Money is a points system. The more points you have, the more able you are in achieving things that require points for you to have them. It can't buy happiness, but you need your "points" in order to maintain the things you currently have that make your life livable so as to avoid misery by not having them - such as electricity, water, clothes, food. Those things aren't free, but they are necessary for you to maintain living. Everything else is auxiliary, yes, but if you have goals, chances are very likely that to achieve those goals, it's going to cost you money - points. Since the whole system (society) runs on this point system, everything has a little bit of point value assigned to it.
No, points/money do not make you happy, but achieving your goals certainly does.