A big house, expensive car, and designer clothes are things most of us would like to have. All these luxury items would be the average person’s desire. Financial wealth and possession are generally considered to be a direct interpretation of one’s standard of living. How can one say otherwise? Money can buy a person almost anything. One might say this isn’t true and one could debate this notion. A standard of living, in essence, is the standard of how one lives.  The quality of how one lives should not be measured through financial or material things, but by one’s level of peace, happiness, health, and wellbeing. This is a desirable way to live, and it shouldn’t come with a price tag.  So if that were the case, would one’s possession or bank account determine this? There must be a greater standard of living. There are plenty of successful CEOs who earn millions of dollars a year. You might say he has a high standard of living because of the amount of money he makes compared to the average person. However, he also works countless hours, including weekends, with no time for his family or any personal enjoyment.  His life revolves around his job. Even on his days off he is still on-call and has responsibilities looming over him.  I’m sure he is not alone; there are many others like him.  Even a talented, famous celebrity such as Whitney Houston, with all her success and money, that one could only dream of, yet she was still unhappy. She dealt with her unhappiness through an abusive relationship and drugs and that ultimately took her life.  All around us there are people who are not experiencing a high quality of life. These individuals aren’t necessarily happier or live a stress-free life, regardless of how much they make.   Money is a desirable commodity; it is what we need to survive. The lack of money can even lower your standard of living due to hardship and stress. This fact is undeniable, from T.V commercials to the ads on billboards. We are convinced that we need all kinds of goods through the daily bombardment of advertisements in our lives. These advertisements relay a message of joy and happiness in relation to the products they advertise. It is no wonder why we feel the need to buy these products when such messages are sent out, and why we sometimes feel inadequate to fill a void without them. All of us can relate to this. Think of a time in your life when something you bought gave you temporary fulfillment.  Receiving instant gratification by acquiring a new item is not something one should feel guilty about. And having financial wealth can give you joy, but both of these are only temporary. Once the “new factor” wears off so will the joy and happiness. Some people often get addicted to shopping to keep this temporary high going. Others grow an unhealthy lust after money as if it were the only thing that matters. In the end there is only emptiness and they are always longing for more. In the Federal Reserve, statistical release of consumer credit Dec