I am part of the 85.8% of young adults in America that consumes caffeine. I was never a coffee lover, but four years, a Computer Science degree, and a Data Analytics minor can trigger that. And now that I have a corporate tech job, I habitually make or buy a coffee every workday.

As someone who pays rent, bills, car stuff, the works, I definitely feel the suffocating grip of the American economy. As a result, I budget like crazyyyy: every dollar is accounted for, every cent has a place. The most recent big life event I've had is my engagement to my beautiful, stunning fiancée. That now means wedding planning, a honeymoon, kids, etc...

And that might also mean buying a house. But I don't really care to.

In my Type A brain, big life events call for budgeting and financial transparency between me and my fiancée. So after looking at my bank statements, I saw the daily coffee purchases. Looking at those charges, though, every time I stop at Starbucks I'm never really hesitant to swipe my card, not the same way I would be if I were debating buying a $100+ Lego set. I do have a different relationship with money now than I had in college, because I am blessed to go from a $15/hr TA salary to a $35/hr salary.

So What Expenses Do I Cut Now to Invest in My Future?

The initial expenses to cut, as most personal finance advisor would say, are those daily coffee purchases, because what really causes budget oversight are those small, frequent purchases. But what do the numbers say?

What My Habit Actually Costs, Order by Order

My usual coffee shop is Starbucks, they're quick, I use a hack, and out of all the other shops, it's the most affordable. A close second is a cafe called Coffee Fellows. I love their honey vanilla latte and switching the milk for a non-dairy option comes at NO ADDITIONAL COST.

Seeing the prices on paper is really eye-opening for me right now. Black Rock, with its $9.04 price tag, is the reason I only get it once in a blue moon. Looking at these prices, any financial advisor would say:

"Either make coffee at home, it's free. Or better yet, caffeine is bad for you, so kick the addiction altogether."

No.

Budget Value: Why I Keep the Coffee In

Something I have learned, especially when I started budgeting, is that most financial advice follows a theme of frugality, which results in depriving yourself of things that bring you joy. Yes, I have a coffee addiction, but on days I work from home, that daily coffee stop is my Vitamin D, my "stop and smell the flowers" moment, and most of the time my only face-to-face human interaction for the day. But I guess advisors don't care about that and want the cold, hard numbers. So let's break it down.

Order your daily coffee, either from the same cafe, different cafes, or even skip a day, and see how the numbers add up! (If I got my Starbucks order every day, it would cost me $1,632.80 for the year.)

Why I'm Still Buying That Coffee

Older generations look down on Millennials and Gen Z and scold us for not owning a house because we're "wasting" our money on coffee or items from TikTok Shop. But to put it in perspective, buying a house back in the 1990s or even the early 2000s (before the 2008 Recession) was so much easier than it is today. My parents nag me about "home ownership this" and "build a house that" when I simply have no interest in buying or owning a home, not when a mortgage payment of $2,174 is certainly not in my budget right now. That money can go elsewhere, like the new Shrek and Donkey Lego set, or dilly-dallying with my fiancé at Ikea on the weekends.

I would much rather spend my hard-earned money on the small things that bring me joy and meaning to my day-to-day life. Being stressed out about not being able to pay my increased homeowner insurance premiums isn't the way I want to live. I plan how I spend my money, and I do think about the effects of any given purchase, but saving for the sake of saving isn't really fun.

Control, Not the American Dream

Financial advice, most of the time, judges a decision without taking into account the options a person has and always emphasizes the spending as if it is a behavior problem. Now I will say there are instances where people's spending habits are a behavior problem, but what I'm a talking about are those who have a good sense of financial judgement.

At the end of the day, being in control of my own money is what I find empowering and having that good sense of financial judgement. Compared to squeezing every last dollar toward a version of the "American Dream" that was never built for how we live now. I'd rather put my money toward the life I actually want: one with honey vanilla lattes, renting, Lego sets, and Ikea dates with my fiancée, not one measured only by square footage and a thirty-year loan. That's the life I'm choosing to build, one small, intentional purchase at a time.

Speaking of coffee, if this piece gave you something to think about (or just made you want a latte), you can buy me a coffee too. No judgment on the order.