Money doesn’t buy happiness. However, it can often buy time or a reduction in stress, which can help one find happiness.
I make a good salary and one of the things that buys my family is the ability to just do what we want to do, within reason. While we still watch our grocery bill (and goddam inflation in food prices sucks), we don’t actually stress over it. We buy a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and splurge on some name brands here and there (Kerry Gold butter is awesome). This means that we don’t stress over “what’s for dinner”, other than planing out meals for the week. Because, that’s smart and leads to less waste and better eating. We can also say, “fuck it, we’re ordering out” and dropping $50-$100 for the family to eat isn’t going to cause money issues. When we get to the “end of a paycheck” our main stress comes from only putting a few hundred in savings. And we actually have savings. So, I am not worried that the car is going to crap out and we’re suddenly taking on tons of debt at usurious interest rates.
Has money “bought” us happiness? No, but life is a hell of a lot better now than it was when we were raiding the change jar to buy something to eat for dinner. Being poor brings a lot of stress with it, and that can make you unhappy.