Mad Money

I recently watched the movie Mad Money. It got me to thinking about money in general. Because I was raised in a lower middle-class family I never got attached to the idea of money. Growing up, there were no luxuries in our home aside from a basic T.V and a telephone. We didn't even have cable T.V. and unlike most of my high school classmates my mother drove me to and from school until I graduated. After graduation I got a job and bought my first vehicle....a 1972 Dodge Demon for a whopping $500 cash.

Of course, as I got older and got out into the real world I started to see what all money could do for a person....and that how much money you had made a difference in the way you were viewed as a person. I wanted all that stuff...the nice car, the fancy house, nice clothes. Around this time I also figured out that money was also very hard to come by for someone with no real skills or talents and only a high school diploma.

I decided to go to a two year college thinking that it would be the answer to my financial woes. All my college education ever did for me was ensure that I had a job that paid my rent, which of course I was grateful for. Over the years I eventually surrendered to the fact that I would never be "financially well off" and came to terms with it.

I guess you could say that I have never had enough money to know if money does or doesn't make you happy. I usually get pretty happy when I have an extra 20 bucks in my pocket, but I have managed to be pretty happy with very little money also. I do believe my life would be much easier in certain ways if I had a little more money.

Really, the only people I have ever heard say that money does not make you happy are the people that have or have had money. Sure, we have always heard that wealthy people have the same problems as poor people. In my opinion, not necessarily. For example, if they need a new car they go out and buy one...no driving clunkers that may or may not start in the morning. All their comforts in life are taken care of from having a maid to clean the house to a personal nanny to take care of their kids while they go to the spa....the list goes on and on. Comfort is very important to having a full life...in my opinion anyway.

Aren't we here to enjoy the best things life has to give and to ensure that others are having the same experience???

My point is that yes, I have survived all of my life without a whole lot of money. And yes, you can be happy without money. I don't think people that have never had it ever stop longing for it though. I play the Texas Lottery religiously in hopes that one day I will have that sense of security that money gives. I really don't know what I would do with a lot of money, but I'm sure it wouldn't take me too long to figure something out. :-)