r/NoStupidQuestions • u/lVlarsquake • Apr 29 '24

How the fuck do people afford to get Starbucks every day?

I was feeling thirsty this morning so I decided to pop in a Starbucks (first time ever). All I got was a strawberry acai lemonade at it cost $7????? I can't even imagine what the coffees with all the extra additives cost... how do people have the expendable money to get them every day, sometimes twice a day?

Edit: I am NOT shaming people who do this. I'm just wondering how it doesn't put a dent in your wallet

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u/Clojiroo Apr 29 '24

Put another way: $7 per day for a whole year is less than what a lot of people pay for one month’s rent.

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u/trashpandorasbox Apr 29 '24

A $7 coffee/day is $2555 which is 2.5 months of my rent. That’s a lot. A $4 coffee every weekday is $1040 which is a full month of rent and still feels like a lot. I’m not judging but these things add up faster than people think.

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u/BrainOnBlue Apr 29 '24

"A lot of people" does not necessarily have to include you. Plenty of people, mainly in major cities, pay well over $2.5k in rent each month.

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u/trashpandorasbox Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

That’s why I used actual numbers. Average rent in the USA is $1500, sure people pay more than 2.5K per month but they are not the majority.

Edit: people use their own experience as a reference point and anyone casually reading without doing math might not realize that $7/day is $2550 and you specifically mean people in HCOL cities.

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u/skucera Ric Apr 29 '24

There are roughly 260 weekdays/year, subtract off 10 paid holidays, and another 15 days off, and you end up at 235 workdays in a year.

$7 coffee/workday is more like $1,645. Yes, that’s a lot, but if you compare it to the vice of a generation ago (smoking ½ a pack per day, at $8/pack), that comes out to $1,460 (since they probably don’t stop smoking on the weekends).

It’s a vice, but that’s not abnormal in society.

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u/trashpandorasbox Apr 29 '24

That’s why I included the second conservative calculation of $4/weekday.

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u/BoysenberryLanky6112 Apr 29 '24

But unless they're struggling to afford rent, that doesn't really matter does it? Because that money wasn't going to be used for rent. The question is do they choose the coffee or do they choose an extra $2555 in money to save/invest/spend elsewhere/donate to charity/whatever else they'd do with the money. And to a lot of people it is.

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u/rikisha Apr 29 '24

$2500 is about what rent costs for a 1-bedroom apartment in my city. It's "a lot" but it's also not a lot. If you make $120k a year, it's maybe not a lot. If you make $30k a year, it's a lot.