To think budgeting culture has become joyless?

[ByNattyFinch]

Budgets are good.
Financial literacy is good.

But AIBU to think some people treat buying a hot drink like a moral failure? Life shouldn’t feel like a spreadsheet.

They are never nice cafes. Chains have extinguished the nice independent cafe sector.

Why are you so angry?

I drink, at most, about four coffees a year. I don’t like it very much. I drink tea at home and other hot drinks while I’m out. But I don’t go around shitting my pants in fury and telling everyone they should drink tea because I happen to think it’s better.

It’s obvious that you’ve made coffee into your entire personality and I’m sorry if that’s all you’ve got in your life but honestly, getting this angry about someone buying a drink they happen to like the taste of is not fucking normal.

I haven’t got a coffee machine but a £30 Bialetti I bought years ago that makes far better coffee than most coffee chains.

You are not the one going. I like going. Why do you care?

In your opinion

Who says I’m going to a chain?

4 coffees a year is different. It’s a treat. £100 a month is however a waste of money.

In your opinion

I live quite rurally but commute to London and buy a coffee from the booth at the local station twice a week which is run by a local guy. Really good coffee and am happy to support a small business.

Not really. A 90% mark up on £100 a month of sugary shite IS a waste of money.

And I think the money you spend on your coffee each month is a waste of money

It isn’t “wasting money” if it’s something you get enjoyment from and can afford though is it?

I was bored today and drove to the drive through Costa for a chai latte and croissant for something to do even though I wasn’t particularly hungry or thirsty. It got me out of the house and I sat in my car for a while enjoying listening to the radio and being alone sipping my drink and eating my pastry.

I also get my nails done once a month and my hair every 6 weeks bc I find it relaxing and I can afford it. I could do both these things at home.

I could probably afford an extra holiday or two if I stopped doing this but I don’t want to as I enjoy it and having one main holiday in the summer and a few weekends away is enough for me.

What I don’t understand is people who don’t understand that everyone is different and enjoys spending their time and money doing different things. I think those Dyson air wraps are a terrible waste of money. I think buying 5 grand tv’s/the latest iPhone is silly - but I understand that everyone enjoys spending their money on different things. Weird to be so virtue signally about hot drinks! I actually prefer my own homemade coffee also but sometimes I want to get out of the house and go and sit somewhere different - is that really so hard to understand? Where do you draw the line? Do you think it’s a waste of money to go out for meals because you could rustle up something similar in your own kitchen?

Weird.

Again: it isn’t a waste of money if someone likes what they get for that money. So yes, it is about personal taste. People should spend their money on things that meet their taste, not things that meet your, completely different, taste.

If would be a waste of your money, because you dislike the product and get no enjoyment from it. But if someone gets enjoyment from it, they are not wasting their money.

Your coffee machine was a good investment for you, but would be a waste of money for me because I don’t like coffee. Similarly, the £179 I just spent on a replacement nib for a fountain pen would be a massive waste of money for anyone who doesn’t enjoy using fountain pens, but it was money well spent for me. Do you see how this works?

No I don't know what you're talking about really. We all know coffees are expensive but I don't feel like anyone is judging me if I buy one. Maybe you're taking things too seriously?

No it doesn't. I had one. They are shit. Take forever, need to be monitored, hard to clean, won't go on my gas hob as the base is too small and only makes a small amount of espresso.

I haven’t got a coffee machine.

It is a waste of money however you want to justify it.

I buy other hot drinks in cafes instead of coffee. I spend loads.

I do wonder whether OP thinks budgeting is supposed to be joyful? It can’t ever be anything but joyless surely, otherwise we’d live like that all the time.

Spending ££££ on landfill shite you don’t need is also a waste of money even if you like it.

I’m starting to think your wiring might be faulty.

Do you have any joy in your life

It appears to be judging people for their choice in coffee.

Even if money is tight though, people should be allowed simple pleasures. I see absolutely nothing wrong with a care worker or supermarket worker buying a daily coffee at the end of a long hard shift. In fact we shouldn't just be accepting of a society where people working hard doing absolutely essential jobs can't afford even the most basic of treats.

I’m interested in what your opinion is about, say, Christmas trees R1nt1nt1n?

We bought one at the weekend for £100 - will be chucked out on January 2nd.

What do you think of that 🤔?

Towels? I mean, we could just drip-dry…

And coffee, I mean why not do away with your coffee altogether and just drink water? Much healthier too!

Do you ever buy anything unnecessary? Or do you only drink water and eat porridge?

She drinks expensive coffee she just makes it herself so it’s fine