We often hear—and some self-proclaimed experts point out—how much each cup of coffee we buy every day can add up to in the grand scheme of things after a full year.
Of course, the sum of that small amount, over the course of 365 days, will obviously add up to a considerable sum, even when we didn’t think it would be that significant.
But should we cut back on all expenses that aren’t absolutely essential to our existence, at the expense of having greater freedom to buy something—or to own something of greater value in the end?
Are our medium- or long-term goals more important than our short-term or daily goals and routines?
Should we give up our daily coffee at that bakery near our house and start having coffee at home before we go out, or should we skip going to the movies on the weekend so we can watch the films at home a few months later, once they’ve been released on streaming platforms?
What does this say about the image we project of ourselves—to ourselves and to those who see us? That we can do without these little things to become better people?
By giving up these small pleasures, aren’t we also denying our own existence and our own identity?
There’s a price we pay that isn’t immediately visible. When we reduce a trip to the movies to nothing more than the amount we can save by not going, or when we’re told we must focus on the end goal so that the sacrifice can be better understood, that cannot serve as a blanket justification.
Society shouldn’t force us to cut back on certain expenses just because they aren’t essential to life. Life is also about the time we spend and the things we enjoy doing or buying.
We can’t just focus on saving money, letting our own existence and personality fade away for purely financial reasons.
Of course, being frugal and not overspending allows us to be better prepared for an unexpected event or an occasion that wasn’t initially planned for, but that shouldn’t be our sole focus in life.
There are luxuries that cannot be cut out, lest we risk becoming someone we don’t recognize.
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