Does having more disposable income make you more social?

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I'm not exactly independently wealthy, but it seems to me that the more money I have to spend on entertainment, e.g. going to the pub, restaurants, movies, or whatever, the more social opportunities present themselves, versus when I was totally poor. So in general does having more money make you more social, or does it just seem that way? I'd be interested in people weighing in.

I'm not sure about the more social part, but having money is better than being broke. I'm doing well now and I have been broke in the past. I think having money gives you one less negative thing to obsess over.

I sometimes wonder if I had serious amounts of money, if suddenly doors would open, or if that's just propaganda from too many commercials and Hollywood. If it indeed was the case, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it, it would be easy to be cynical and think people were only spending time with you because of money, but maybe I wouldn't care. Sometimes I think that might be the case with ex-girlfriends, they seem to only be interested in me if I take them out to dinner, etc., and once I stop paying for everything, and the gravy train stops, they ditch me, maybe that's too misanthropic?

I guess there's a related question here, do aspies have less disposable income than everyone else on average?

i think aspies are excellent hoarders, so they can save more and have more disposable income since they spend less on trivial stuff.
And well, for anyone having more income available for girls, the better.

And for your ex, do you want something with them?
why do you keep seeing them and INVITING THEM!??
If you see them as friends, let them pay, unless you explicitilly invited them because you want something with them.

Your ex are history.

Meet new girls, please.

Where? at churches, in the street, take french lessons, gym, friendsomething? dot com, catholicmatch? dot com
local aspies, etc, etc.

Meet new girls, please.

I guess it depends on how you make your money. Last year I made a lot, but work from home by myself, so I wasn't sociable at all.

Not that the best things in life are free, and all that, but meeting people at bars and stuff isn't the way I want to be sociable.

It was easier to socialise when I didn't have to worry about the cost of drinks, taxis home, new clothes, meals out, film tickets, bottles for parties, etc. I could "coast" more fluidly with any social occasion. It made me less rigid about what to expect, what we would do, etc.

I also drank more, which was social lubricant. And hanging out with others shopping at trendy markets, ( and stopping for coffees at cafés every couple of hours, which quickly adds up, but is part of the event ), or whatever, was "enjoyable" with money, but would seem pointless and/or frustrating without.

.

despite the naysayers money does buy happyness

more money = movies (going to the theater with friend from work/school) / comics (busing to the comic book store) / buying movies (going to the mall/store for movies) / just going out (park, beach, library, bookstore, coffee shop).

I tend to save $20 or so each month to go out and do stuffs as a way to force myself to socialize, and a friend from work makes sure we hang out outside of work at least once a month

My parent's two responses to "money can't buy happiness" (it was a long running joke of theirs)

a) "I'm prepared to take the chance"

OR

b) "True, but we can be miserable in luxury"

Money doesnt buy happiness. ...unless you are one of those people who simply love money in and of itself. Then it would. Money does, however, buy things that make us happy. If you are one of those people (like me) who enjoy material things, then having a lot of money will most certainly bring up more opportunities for happiness. Yes, there are more important things in life, like friends and family. But wouldnt it be even better if you had awesome top brand clothes, an expensive car, a powerful computer, and a grand piano sitting in your living room as well as family and friends? It defenatly would for me.
Money also does not inheritly make someone more snobby or selfish either. It may increase someone's ego and that would make them more likely to be snobby and selfish. Its just all up to the person.

Likewise, money by itself doesnt make someone more social. It opens up more opportunites for one to be social. If you simply didnt have money to go to all these social events, how could you be more social with people? In terms of free social things, there is not that much at all. A party is one of the most social events known to man. Unless a friend or relative is hosting one, you would probably have to pay to get in, like if its a dance club or whatever. Free parties also dont happen often enough to provide significant entertainment.

Having money has never lead me to more social opportunities, but to buying more things on the internet or deciding to save it to buy something I really want. Regardless of how much money I have it doesn't make me go out any more or any less.

It is possible to find sociable things to do that are free or cheap, like going to art galleries or museums, or for a picnic in the park, hanging out with friends in their homes, or at local cafes and bars instead of heading into the city centre and paying a premium for more expensive drinks (because their rent is more expensive in the city centre and they pass the costs on to their customers) and for transport.

But it's also true that if your disposable income is greater you have more possibilities for socialising, going to the theatre or to concerts, going on day trips with friends, going out to dinner in restaurants, going to visit friends in other cities.

I lost touch with quite a lot of friends when I wasn't working, because my friends moved about a lot, moved to different cities and even to different countries (and I'd done that also). But when I was living on disability benefits due to a physical disability that prevented me from working, I realised that my friends were all visiting one another and staying in touch, but I couldn't afford to, so I kind of drifted away from them and lost some friends.

I think it's a good idea to Google and try to find free and cheap activities in your local area. Maybe there's a local amateur dramatics group you can join, or maybe if you're in receipt of benefits you get free or low cost subsidised access to further education courses, maybe you can learn a new language or improve one you learned at school, or take photography or flower arranging classes, or learn motor vehicle maintenance or cake decorating or something.

It can often be easier to socialise with people if there's a purpose for the gathering. Instead of meeting up in a coffee shop or bar and being a bit tongue-tied with strangers, fearing lulls in the conversation and not having anything to talk about and being scared of embarrassing silences, it relieves the pressure if you go to a class or activity, like going to the cinema with others, or paintballing, or visiting an exhibition at an art gallery, or attending classes in calligraphy, it gives you something to talk about.