Tag Archives: money

Can money really buy happiness??

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In”how to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton it is said that money is always portrayed in a way that may seem that it can buy happiness. When in reality it can’t. In the second paragraph of the story it explains “money dress out out selfish sides”. In some cases is true cause most people only think of themselves and how the money can Benoit them not how they can help people. But on the other hand very few people help others mainly their family with their financial issues. Money can actually make you sad, because all the money in the world doesn’t matter if you have no one to share it with. Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton explain that although you may go from a small house to a nicer one doesn’t mean that your happiness will increase in anyway

Your life might get easier and nicer but your happiness will stay the same and maybe even lesson. You can live in the smallest apartment ever and still be more happier then someone who is rich and living in a lavish house. So the saying money buys you happiness isn’t true it may make you happy at first cause your able to buy everything you want but in the end you will still be you and still comes from the same places and still have the same friends and family so with or without money you can always be happy!

Money and happiness how it relates

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In the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, the idea that money is not that important as people make it out to be is introduced. In paragraph 3, they mention studies that prove that material things fail to produce long lasting happiness. This is proven in the next paragraph with the study involving the American dream and buying a home. One would think that owning their own property , raises their levels of happiness extremely , but this is a common misconception and wrong. These peoples happiness are not that different from those who rent. Elizabeth and Michael stress the idea of experiences. They believe it is more important to experience certain events rather than buying certain materials. In the seventh paragraph Elizabeth and Michael explain that experiences are more important than having a lot of money because it brings us closer to others. It makes you feel good to be able to share or spend time with someone , you don’t experience this so much when you go shopping for yourself, and only buy things for yourself. And finally in the last paragraph , an experiment was mentioned, involving 3 options, one was giving away their gift card, another was spending the gift card on themselves, and the third was buying someone else something and spending time with that person. And the results were that the third option made more people happier. Proving that money is not important as people make it out to be, rather the experiences that are made with what you got are more important and cause you to be happier.
I personally believe that money doesn’t buy happiness. I agree with what Elizabeth and Michael stated in the article. When large sums of money are offered or given to us, most of us believe we should take it and run. Spend it on ourselves, we believe we’ll be happy. It’s our first thought be selfish. But I believe it’s better to have memories to later share, to remember. Experiences are everything. If I have something that can help someone else why wouldn’t I? This is to say if I have an extra 5 dollars and my friend needs it, or somebody on the train performs a song with their son and asks for a donation I’m going to give up that 5 dollars, this is because it makes me feel good about myself .Money can’t buy happiness, but sometimes what you do with what you do got gives more of a happiness feeling. You don’t need to have a big house, fancy cars, a whole bunch of money in your wallet to feel happy. Be satisfied with your economic status try not to put so much stress on it and you’ll see how you change. You’ll focus on what really makes you happy, making memories, getting experiences, your interactions with others, this is where true happiness lies.

Can You Buy Your Way To Happiness

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In  the article,” How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton explains that the way you spend your money can have a huge impact on your happiness bad or good. Learning how to manage what you spend your money on and who can overall improve your happiness.If an individual were to find one million dollars they would instantly think of themselves. Human beings can be very selfish. People tend to think if they buy what they’ve been longing for, for example a home or a shirt that’s in trend that would make them happy but in reality it only satisfy’s for the moment.Just because you have unlimited money doesn’t mean you’ll be happy it will satisfy you only for the moment , rather than putting your money towards making a difference in someone’s life that will also make a difference in you as a person as well (beneficial to your well-being). Experiences can increase your happiness doing things with others traveling, buying things for someone studies show that spending a few dollars for another individual provides more happiness. Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Michael conduct an experiment with Starbucks gift cards to prove it  three different group of people  one group brought for themselves another gave away their gift cards and the last group brought for someone else. The group that ended up happier was the group who treated someone to  Starbucks.  Elizabeth and Michael Found a way to bring happiness out of money.  The environment you surround yourself in and how you conduct your life can improve your overall happiness.

Can money buy happiness ??

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In the article ” How to buy Happiness ” ,  written by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton , explains how now in days if people were to find a million dollars most people would quickly think of themselves. In other words  having access to this amount of money can bring the worst out in people, it would make them selfish without that individual even having any remorse. Studies have been conducted that support this statement for example ,behavioral scientist have showned that material goods do not give people happiness . Also most americans continue to see buying a house is the american dream in other words the happiest thing one can do in their lives .But research shows that in actuality it brings little happiness .

This article reminds me of the song “price tag” by Jessie j , in the song it describes money isn’t everything its about love . Just like the article its states people have in increase in happiness with buying experience than experiential purchasing . Which I totally agree with because in my experience I have more happiness making memories by the experiences that I have with those I love than to go ,say shopping, all by my lonesome self.

Can you buy happiness?

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Many people ask the question can money give you happiness? Well, according to the article “How to Buy Happiness” written by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton studies show that money does not make u any happier. They actually realized that having a great amount of money actually makes you think a little bit more about yourself. They saw that what makes you happy are what you experience in life. For example people gain happiness from what they do more than from what they have. They also proved that spending money on others makes people happy. Elizabeth and Michael experimented this conclusion by handing out Starbucks gift cards. The people who treated someone else and shared it came out to be the happiest. By combining giving and experiences It creates “the perfect happiness intervention”.

I absolutely agree with this article. Both authors studies people who moved from a smaller space to a large space and only found one thing. They found that the only thing that changed was the difference in size. It did not make them any more happier. Personally I believe that happiness comes from you. Having valuables and a lot of money or even fame does nothing but give you more attention. Sometimes all it does is keep you stagnant and keeps u feeling the same as before. Things that you do, places that you go and the people that surrounds you is what creates your own happiness.

 

How Much Money Do You Actually Need To Be Happy?

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In the article “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton, It speaks about how people spend there money and how it can effect how happy they are on a daily basis. It also speaks how when people get a large amount of money they spend it on things that are used for temporary happiness. Then how you spend your money is also something that is rather vital to your happiness. It also shows that materialistic things according to science don’t have a everlasting eternal happiness feel to the person who brought the materials. Some people would rather spend there money in different types of ways and occasions in order for example put down payments on a new house rather than just hanging out with your friends and spending money on various things while you are out with your friends. They also suggest and believe that spending your money on people who are lest fortunate than you is a better way to feed somebody else’s happiness rather than yours. Also it states that spending money on experiences on trips rather than materials are better ways to spend money. Basically the people in this article have a belief and understanding that spending money on others is more of a better feeling towards both your happiness and the person your treating than spending it on yourself.

I firstly believe some of what is said in this article is very true but however false on the other hand. Having money is something that should be kept sincere to you. I say this because mostly a lot of people spend money on countless things that don’t matter to much now a days and won’t long term benefit them. For example, some people would think that putting $300 on sneakers for their style is more beneficial to them rather than putting $300 towards a phone or even school supplies or better yet a down payment on a house for the future or in their bank account. People think different and have different intentions so happiness may cover all different types of aspects of a person. When having money that may equal to greed for some people. Greed is something that destroys a person in my opinion because then money ruins their character. But yet it makes their happiness. I think when you buy materialistic things it is like paying for temporary happiness. Will that $400 phone you have or $300 clothing or sneakers be with you when your older ? Something’s don’t indeed last like people assume it to be. I also believe that some people are selfish and believe on spending money on themselves rather than just giving back to others. That brings me back to greed destroying a persons character. It may be their happiness but it also may destroy who they are even though money makes them happy. While some others would love to give back to the people less fortunate or people they love because it gives them a better feeling seeing and making others happy, makes them happy as well.

How much is happiness?

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In this day and age money is displayed and worshiped immensely. Many believe that with money you have everything. When in reality, what you make of your wealth is what you make of yourself.

In the article, “How to buy happiness” by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, money, generosity and experiences are juggled to see which can have the ultimate outcome of happiness. They question what would one do if they were to wake up with one million dollars to their name. Due to research they share that when people have new found wealth the first thing they think about is themselves. Of course all sorts of material things such as clothes, shoes, bags, gadgets etc. come into people’s minds that they may not have been able to afford before. After thinking about all the nice luxurious things you can now obtain it’s hard to think that happiness doesn’t have to be expensive if it even costs anything at all. In the article they state, “studies by a generation of behavioral scientists show that material goods often fail to deliver lasting happiness.” In reality a lot of material things that are believed to bring happiness, don’t. One of the examples in the article is a family who moved because they didn’t like their old home. Years later when asked about their current state,they reported that they were living comfortably but their overall happiness hadn’t changed. Which further proves that happiness cannot be based on objects. Instead why not use the money in a way that someone else besides yourself can benefit? Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton believe that both sharing with others and experiences create happiness. An experiment is tried out on a campus when the question of, what would happen when you combine experiences and generosity. The students were given Starbucks gift cards, some were told to go buy something for themselves, another group was told to buy something for themselves and someone else and the last group was told to buy something for themselves and someone else but also had to hang out with the person at Starbucks. The people that were happiest were the people who bought something for someone else and shared the moment with them by just hanging out in Starbucks with them. Throughout this article it is shown that you shouldn’t wait around for an extra dollar to start living your life and enjoying yourself. Instead of missing out on events to be able to purchase a materialistic item later, live for the moment because it wouldn’t compare to the great memories you could be missing out on currently.

I believe happiness can’t be bought and agree with the points made in the article. A person can save to finally purchase a Chanel three thousand dollar purse and feel excited upon buying it but shortly after it’s just that – a purse. Compared to using that money to going on a vacation with family or close friends that would make life long memories. Material things are sometimes given too much importance because money brings out the selfish side of individuals. 

Money Can’t Buy Happiness or can it?

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In the Los Angeles Times , “How To Buy Happiness”, by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, they have some questions in their mind. Can one buy happiness and how happy can one be from buying happiness? In the beginning of their argument, they suggested and provided studies showing that money makes us selfish. It makes us focus on what the money can do for us. For example, buying new possessions like a new phone, or a new car. However, Dunn and Norton also provide us with research that buying a new house doesn’t increase happiness as much. In fact, a study shows that homeowners and renters are as happy as each other.

In another part of the argument, Dunn and Norton suggested and provide facts that buying experiences makes people more happy than buying material things. Buying experiences are like buying tickets to a concert, special meals, and trips. In fact, buying experiences can bring people together. For example, wouldn’t you go to the movies with someone instead of going alone, or to eat in a restaurant?

In an experiment, Dunn and Norton also found out that buying something for someone else rather than yourself gives the buyer an additional boost of happiness. It doesn’t matter if one spends just a few dollars on someone, it still provide more happiness. In another experiment, Dunn and Norton combined buying experiences and giving to see if it would increase happiness. They gave three groups of students of a university campus gift card to go to Starbucks. One were ask to go by themselves. Another was told to give it to a friend and the last group was asked to go with a friend and treat that friend. in fact it shows that treating someone and sharing the experience with that person is happier than just buying something for yourself or just for someone else.

In response to Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, I agree with all of their studies and suggestions. I do believe that money makes us selfish. I would think of something I would get if I found a million dollars under my bed. I might get the new iPhone 6, the upcoming iWatch, beats headphones, etc. I believe that money buys happiness especially when I buying and giving experiences I was so happy when I bought a ticket to a concert I been wanting to go to. I didn’t want to go alone so I bought another ticket for a friend. I treated and shared the experience with a friend. I was so happy that day, it wouldn’t be the same without my friend. I think this example also proved what Elizabeth Dun and Michael Norton experiment were true.  I also think that it made my friend happy too. Making others happy usually makes me happy too. I think that people should treat others more often instead of being selfish. It makes the other person happier and it makes you more happier too. In fact, I am going to treat myself and a friend a Starbuck drink on Monday, and be happy together.

 

 

How to buy happiness by Elizabeth Dunn and Micahael Norton

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In “How to buy happiness “by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton states how money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness, it can bring you happiness at the moment and once the money is gone you are back to your old self again. Dunn and Norton discusses how when having money, instead of spending it on materialistic things, you should use your money on things that you can remember such as doing something for another person, traveling , trips, concerts something that you can remember overtime, not doing something because you have the money and then it doesn’t mean anything later on to you. They believe that using your money matters, rather than how much you have.

Dunn and Norton studies showed that people are happier from buying experiences than from buying materialistic things. Which I believe is right because for example if someone mom has cancer and she doesn’t have that much time to live. They should want to spend as much quality time with her, rather than watching television. Although that may be memories, but going on a adventure and doing something they can always reminisce about can bring more happiness to them because, they’re thinking about the time and experience , rather than spending money on medicine and how much it cost.

Studies showed that if doing things for other people brings more happiness, then Dunn and Norton tested students at a university campus by giving out star bucks gift cards to students. They tested a experimental group, the group that gave their card to someone else, and the group that bought someone else something. Then the control group that just bought themselves something, results showed that the group that did something for someone were more happy because instead of thinking of themselves, it brought more happiness to do something for someone rather than yourself and doing something that required spending less money brought more happiness then spending more.

Lastly how we use our money does affect us much more then how much we have. Dunn and Norton suggested that you should use your money on experiences and not for yourself because money is the root of all evil, and doesn’t always have to be spending on useless necessities. It can be used to have something to remember for yourself and others that can lead to more happiness.