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Is it normal to buy a coffee every day?

240 replies

MatchingStraws · 30/06/2021 21:55

DD is 14 and loves watching 'a day in my life' Tiktoks and Youtubers.

We have a regular debate over how aspirational their lives are. DD seems genuinely convinced that it is totally normally to buy an iced latte every day. Whereas I am huffing and puffing about how much that costs over a month Grin

OP posts:
lottiegarbanzo · 02/07/2021 22:25

OP isn't asking whether her child will be able to buy property. That's just a knee-jerk cliche that's crept into the conversation via middle-aged posters.

She's asking whether it's normal for teenagers / early 20-somethings to buy coffee-shop coffee every day. Her 14yo's DD's context will be pocket money and maybe clothing allowance, perhaps the aspiration of a part-time job while studying.

Is it smug and judgemental to say no, it's not normal for people who can't afford regular treats to treat themselves regularly?

Mandalay246 · 02/07/2021 22:28

It's normal for people who like to throw their money away.

So I assume you buy nothing at all other than the basics in life? Good for you - some people like to enjoy treating themselves, maybe try it sometime? Man, there are some judgemental posters on MN.

dewisant2020 · 02/07/2021 22:33

I do go Costa most days for a latte, sometimes twice a day.
I enjoy it and don't mind spending my money on it, I'm on first name basis with the staff and infant one of them actually came to my wedding lol

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PromisingMiddleagedWoman · 02/07/2021 22:35

**It's normal for people who like to throw their money away

Are you as judgemental about every item of discretionary spending, by everyone?
Do you see someone driving a new car and think it? Or someone buying a new pair of £100 jeans, or spending that amount on a haircut?

What is it about takeaway coffee that brings out the penny-pinching Puritan in some people?!

00100001 · 02/07/2021 23:03

@LalalalalalaLand123

It's normal for people who like to throw their money away.
🙄
ElderMillennial · 02/07/2021 23:09

But there are many things you could tot up the cost of and say thats £X a year like takeaways, chocolate, wine... everything adds up

Mandalay246 · 02/07/2021 23:47

What is it about takeaway coffee that brings out the penny-pinching Puritan in some people?!

Totally agree. I don't buy a takeaway coffee every day, but have no judgement for people who do at all, and can't see why it is so different to any of the things people buy to give themselves pleasure. I really can't stand this "you are wasting ex amount of dollars each year" sort of mentality either. It's not as though every day someone puts the amount of money they would have spent on a coffee into their savings account. Even when I was living solely on a jobseekers allowance I still bought myself a coffee now and again - how grim life would be if we all stuck to what we need and nothing else!

ViciousJackdaw · 02/07/2021 23:48

@HalzTangz

I buy coffee every day, it's my little vice. But I get nectar points and Costa points (use Costa points for free drinks) and use nectar points when I double up Sainsbury's points at christmas
Pay at Caffe Nero or Costa with a Nat West debit card and there's cashback to be had too.
VisionSystem · 02/07/2021 23:59

I do, it’s part of a routine I have in going for a short lunchtime walk from work each day as I have an hour to kill.. It’s a waste of money, but It’s also my lunch, since I have a homemade sandwich with it.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 03/07/2021 06:03

@lottiegarbanzo

£5k in five years was calculated on a cost of £2.50 a cup (plus if you save you get interest. Piddling amounts at the moment but something).

I find the idea that a couple who've saved £5k + £5k in five years (e.g. aged 21-26) should regard £10k as insignificant small change extraordinary. It's just very different from the world I live in (which is a pretty comfortable world).

But I think that's the issue here, for OP's DD. For lots of well-off people, buying coffee every day is an affordable little treat, their normal. Probably one of many treats they can afford. But until you have become comfortably off, it (like all the other treats) has to be regarded selectively.

The real problem comes when, like OP's dd, you grow up with the idea that it is everyone's norm, so to be taken for granted, expected (along with the nice clothes, hair, make-up and lifestyle that the tik-tokkers and instragrammers show off, because they're either from well-off families, or faking it with the hope of making it, or have already made it far enough that they're being given a lot of free stuff to promote). That aspect, the fake reality lives of social media performers and influencers, hasn't been explored here but is pretty relevant to the teenager in the scenario described.

It's not always a choice between having takeaway coffee or saving to buy a house. I've done both. And no, you don't have to be comfortably off.
Ritasha · 03/07/2021 06:45

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OldTinHat · 03/07/2021 06:49

Nope. In fact I can't remember when I last had a coffee!

lockef · 03/07/2021 09:43

I'm not (or haven't been) a commuter which I assume are the main people who buy coffees everyday?

I would rather take a flash and spend the money on a weekly cleaner myself!

coodawoodashooda · 03/07/2021 11:20

lockef

Me too.

notacooldad · 03/07/2021 12:11

We ha e free tea, coffee, hot chocolate, juice and cordial at work yet people still stop at Cista or Maccies for a coffee on the way in or between home visits.
I honestly dont get it but there again I put myself in a £20 challenge so loathe to break it for things i dont need!

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