Does money buy happiness? (Programmer Version)

Many people say that you should only chase your dreams and you should be in love with your job.

But what if things that you love don't bring you good money, should you be broke your whole life then?

​I will explain why $10k/month or even $12k/month didn't make me happier, what money actually makes me happy, and why just chasing your dream isn't always right.

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Should you become a programmer only for MONEY 🤑?

Short answer - it's complicated.

I know some programmers, who don't like programming.

But they are still good programmers, and do it because of the money and benefits.

And you know what? - THAT'S GREAT!

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Look, if you gonna analyze, most people don't like their jobs.

I was a barista/waiter myself and I can say, that I don't understand why someone would love this job. (I'm sure some people do, so no offence there, it's just my personal preference).

And I think it's better to hate your job for $7000/month than for $700/month.

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Of course, if you love your job IT'S GREAT, and you'll be able to achieve quite a lot thanks to it.

But a lot of people don't particularly like anything or are not sure what they like.

In that case, it's better to choose a high-paying job, and hate it, than hate your low-paying job.

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Ideally, you should find a job that is both: high-paying, and that you truly love. But the world we live in isn't ideal, so you have to adjust.

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Personally, I got pretty lucky with that. I both: ABSOLUTELY LOVE and ENJOY PROGRAMMING, and it brings me really good money.

But if you want to become a programmer, just for money, that's absolutely fine, there is nothing bad about it, and I totally understand you.

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Does Money Buy Happiness?

There I would like to start with a great quote from a book that I read a couple of years ago by Erich Maria Remarque:

Money, indeed, does not bring happiness, but it acts extremely comforting.

And I 100% agree with that.

Money doesn't buy happiness

BUT

Only above a certain amount.

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It's hard to be happy if you can barely pay your bills, and have to constantly think about how you can survive and provide for your family.

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So the most happiness I've got was when I started making above $5000 per month.

I didn't have to think about bills anymore.

I had FULL FREEDOM of choice.

I was finally able to just buy a plane ticket today, and be in a different country tomorrow, just for fun.

Without thinking about how it'll impact my budget.

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And when my salary reached $10 000, of course, it was nice. But I didn't become happier.

Maybe I can save more money, but life looks pretty much the same, as it was at $5k.

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If Money Doesn't Buy Happiness, What Does?

I'll be honest with you, it's a hard question, and I'm not sure.

Right now, I truly become happy because of 2 things:

1. I learned how to enjoy the moment. The cup of nice coffee, the smile of people that I love, time spent with friends. This brings joy and happiness to my life.
2. I help other people to learn programming and go through the same path I took myself. I think this is my next big goal (the previous one was to get to $10k/month). I want to mentor as many people as possible and help them to change their lives thanks to programming. That brings sense to my life.

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But you should find what makes you happy yourself.

And the only way to do it is to try as many things in life as possible.

Most things cost money, so yeah, money doesn't buy happiness,

but without it, it will be hard to find it.

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Conclusion

Until you gonna reach $3000 - $5000 per month, it's very hard to be truly relaxed and happy (especially in developed countries like Europe).

So stop complaining, take control over your life, learn a high-paying skill, and your future self will be thankful to you for that.

You don't have to become a millionaire, but if you want to feel safe about your life and have freedom, you need to spend some time building a skillset that will help you to make that money.

For me this skill was PROGRAMMING, and it truly changed my life.

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