02
03
What does that break down to? A straight coffee habit at home will cost $9 per year. A straight cup at the coffee shop? $450. At home lattes: $370. At national chain: almost $1300. Maybe you’re more of a soda person. Coca-cola products run $12 for a 24 pack, breaking down to 50 cents a can. At a fast food joint, a fountain soda is about $1.50, where cans at restaurants are sold at up to $3. We all have our vices, and they’re usually easily excusable. Because of their addictive qualities, we instinctively write them off as “needs.” With young people today, aside from the retail game, a massive “need” is the need to be involved socially in the bar scene. The word “party,” previously associated with an actual event, has come to universally refer to consuming alcohol. Especially in urban areas, twenty-somethings are weekly blowing hundreds of dollars on excessive numbers of beers, cocktails, and shots. Combining alcohol consumption with credit can be a lethal combination; the clouding of judgement with the false charm of an endless good time often ends in morning after spending regret, which is only appeased by a weekday reset that brings the same behavior the following weekend.
02
03
04
Homemade espresso: $1
Café coffee: $1.50
Café espresso drink: $3.50
Per year: $370
Per year: $450
Per year: $1300
04
21