/townhall/ - Townhall

From personal experience, no.

Grew up with all that sort of stuff, didn't make life any less miserable, especially given how much the effort it took for my parents to afford it all completely fucked them up mentally. My dad could never appreciate his own accomplishments cause the stress of it induced a generalized anxiety disorder and worsened other preexisting ones, plus financial anxieties about the ability to pay the mortgage and other cost to maintain the house were frequently the root of conflicts leading to domestic violence.

So no I wouldn't say it matters.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it helps foor the bill.

To me a large part of happiness is being comfortable living a lifestyle you desire.

Having a house that is paid for, so you don't have to worry about rent, a house that is well enough equipped to not have a lot of bills for upkeep, and a car that gives you mobility to go wherever you like, whenever you like, that is also stable enough to not require worries about repairs, those go a long way into happiness for me.

Though, of course, there is a point to which it probably no longer matters how large your house is or how large your truck is.

If you prefer a lifestyle "on the road", you may prefer a larger truck and may be satisfied with a smaller house.

>Do you think that the notion that your happiness is largely determined by where you live

So, yes.  If you live in a swamp filled with diseased mosquitoes you are probably going to be less happy than if you lived on a nice temperate beach.  Your environment can have a big impact on your mood, though a lot of that is up to personal taste, too.

>particularly your kind of house if you're in one, and also what vehicle you drive, particularly your large truck or van if you've got one, like... does this all really matter?

This, much much less so.  Like there's definitely a lower threshold you should try to pass.  It's better to have shelter than not, and while transportation isn't strictly important, the ability to receive goods can be, unless you're fully self sufficient, but that can be difficult depending on your environment, refer to my first statement up above.

>Do these two things for the most part make you happy anywhere near people are told they do?

The people telling you that this makes you happy are the people selling you those things.  Real estate vultures and car salesmen are notorious for scamming people in a variety of ways, too.

>>13743
I think it plays a part. It's the 'hierarchy of needs', basically. Shelter is vital, as is the means to move from A to B.
I think a level of self reliability is vital to happiness, as else, you constantly have stressors.