What would you choose, rich and unhappy all your life or poor and happy all your life?

I myself would choose poor and happy.  Maybe I'm biased because I've never been rich, but I'd rather be happy all my life than rich all my life.  To me the biggest thing is to be happy, happy with my life, happy with my body, happy period.

If I had to choose - Being poor and happy, hands down!

How poor?  If I'm extremely poor, like can't afford to buy my kids school supplies, how happy could I be?

I'm going to go with rich and miserable.  Maybe I could use my money to help others be happy.

But, really, middle class and of a normal (fluctuating) mood would also be fine with me.

I agree with jules, #3

I am poor and it does not make me happy in the least. My happiness has to be found from other ways than money; the status of my bank account cannot be depended on for a source of happiness!

You may as well ask, would you rather be happy and purple or unhappy and pink?

I can't imagine being rich and unhappy (if I am happy now, being rich would just remove one of my sources of stress). So - show me the money!

Oh, and can you please throw in straight A's in all my classes?

I'm pretty much poor right now, and it sucks.  I stress about paying my bills, and God forbid I have to ask someone for help...nothing is worse than struggling to live.  I'm going to medical school though, which is like a social hierarchy catapult; I'll go from being poor white trash in a holler to Poor White Trash, M.D. 

I don't think money will make me happy.  Being with my friends, doing the things I like, those make me happy.  I want to live comfortably and follow my dreams, not be rich and lonely.  So if I had to choose, I guess I'd be happy and poor.  Mo' money mo' problems lol.

Poor and happy, hands down.  No amount of money will make up for a lack of happiness. Coincidentally, poor people generally ARE the happiest (when polls are taken).

Poor and happy. It's the only way I know! The level of poverty might have some play into it, but generally I'd choose that.

I've a second question to add to that based on observations I've made from people I've met in my life. I've noticed that the ones who reported happier childhoods tend to be those that had less money in their family than those who had bad childhoods. So I'm asking: How was your childhood and did your parents have any extra cash?

Personally, I found that I had a really great childhood but for the most part it has been make ends meet for my parents for a long time.

Rich & unhappy... I'd buy someone to be happy for me. =]

money can buy happiness, but only a certain amount, up to about $40K's worth

after that, extra money doesn't make you any happier and sometimes makes you less happy

i don't care, i'd be fine either way

*sits for zen meditation*

Poor and Happy cause you can always do something about the poor its harder to do something about unhappy.   We have been poor and happy most of our marrage.  Hubby got a new job in December and they just keep giving him raises between the hours he works, which are better than the last job he had by a long shot and the bonuses which the last job only had a christmas, we are finally actually making enough money to have the federal goverement taking taxes out of his check.  YEAH!  And its only going to get better.  

We both paid our dues being poor saying, at least we are happy and now we can be happy and at least not so poor.  LOL

What could you preface "... unhappy for the rest of your life" with to sell it? 

The only thing happy people have in common is appreciation.  A study on happiness found that being grateful was the only common factor among the happy - rich, poor, healthy, ill, gorgeous, unattractive, brilliant, ignorant, etc. 

Original Post by juliemae2:

How poor?  If I'm extremely poor, like can't afford to buy my kids school supplies, how happy could I be?

I'm going to go with rich and miserable.  Maybe I could use my money to help others be happy.

Just school supplies?  There are countless parents who would commit to a life of poverty if it meant the happiness of having their deceased child given back to them.    Plus as a rich miserable parent, know that it will factor into the development of your children.

Money concerns can sometimes overshadow the big picture.

Original Post by nomoreexcuses:

money can buy happiness, but only a certain amount, up to about $40K's worth

That only applies to those who dont know where to shop! 

Original Post by sun123:

Original Post by juliemae2:

How poor?  If I'm extremely poor, like can't afford to buy my kids school supplies, how happy could I be?

I'm going to go with rich and miserable.  Maybe I could use my money to help others be happy.

Just school supplies?  There are countless parents who would commit to a life of poverty if it meant the happiness of having their deceased child given back to them.    Plus as a rich miserable parent, know that it will factor into the development of your children.

Money concerns can sometimes overshadow the big picture.

 No, not just school supplies.  That's simply the first thing to pop into my mind.  How about "If I can't afford to feed my children, clothe them, spend any time with them since I'm working night and day to try and get by...."

Is a miserable, present parent who can provide a better parent than a content, absent parent who cannot?  Who is to be the judge of that?

And, of course I'm aware that there are parents who have lost their children and would give anything to have them back.  I failed to take the question as seriously as you did.  However, my [full] answer remains the same.

Hah.  Right now I'm on the poor and unhappy side...So either seems like a step up for me. 

I need a new job, lol.