]

And by the way, having to pass an ng tube on someone who is vomitting blood, or cathterise a confused 90 year old, or certify a dead body at 5 am when youve been up for 36 hours certainly count as "life skills" to me!

[loobie]

I know what your saying redcrx, I would want my kids to work too like I have done since I was 15!! I went too uni with a guy and his parents paid for absolutely everything. but he was one of my best mates, worked his arse off on his course and came out with a 1st degree!! I didn't wanna work while I was at uni cos I was a lazy bum!! I did though for a few months but they didn't let me go back after the summer break as i'd been gone for too long!! didn't mind working when i was at school and college though!!! Don't mind it now, but would like it better if i had an interesting job!!!

[Pippa68]

Yes I do have an idea of what junior doctors go through as I have a cousin who is a doctor..fully qualified now.

Whilst he was at Uni he managed to gain all his stars at McDonalds..he even pondered witht he idea of giving up medicine in order to run his own franchise :o)

[kazza12345]

damn, i keep thinking of more things i want to say once i've pressed post!

i personally would hope that the doctors who are looking after me in the future paid attention during their lectures, rather than fell asleep because theyd been working in a pub/ supermarket the night before

[sexyrussian]

My Dad is NOT billionaire. I am not going to say how much he has but he CANNOT go bankrupt.It would be impossible.Anyway I can see your point if my Dad gave me no money at all then I would be a better person in many ways but I think he feels that since he has it he should use it to make the lives of his children easier.He could give me more than 150 a week if he wanted to but he thinks anymore would be bad for me and I partly agree.At least I am training for a job and not using my Dad's money.By the way I do not think my Dad's money makes me ANY happier than if I was from a family who only got a few thousand a year.

[Pippa68]

I don't know why the thread has turned into a debate about how hard students/doctors work and what they have to put up with!

Life is hard, working is hard..no matter what career you choose. Studies are important, I certainly don't disagree with that. And as for Doctors falling asleep on the job, that happens even when they have been in the job for years ~ that isn't the issue here.

[Pippa68]

Nice post, SR ~ honestly :o)

I really do wish you well with your studies ~ I just think that 'putting yourself out there' for a little while would do you good..and maybe as you have asked this question it is far more personal than I thought..

Maybe helping out somewhere (as has already been suggested) will bring you the happiness, or sense of purpose, you may be craving? just a thought.

[4getmenot]

Some peoples point of view would be to not work if they have the money. But I think if I won millions on lotto I would still need to work to know I was still doing something to make a difference. And this is why schools have work experience to get us ready for the big bad world.

[loobie]

Ok Pippa, answering the question properly!! At the minute money would make me very happy as I am in debt and want to buy a flat. But in the long term, once I am out of debt and comfortable then no I wouldn't want loads and loads of money. I like buying things but i like to know I have worked to buy these things!! Although i have a handbag addiction so I would like a lot of money just for those!!!

[kazza12345]

sorry i was just responding to your "cash register jobs are beneath them" comment - you said you think everyone should do it to become conversant about life. I was just pointing out that there are other jobs that i think teach you a bit more about "life"

[4getmenot]

Can I ask on this post because you havent said anything since, Have you checked with the doc if it is twins or if you are pregnant and this will make a huge difference to your studies and any job in future.

[sexyrussian]

I feel as if I don't know the world.Like I am a pampered spoilt brat who has never had to experience hardship.I have experienced hardship but never any money concernes and I wish in one way that I had come from a family that were poor and I HAD to work for a living and becoming a Doctor was a thing to be proud of.My parents just think I am an immature teenager who needs them to provide for my every need.

[redcrx]

If your parents feel that way then they should stop paying you such a high amount of money. You have too much if you can go out to dinners and take drugs at their expense.