[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/69\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-ii#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/69\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-ii","headline":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part II","name":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part II","description":"Indulging in your interests and passions is vital to becoming a well-rounded person. For proof of the opposite, think of anyone you know doesn\u2019t do anything in their lives, and what their perspective is on handling life\u2019s problems.","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\/69\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-ii","about":["Foodstamps 101"],"wordCount":693,"keywords":["69"],"articleBody":"In the second post of what\u2019s a four-part series, we examined how spending time with friends is related to \u201cmoney can\u2019t buy happiness\u201d, and how this affects food stamps users. Today, we\u2019ll see how money, food stamps, and happiness are all connected to hobbies.Hobbies: Indulging in your interests and passions is vital to becoming a well-rounded person. For proof of the opposite, think of anyone you know doesn\u2019t do anything in their lives, and what their perspective is on handling life\u2019s problems. Do they make mountains out of molehills? Chances are overwhelmingly yes, they do, because when a person has nothing else going on in their life, each incident\u2014no matter how small or large\u2014takes on utmost importance.Transferring that to hobbies, the media constantly inundates the public with messages about how you don\u2019t need money to have a good time. Look at\u00a0Titanic, one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Rose doesn\u2019t really start to have fun until she sheds her family\u2019s wealthy idea of it and joins Jack in a rousing party in third-class. Or take Bruce Springsteen or Jay-Z, who built entire careers singing songs about how despite a lack of money, they still enjoyed life. Even professional athletes constantly profess that they\u2019re playing their respective game because they love it, not because of the money.Except that you, well, need money to do any of that. Want to enjoy a free hobby like playing guitar or drums? You still need to shell out for the instruments themselves, as well as either sheet music or a computer\u2014plus monthly internet costs\u2014to look up tutorials. Right off the bat, there\u2019s a few hundred dollars for a \u201cfree\u201d hobby.You also need money not just for the hobby itself, but also for getting you into the shape necessary to enjoy it. How much do you think you\u2019re going to want to knit for three hours after you\u2019ve just spent the last 6-8 sleeping on a mattress so bad, even Goodwill won\u2019t take it? Back pain makes it awfully hard to focus on something that gives you pleasure, and the dominant thought won\u2019t be on painting a fresco, but more immediate, primal thoughts, like getting to a state where the slightest movement won\u2019t cause a twinge.A third thing you need is time, something many people on food stamps don\u2019t have. Think kicking around a soccer ball is a great way to pass by an afternoon? Sure, providing your job\u2014if you have one\u2014lets you take a few hours off to indulge in non-work activities, or if you\u2019re even lucky enough to only have to work one job that\u2019ll pay all the bills.Instead, you plan to indulge in your hobbies after work, or on the weekends, except here\u2019s the thing: you\u2019ve been working more hours than the average person, only for it to amount to half of what they make. Hobbies are designed to be fun, but having fun takes energy, something that is just not there after a 12-hour shift on your feet with a one-hour commute each way.So no, you don\u2019t\u00a0need\u00a0money to have hobbies, but only if you\u2019re interested in whistling Christmas tunes. Even something like watching cars drive by on the street or pondering life\u2019s big questions requires you to first be in a state of comfort (ever tried to sit outside on a winter day for two hours to watch cars? You need to either shell out for a really warm jacket, or make enough money to rent a place that\u2019s warm), a necessity that calls for money.But when you have money, it can buy comfort and leisure time, two essential things for being able to enjoy hobbies and feel good about yourself.In\u00a0Part III\u00a0of this four-part series, we\u2019ll look at how being on food stamps affects the future, and what kind of role money has to play in that."},{"@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":"69","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/\/ID\/\/69\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Can Money Buy Happiness? Part II","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/69\/can-money-buy-happiness-part-ii#breadcrumbitem"}]}]