Money doesn't buy happiness?

Money doesn't buy you happiness, I am sure we have all heard that bit of wisdom at least once in our lives. Perhaps we should adjust it for the crypto world we live in and say that "wealth doesn't buy you happiness".

While I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment of that statement, I also think it is a very myopic view of a more complex issue. The fact is that while wealth or accumulating things may not provide you with lasting happiness, it does give you a freedom that can translate to happiness.

I don't know about you, but if I could eliminate the stress of bills, deadlines, cost of living, etc that brings a certain kind of peace that might make a person feel pretty dang happy. That's just me though.

What prompted this post was a piece of mail I got the other day. Yes, good old United State Postal Service snail mail. It was the renewal for the registration on my vehicle and I was immediately taken back a year to a place where my circumstances were much different.

@farisepo and I have birthday's that are just 10 days apart from each other. While it is kind of cool as far as celebrations go, it means that our vehicle registrations come due at the same time each year.

You would think something that comes every single year around the same time should be pretty easy to plan for right? Technically, yes, but I can't tell you the number of times that we got hit with that one two punch around this time of year to the tune of $300 or so.

I wouldn't say that my wife and I were living paycheck to paycheck, but there were quite a few times that our checking account was close to that zero mark. Even worse (in my opinion) there were times I had to wait until our next paycheck to be able to cover some of the bills. I guess maybe you would call that paycheck to paycheck.

I don't feel it is fair to claim that label (paycheck to paycheck) though. The fact is we have two nice vehicles, we live in a nice house, and we have a nice travel trailer that we use to camp all over the state in the Summer. A lot of people who are truly living paycheck to paycheck can't say that and I absolutely respect that fact.

Like I said, this post was prompted by that piece of mail. I saw it sitting on the kitchen table this morning where I had left it a couple of days before, and it suddenly struck me that it isn't a big deal this year. Thanks to cryptocurrency we have plenty of money in our checking account to cover those bills. On top of that we are starting to build up some savings and many of these things that used to be stressful or a burden have all but lost their power over me.

It is a feeling that I can't quite put my finger on.... maybe... happiness?

When people talk about winning the lottery and what you would do with the money I am usually a little stumped. I can't even begin to fathom what I would do with that much money. There just isn't anything that I really need that badly. Things I would like, sure, but nothing I can think of that ventures into the millions of dollars.

Typically, I make the assumption that I will invest the majority of the money, pay myself a monthly wage that is maybe two times higher than what I currently make and then use the rest of the interest on the invested money to do some philanthropic work.

I bring this up simply to point out that being wealthy isn't something that I think would bring me happiness. Being financially independent on the other hand is something that absolutely does. Now, you might argue that you can't have one without the other, but I would disagree.

I don't have to be filthy rich to be financially independent. However, as I mentioned, being financially independent does bring a relief and sense of peace that could be expressed as happiness.

Perhaps the phrase needs some reworking for the world we are creating via cryptocurrency.

Money doesn't Financial independence does buy happiness.

What do you think? Let's talk about it in the comments!