Money, Cash & Finance

Payday loans are now frequenting the internet – there are many different lenders out there, some of which are now massive corporations that have the sponsorship power to back major Championship Football teams. The rise in the amount of lenders coming to the fore has consequently led to more consumer choice for people needing payday loans and, it could be argued, has culminated in increased consumer choice with competitive market driven lenders. As well as the increased competition there has been an increasing use of mainstream media to advertise their wares. Look at the daytime TV on most days and you will be able to see funky adverts pushing payday loans in various guises. A large number of payday firms has instigated debate at Government level about the charges and there has been a recent rebuke by the payday lenders association, with a code of practice hastily formulated. Excessive APR’s however have not stemmed the flow of people turning to this form of credit. They are ideal for situations when short term money is needed and they have helped many different people needing to aquire money fast. It certainly looks like payday loans are here to stay.

‘Money makes the world go round’ says the famous song, but can it make you any happier? Well if you haven’t got access to cash then things can certainly be a lot harder. Paying utility bills and other important, mandatory bills can be difficult if you haven’t got a regular income coming into the household. And if you add this to the issue of trying to raise and family, with limited access to financial resources, life can certainly be more difficult with no cash coming in.

So does it make people more happy? Intrestingly, research that has been carried out with people who have won large sums of cash in lottery, or other, similar, high end competitions has indicated that they are no happier then before there win. This means that the cash that they won did not make a jot of difference to their happiness. I can see this clearly as I remember when I had a limited income (£4 an hour) and I lived in a bedsit. Now I have a regular income and altough I am not earning a huge salary, I could not say that I was any happier then I was before when I was earning small change.

Money allows you to buy materialistic things that, if you haven’t got, one would assume seem that once you had it in your possession you are automatically happier, but is this really the case? Sure, the thrill of buying something in a shop is good, but lets face it, that feeling soon goes. Essentially, having materilalistic things only brings a shallow form of happiness, and, in the main, owning possessions is more about ‘keeping up with the Jones’, and is ultimately means nothing. Although money, cash and finance does make the world go round, we need to remain focus on what truly brings us happiness, and this is having contact with freinds, family and loved ones and enjoying what little, precious time we have left.