Absolutely, BUT, achieving many things that bring happiness in your life does cost money anyway.
Starting a happy family? You need a place for everyone to live, a food for everyone to eat, clothes to wear, all the expenses going into creating wonderful moments for your family, be it a small homely party or an adventure.
Having friends? You need to hang out somewhere, do something together, and that would likely drain your wallet.
Opening something new, going for a trip? Tons of money again.
Like, sustaining your life to begin with? You wouldn’t believe it - a lot of money.
So, we cannot pretend that money and happy living are two completely disconnected entities. Money is essential in providing the lifestyle one wants to have. And no amount of content and gratitude will help you if you’re broke as hell and doing slave job to survive.
So, the coffee example is not about buying a dopamine hit. It’s about sustaining the kind of life one wants to see. A cup of coffee, in this case, is not an embodiment of consumerism, but a personal ritual.
Those of us who like coffee and treats from time to time also fuck our partners, go on walks, and look at the fucking moon. Don’t be such a puritan. What makes life worth living then, praising jesus? Lmao
If you have supportive friends, a lovely partner or partners, can go on walks, and look at the moon, but think life isn’t worth living because you can’t drink a cup of coffee… Imma say that’s a you problem.
It’s not about the coffee specifically, it’s about all the pleasantries. Sure walks are nice and stargazing is lovely. And yeah, those things are great with friends and partners! But you know what else is a nice little treat? Coffee. Snacks. Watching that movie together. Some lovely flowers. Slick shoes.
Some of the pleasantries that make life worth living are free, but many of them cost money. You obviously can’t have everything, but having to give up on literally every pleasantry that costs money (even the cheapest of ones) just to afford enough to live what used to be a normal middle class life is definitely not something that should be treated as normal. There’s a clear trend of sinking purchasing power for the masses and, with it, sinking morale.
Ok. So what’s your point? Like, what do you expect any individual person to do with that information? The person who notices that “life’s little luxuries” are impacting their financial security and cuts down on them will be in a better financial position than someone who lives in denial and digs themselves into a financial hole.
If you think walking and staring at the moon makes life worth living, it’s exactly as sad as liking coffee. Maybe even more so, you can’t even taste the moon.
That’s the entire point! What the fuck is saving 600 dollars going to do for you? It’s sad that the shitty coffee is all we have left. Don’t you get it? No matter how much you struggle, you won’t escape. And when we find some little solace in life, we have people putting us down for it, wanting us to just…stop enjoying what little of life we have left, and just work like robots for the end goal of…what? Just dying of some disease we can’t afford to threat anyway?
Because then you have $600 in an emergency fund so you can use that to pay for an emergency rather than going into debt. It isn’t hard to understand that $600 is $600 more that you can use to make you life better, rather than frittering it away on coffee.
You’re literally trying to justify shooting yourself in the foot via self pity and learned helplessness. Just buy a mocha pot at the thrift store.
Until next year you have another $10k added on because it happened on dec 31st.
I get what your saying, but if you’re only mustardly up $300 a year in savings, if you arent using it to find a way to earn more money, then just fucking spend it to make your existence a tiny bit better. Because if your gonna be in debt and never able to get out, mind as well not even worry about it. They cant take what you dont have
What the fuck. It’s 600$ over 2 years! Are you insane? Just in-case you happen to need 600$ for an emergency? You are more likely to be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to live with literally no joy in your life, saving for something that will never come.
If you can barely save $600 in 2 years, $600 will do jack shit for you in emergency and you better spend it on drugs, at least that way you can forget the pain of living for a moment.
You need your car to get to work. Your car gets a flat. $75 for a used tire.
Without emergency fund: $75 unexpected expense goes on credit card. Since you are still drinking fancy coffee, you have no slack in your finances, and interest starts compounding on that $75 which you cannot pay off. Eventually you figure out you can pay the debt down gradually by cutting back on having someone else make you coffee. You manage to gradually pay down your debt over several months. By the time you pay it off, the tire cost you $150.
With emergency fund: you are pissed off about the flat, but shell out $75 from your emergency fund. Your fund recovers in a couple months.
Ok, got it! Sorry! Will never pay for anything I enjoy again! Will just work like a robot to survive maybe half a year longer before the economy tanks anyway.
EDIT: Let me tell you, my Grampa always saved up, and spent all his money investing into a home, for the day he could retire and have his perfect family life. He died suddenly, and the house was very near finished.
If you struggle to save $600 in 2 years, you don’t have a car already, it required $3000 worth of maintenance 3 years ago and you didn’t have it so you sold it for parts, or it still rotting behind a dumpster. If you struggle to save $600 in 2 years, your problems aren’t coffee.
A mocha pot? But then I’d still have to buy coffee beans, which are a luxury, right? Not buying a mocha pot means you don’t have to buy coffee either, thus saving even more money.
And that could go for all luxuries, to the point that life is just working to be able to work.
And none of this would be necessary if wages were higher overall, and there was a good social safety net.
Tell government to tax the rich, instead of telling people to forego their pleasures.
Im extremely lucky to have a good paying job and still I say tax the fuck out of the rich. They are absolutely kings of our day drunk with power and money they do not deserve that they earned by destroying thousands of lives. There is no other way to win capitalism. If there’s a hell, all billionaires will go there because they are scum. You’re average millionaire bisynes owner mom n pop store, theyre not who we are talking about. Its the filthy rich.
A mocha pot? But then I’d still have to buy coffee beans, which are a luxury, right? Not buying a mocha pot means you don’t have to buy coffee either, thus saving even more money.
There are degrees to all things. Doesn’t mean some things aren’t better or worse. If you are getting a latte at a coffee shop every day, making them yourself is a comparable amount of luxury for significantly less money. If you are actually strapped for cash, then indeed, simply give up coffee entirely.
But if you are struggling to save even $600 in a year, you are truly in a financial emergency, and doing something about that should be at the top of your list. If you are regularly buying fancy coffee, this is obvious low hanging fruit.
And that could go for all luxuries, to the point that life is just working to be able to work.
Sure. Again, degrees, choices. But again, if you struggle to save $600, then you need to save $600. Life can just be work for a while until you are in a more stable financial situation.
And none of this would be necessary if wages were higher overall, and there was a good social safety net.
Tell government to tax the rich, instead of telling people to forego their pleasures.
Okay, I’ve done those things. Now what does the financially struggling individual do once I have told the government that, and the government has ignored me? If their plan is to continue having no financial safety net while drinking cafe coffee every day, I’m just gonna say that that isn’t the best choice.
If the government turned around and did those things, that sure would be nice. But I’m not gonna count on it, and if you are struggling financially, you shouldn’t either. If you sit around waiting for the government to save you because they should, my bet is that you’re in for some disappointment. A better bet is to see that social safety nets are bad and likely to get worse, accept this fact, and the fact that you can effectively do nothing about this and other large mechanations of the world, and ask yourself what you can do to improve your own situation.
This is literally mocking that take. It is saying, even if you drop those little dopamine hits you won’t be magically transported into a lavish fantasy life.
That’s not far off for some of us. That’s about 25 bucks a month, and until about 2 years ago I was making just enough to have about 30 bucks left over at the end of the month that I didn’t spend on bills or food. Then I did fairly well for about 2 years, with about 200 bucks a month left over… Then my mom passed away 2 months ago, and since my job was being her caregiver, I’m now jobless. :/ life sucks
I’m no expert but look into your state’s primary caregiver help. Sometimes it’s just a tax exemption but idk, may help, if you really had to give up work for long term care of a loved one! Good luck
Yeah people, don’t buy good food as a treat, no cinema or nice video game (and god firbid, no buying books you can’t find in the library), no travel, nothing!
As a trained barista I very much disagree… while I don’t work as one professionally, coffee, or rather espresso, has been a core part of my life. The same way a sommelier might find pleasure in life through buying expensive and exotic wines (and by extensions tasting them), there have been periods of my life where I almost exclusively survived by buying expensive espresso roasts and tasting the resulting coffee.
In today’s world many passions and pleasures that can be intrinsic to someone’s being cost money. I couldn’t even tell you how much money I have spent on espresso beans, coffee equipment (machines, grinders, etc), audiophile equipment, synthesizers, and records. These are the things, along with my family and job, that make life worth living for me — and my family is not always available, and my job not always good. If I’m struggling to wake up in the morning, I dial in a new bean. If I had a tough day, I put on a record.
This is stupid. Christ I hate this take. Buying shit isn’t what makes life worth living, and if you think it is, you need to rethink your priorities.
If the temporary little dopamine hit from a fancy coffee is the best part of your life, that’s fucking sad and you should change your life.
Y’all been bamboozled by advertising.
Absolutely, BUT, achieving many things that bring happiness in your life does cost money anyway.
Starting a happy family? You need a place for everyone to live, a food for everyone to eat, clothes to wear, all the expenses going into creating wonderful moments for your family, be it a small homely party or an adventure.
Having friends? You need to hang out somewhere, do something together, and that would likely drain your wallet.
Opening something new, going for a trip? Tons of money again.
Like, sustaining your life to begin with? You wouldn’t believe it - a lot of money.
So, we cannot pretend that money and happy living are two completely disconnected entities. Money is essential in providing the lifestyle one wants to have. And no amount of content and gratitude will help you if you’re broke as hell and doing slave job to survive.
So, the coffee example is not about buying a dopamine hit. It’s about sustaining the kind of life one wants to see. A cup of coffee, in this case, is not an embodiment of consumerism, but a personal ritual.
Those of us who like coffee and treats from time to time also fuck our partners, go on walks, and look at the fucking moon. Don’t be such a puritan. What makes life worth living then, praising jesus? Lmao
If you have supportive friends, a lovely partner or partners, can go on walks, and look at the moon, but think life isn’t worth living because you can’t drink a cup of coffee… Imma say that’s a you problem.
It’s not about the coffee specifically, it’s about all the pleasantries. Sure walks are nice and stargazing is lovely. And yeah, those things are great with friends and partners! But you know what else is a nice little treat? Coffee. Snacks. Watching that movie together. Some lovely flowers. Slick shoes.
Some of the pleasantries that make life worth living are free, but many of them cost money. You obviously can’t have everything, but having to give up on literally every pleasantry that costs money (even the cheapest of ones) just to afford enough to live what used to be a normal middle class life is definitely not something that should be treated as normal. There’s a clear trend of sinking purchasing power for the masses and, with it, sinking morale.
Ok. So what’s your point? Like, what do you expect any individual person to do with that information? The person who notices that “life’s little luxuries” are impacting their financial security and cuts down on them will be in a better financial position than someone who lives in denial and digs themselves into a financial hole.
If you think walking and staring at the moon makes life worth living, it’s exactly as sad as liking coffee. Maybe even more so, you can’t even taste the moon.
https://youtu.be/-EjyKej89mo
It’s humorous hyperbole. Sorry you didn’t get the joke. Maybe try being funnier?
That’s the entire point! What the fuck is saving 600 dollars going to do for you? It’s sad that the shitty coffee is all we have left. Don’t you get it? No matter how much you struggle, you won’t escape. And when we find some little solace in life, we have people putting us down for it, wanting us to just…stop enjoying what little of life we have left, and just work like robots for the end goal of…what? Just dying of some disease we can’t afford to threat anyway?
Because then you have $600 in an emergency fund so you can use that to pay for an emergency rather than going into debt. It isn’t hard to understand that $600 is $600 more that you can use to make you life better, rather than frittering it away on coffee.
You’re literally trying to justify shooting yourself in the foot via self pity and learned helplessness. Just buy a mocha pot at the thrift store.
Whats $600 gonna do for a $10,000 out of pocket health insurance policy?
It will be $600 less to make in interest payments as you gradually pay the debt down.
More poignantly, however, it would be very useful for a $600 copay. And these are significantly more common.
Until next year you have another $10k added on because it happened on dec 31st.
I get what your saying, but if you’re only mustardly up $300 a year in savings, if you arent using it to find a way to earn more money, then just fucking spend it to make your existence a tiny bit better. Because if your gonna be in debt and never able to get out, mind as well not even worry about it. They cant take what you dont have
They definitely can take what you don’t have. That’s what debt is.
No, debt is unpaid credit. If your in debt you, already didnt have it, thus why they lended the money/services.
What the fuck. It’s 600$ over 2 years! Are you insane? Just in-case you happen to need 600$ for an emergency? You are more likely to be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to live with literally no joy in your life, saving for something that will never come.
If you can barely save $600 in 2 years, then you 100% need a $600 emergency fund
If you can barely save $600 in 2 years, $600 will do jack shit for you in emergency and you better spend it on drugs, at least that way you can forget the pain of living for a moment.
You need your car to get to work. Your car gets a flat. $75 for a used tire.
Without emergency fund: $75 unexpected expense goes on credit card. Since you are still drinking fancy coffee, you have no slack in your finances, and interest starts compounding on that $75 which you cannot pay off. Eventually you figure out you can pay the debt down gradually by cutting back on having someone else make you coffee. You manage to gradually pay down your debt over several months. By the time you pay it off, the tire cost you $150.
With emergency fund: you are pissed off about the flat, but shell out $75 from your emergency fund. Your fund recovers in a couple months.
Ok, got it! Sorry! Will never pay for anything I enjoy again! Will just work like a robot to survive maybe half a year longer before the economy tanks anyway.
EDIT: Let me tell you, my Grampa always saved up, and spent all his money investing into a home, for the day he could retire and have his perfect family life. He died suddenly, and the house was very near finished.
What was the point? He deserved better.
If you struggle to save $600 in 2 years, you don’t have a car already, it required $3000 worth of maintenance 3 years ago and you didn’t have it so you sold it for parts, or it still rotting behind a dumpster. If you struggle to save $600 in 2 years, your problems aren’t coffee.
A mocha pot? But then I’d still have to buy coffee beans, which are a luxury, right? Not buying a mocha pot means you don’t have to buy coffee either, thus saving even more money.
And that could go for all luxuries, to the point that life is just working to be able to work.
And none of this would be necessary if wages were higher overall, and there was a good social safety net.
Tell government to tax the rich, instead of telling people to forego their pleasures.
Im extremely lucky to have a good paying job and still I say tax the fuck out of the rich. They are absolutely kings of our day drunk with power and money they do not deserve that they earned by destroying thousands of lives. There is no other way to win capitalism. If there’s a hell, all billionaires will go there because they are scum. You’re average millionaire bisynes owner mom n pop store, theyre not who we are talking about. Its the filthy rich.
There are degrees to all things. Doesn’t mean some things aren’t better or worse. If you are getting a latte at a coffee shop every day, making them yourself is a comparable amount of luxury for significantly less money. If you are actually strapped for cash, then indeed, simply give up coffee entirely.
But if you are struggling to save even $600 in a year, you are truly in a financial emergency, and doing something about that should be at the top of your list. If you are regularly buying fancy coffee, this is obvious low hanging fruit.
Sure. Again, degrees, choices. But again, if you struggle to save $600, then you need to save $600. Life can just be work for a while until you are in a more stable financial situation.
Okay, I’ve done those things. Now what does the financially struggling individual do once I have told the government that, and the government has ignored me? If their plan is to continue having no financial safety net while drinking cafe coffee every day, I’m just gonna say that that isn’t the best choice.
If the government turned around and did those things, that sure would be nice. But I’m not gonna count on it, and if you are struggling financially, you shouldn’t either. If you sit around waiting for the government to save you because they should, my bet is that you’re in for some disappointment. A better bet is to see that social safety nets are bad and likely to get worse, accept this fact, and the fact that you can effectively do nothing about this and other large mechanations of the world, and ask yourself what you can do to improve your own situation.
Typical “if you aren’t living life the way I do, you aren’t living life.”
This is literally mocking that take. It is saying, even if you drop those little dopamine hits you won’t be magically transported into a lavish fantasy life.
The implication and “punchline” here is that millennials only have $300/year of free spending money. It’s self-deprecating/morbid humor.
That’s not far off for some of us. That’s about 25 bucks a month, and until about 2 years ago I was making just enough to have about 30 bucks left over at the end of the month that I didn’t spend on bills or food. Then I did fairly well for about 2 years, with about 200 bucks a month left over… Then my mom passed away 2 months ago, and since my job was being her caregiver, I’m now jobless. :/ life sucks
Hey, sorry about your mom.
Thanks. She was my whole world. Like… Crazy close, best friend. It’s been rough. I appreciate the sentiment.
I’m no expert but look into your state’s primary caregiver help. Sometimes it’s just a tax exemption but idk, may help, if you really had to give up work for long term care of a loved one! Good luck
Yeah people, don’t buy good food as a treat, no cinema or nice video game (and god firbid, no buying books you can’t find in the library), no travel, nothing!
What a life.
The best part of my life is writing sarcastic comments on shitty takes like this. That’s free and I’m a still in debt. Explain.
Just… Fuck you. So much.
Maybe you should try a different roast or cafe?
lol, fuck off, troll.
deleted by creator
As a trained barista I very much disagree… while I don’t work as one professionally, coffee, or rather espresso, has been a core part of my life. The same way a sommelier might find pleasure in life through buying expensive and exotic wines (and by extensions tasting them), there have been periods of my life where I almost exclusively survived by buying expensive espresso roasts and tasting the resulting coffee.
In today’s world many passions and pleasures that can be intrinsic to someone’s being cost money. I couldn’t even tell you how much money I have spent on espresso beans, coffee equipment (machines, grinders, etc), audiophile equipment, synthesizers, and records. These are the things, along with my family and job, that make life worth living for me — and my family is not always available, and my job not always good. If I’m struggling to wake up in the morning, I dial in a new bean. If I had a tough day, I put on a record.
things addicts say
Are you stupid or something?
I don’t get why people upvote this.
Zero content, just random aggression.
man you seem tense. you should some self-care, go treat yourself.
My pour over Honduras honey process actually brought me joy throughout my day today. There was nothing sad about it.
He’s talking about giving up video games and torrenting