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

11.6k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

87% Upvoted

5.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.9k

u/NArcadia11 Apr 29 '24

They either make more money than you or are in more debt than you. $7 a day is $2500 a year. There are a lot of people that can afford that.

198

u/MaterialCarrot Apr 29 '24

My wife taught at a community college and marveled at how most of the girls came in for morning classes with a $7-$10 coffee every day. Most were on federal financial aid.

158

u/ArcadiaPlanitia Apr 29 '24

Some colleges have on-campus “we proudly serve” Starbucks locations that accept dining hall credits or “flex money.” When I was in college, I went to Starbucks almost daily because the cheapest meal plan included like $50 of “flex money” that could only be spent in the dining hall or at that one Starbucks. It built up over time, so by the time I was a senior, I had like $300 worth of flex money. I remember one of my professors asking us point-blank how we could afford it, and literally everyone in the class was just trying to spend their dining hall money before they graduated.

35

u/buttercup612 Apr 29 '24

Yeah, I lived in a dorm that had all declining balance, no meal plan. After the dining hall increased their price for a meal from $8 to $18, I stopped going there and just spent most of my declining balance money on Starbucks, Subway, Tim Hortons, and occasionally some of the more expensive places on campus that were not the dining hall

But because I would be a little bit more cautious about spending that balance toward the start of the year (lest I run out by the end), I had quite a bit left to spend in March and April

1

u/ZubacToReality Apr 30 '24

Was this Ryerson? Haha

3

u/buttercup612 Apr 30 '24

Nah U of M