[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/68\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-iii#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/68\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-iii","headline":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part III","name":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part III","description":"In this post, we\u2019ll see how money, food stamps, and happiness are all connected to the future.","datePublished":"2018-07-06","dateModified":"2018-07-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin#Person","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FoodStamps.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":100,"height":100},"url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/68\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-iii","about":["Foodstamps 101"],"wordCount":660,"keywords":["68"],"articleBody":"In the second post of what\u2019s a four-part series, we examined how pursuing hobbies is related to \u201cmoney can\u2019t buy happiness\u201d, and how this affects food stamps users. In this post, we\u2019ll see how money, food stamps, and happiness are all connected to the future.Future: Most of us look to the future as an entity that\u2019s moving forward and up. Progress may sometimes happen in tiny increments or it can leap forward hugely, but improvement is something that\u2019s usually expected.If you ask a typical person where they see themselves in 5 or 10 years, the answer usually circles around family, a larger paycheck, and a bigger home. Nobody dreams that they\u2019ll have the good fortune to end up one missed paycheck away from homelessness, but that\u2019s an unfortunate reality for too many people. The anxiety that comes with thinking someone\u2019s going to repossess your entire life any day now can be so great, not thinking about it is a welcome respite.It\u2019s also hard to imagine the future as anything better because when the current situation is so bleak, you get used to it being the norm. For you, \u201cmaking it\u201d comes in the form of not having your electricity shut off for 12 months in a row, not getting a promotion to Senior Vice President. The latter is something that happens to either \u201clucky\u201d folks, or people born into money.You also don\u2019t let yourself dream about the future, because that inevitably results in crushed hopes and after a while, it just sucks to keep feeling that way. Sure, it\u2019d be nice to have a house, but how on earth are you ever supposed to scrape together enough money for a 20% down payment when that represents your rent for 5 years?Further complicating the situation is the small matter of paying your bills\u2014a task you want to get ahead on, but feel constantly stuck in juggling. Do you pay the cable bill this month because you were really late the last three and you don\u2019t want it to get cut off? Or do you sacrifice the minimum payment on your credit card bill because hydro can\u2019t be dodged this month and winter\u2019s coming up? The future, in this case, means looking ahead to only the next week or month, not the next generation.Because the future doesn\u2019t hold the same meaning as it would for, say, a couple planning on buying their first house, you approach things like debt differently. Telephone and Internet are luxuries for you, not necessities, and you invest all your energy into making sure there\u2019s food on the table. And to make sure you can meet one of humanity\u2019s most basic needs, you\u2019ll do just about anything to ensure that: using your checking account overdraft, screening your calls for bill collectors, and ignoring bits of mold and fuzz on your food as you cut it away to salvage a meal. Such concepts like loading up on food specials are ludicrous for a couple of reasons: there\u2019s no place to store it, and buying 5lbs of roast beef because it\u2019s half off means you\u2019re using up next week\u2019s food stamps.So, for food stamps users, the idea of the future\u2014when not bleak and unchanging\u2014is wholly different from someone not on them. It\u2019s almost like putting blinders on an average person and telling them, \u201cThe world before you is as it exists entirely, and there is nothing else around you.\u201d With such a limited scope of sight, it can become almost impossible to reach a different future, let alone see it.In\u00a0Part IV\u00a0of this four-part series, we\u2019ll look at how being on food stamps affects children of families on food stamps, and what kind of role money has to play in that.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ID","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/\/ID\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"68","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/\/ID\/\/68\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part III","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/68\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-iii#breadcrumbitem"}]}]